LOS ANGELES, CA – You’re probably heard enough about the Super Bowl at this point, but since Mr. Blaber straight mailed it in with nothing but a brief recap paragraph, and the undeniable likelihood that few are waiting with bated breath for me to start rambling about the Giants’ off-season rebuild, Part 317, or the NY Rangers’ chances of making a deep playoff run, so I will milk the Super Bowl cow one more time. (Writing 101: any good piece starts with a 120 word run-on sentence). Without further doo-doo, I’ve got some Final Thoughts for Super Bowl XVII.
MVP
I get the choice of Kupp, but he would have been my third choice after Stafford and Donald. Sure, the Rams basically couldn’t move the ball after Odell went down until they started force feeding it to Kupp. But 283 yards and 3 TDs with the limited weapons he had at his disposal and complete lack of a running game should have been enough. I think he was punished for the two interceptions, but one was the receiver’s fault and the other was basically a punt on a 3rd and 14.
Stafford hung in there, despite the non-existent running game and his number two and three receivers being some guy names Brycen Hopkins and a fresh of the IL running back, Darrell Henderson. Think that’s easy? You try moving the ball with Ben Skowronek.
Sometimes when the whole line plays well and Von Miller also gets two sacks, they don’t like to single out one DL for MVP. That’s what happened when Justin Tuck and the Giants manhandled Tom Brady in Super Bowl XLII. But Aaron Donald was unblockable when it mattered the most.
Ex-Giants
When I saw Eli Apple lined up with Cooper Kupp on the touchdown play, I could not open my FanDuel betting app account fast enough. We know how this movie ends. Man, I really feel badly for Odell, if that injury is serious. And those non-contact things are always serious. The guy had turned a corner, it seemed.
The Giants gave up depth lineman BJ Hill for O-line help. Hill made some big plays in this post season, including the Super Bowl. I guess it was worth trading him, as the Giants fixed their offensive line completely for years to come. Right?
Joe Burrow
The man did not have a good game. On the early fourth down play he tried to force it into Chase, who was never open, with Higgins roaming free on the sideline. His one TD pass was pretty controversial, to say the least. And he has to get rid of that ball on the last fourth down play, give someone a chance. Disappointing ending there.
Penalties
The ticky tack defensive holding was definitely a bad call, but we can call it a wash with the Higgins TD whiff. And a special shot out here to Vernon Hargreaves for coming out to celebrate in civvies and the end of the first half. That ten yards could’ve cost your team a FG, but hey, you got on the Super Bowl stat sheet. Sort of.
State of Emergency
Los Angeles is technically still in a state of emergency, but you sure wouldn’t know it by watching this game. Remember, the virus runs wild in schools, but is harmless in luxury boxes. Make sure those kids are still triple masked eating lunch outside by themselves while the celebrities and politicians party it up. It’s science.
Looking Ahead
The top four Super Bowl favorites for next year are the Chiefs, Bills, Rams, and Bengals. What do those teams have in common? A pretty good QB
It’s hard to see the Rams repeating because they’re going to have to hack off some fat to get under the cap. The Bengals are in good cap shape with Burrow and Chase still on rookie deals. If they can shore up the O-line and add some pieces on D, they should definitely be a contender in a top-heavy AFC next season.
Pulling up the rear with the longest odds for next season are your New York Jets at +20,000 (tied with the Texans). Somehow the Giants are “only” +10,000. To me it would seems like the Jets are in better position to contend next year. Sure, it would take a perfect storm of hugely improbably things to happen. But the new Giants GM Joe Schoen seems resigned to take a big cap hit by dumping a bunch of bad contracts and take the dead money hit now to be in a better position in a year. Thanks Dave Gettleman, for restructuring all those contracts and kicking the cap hits down the road in a futile attempt to save your job. Sit tight, Giants‘ fans.
I’m sure the house cleaning is music to the ears of Daniel Jones in the last year of his contract.
Giants’ Brass: Hey Dan. We believe in you and we’re going to give you every opportunity to show us you can be the guy.
Also Giants’ Brass: We’re cutting half the offense. Good luck.
Dark days for the supporters of the Giants and Jets.
That’s it for me. Come back manana for Angry Ward. Follow us on Twitter at @BenWhit8, @MeetTheMatts, @Matt_McCarthy00, Instagram @MeetTheMatts and like our Facebook page, Meet The Matts.
