CHIEFS BOMBED ... SWIFT BOOED ... BAD BOWL ... BUT KUDOS BRADY

 Old habits die hard … so there we were Sunday night, watching Fox coverage of Super Bowl LIX from the SuperDome in New Orleans, taking notes and making observations, much like we did during 47 years working (?) in the toy department of the Times-Dispatch.

Frankly, this eighty something memory man expected 

better than we got … a big-time mauling of the favored 

Kansas City Chiefs … who actually got permission (for 

a price, no doubt) to use the phrase three peat, assuming 

they would make it three championships in a row, from 

the NBA’s PAT RILEY, who had it copy-righted many 

years ago.

It was 24-0, Philadelphia Eagles, at halftime … and 

things didn’t get much better thereafter. Anyway, here 

goes, from the beginning … as always, let the reader 

beware:

Somebody famous (I guess) sat at a piano to sing 

(screech?) the Star-Spangled Banner … and once

again we were reminded how great the great (late)

 WHITNEY HOUSTON sang it prior to Supe 25 in 

1991. (Little known: viewers at home heard a pre-

recorded version. There is some question whether she 

actually sang the National Anthem on site or lip-

synched. Doesn’t matter. It remains the absolute all-time 

best version.)

Geez, what a surprise! “A controversial call right off the 

bat,” says Fox play by play man KEVIN 

BURKHARDT … (Quick aside: Most attention leading 

up to the game centered around claims the Chiefs had 

been beneficiaries of game officials’ … ahhh, 

questionable decisions. Just about everyone who was 

anyone weighed in … including TOM BRADY, the 

seven-time Super Bowl--winning quarterback now Fox 

TV’s $375 million employe in his first year as pro 

football analyst … Of course, he said the officials had a 

tough job, that they were very good and blah-blah-blah. 

His legion of critics noted the hypocrisy, given his 

ongoing complaints during his playing days in New 

England and (briefly) Tampa Bay … Then, after the 

Chiefs got two key calls in a narrow victory over 

Buffalo, the conspiracy theories essentially drowned out 

other pre-game talking points … and guess who 

weighed in, saying in effect the whistle-tooters blew it. 

Why T Brady, of course.)

Fourth and 2 from midfield on the game’s first 

possession, and the Eagles go for it. “They play 

aggressive,” Burkhardt says. “They do this a lot.” … QB

 JALEN HURTS leads AJ BROWNdown the sideline 

for 31 yards and an apparent first down. “Pass 

interference, offense No. 11 ... repeat fourth down,” says 

refereeRON TORBERT. Cut to replay, and we see No. 

11 (Brown) engaged in what appears to be slight hand-

to-hand combat with DB TRENT McDUFFIE … who 

was a half-step behind, his back to the ball … in other 

words, beaten badly … He stumbles, falls … and side 

judge BORIS CHEEK immediately reaches for his 

yellow flag.

“Ohh, I don’t like that one bit,” says Brady. “This is too 

critical of a game. You let the players play. It should be 

decided on the field.” … MIKE PEREIRA, third man 

in the booth specifically to comment on the officials 

(invariably in their defense), agrees. “There’s a little

shove at the end … That’s one that did not need to be 

called.” … he says, believe it or not.

Cheek, the most decorated of the nine-man crew, 

working his fourth Super Bowl, is having a rough time. 

Third and five, Philadelphia, at the Kansas City 42. A 

Hurts’ pass intended for tight end DALLAS 

GOEBERT is high, incomplete, and McDuffie collides 

with him … nothing unusual about it … except to 

Cheek who throws his yellow flag again, this one for 

“personal foul: unnecessary roughness” on the KC DB. 

First down, Eagles, at the Chiefs’ 27. “I don’t like that 

one either,” Brady said … Three snaps later Hurts 

scores on the “Tush Push.” With 8:45 gone, Philadelphia 

leads 7-0.

Fox doesn’t get it, obviously. They’ve played four series 

… and the network has yet to cut to TAYLOR SWIFT

 … even after boy friend, Chiefs’ TE TRAVIS KELCE

 misses a first-down pass.

Brady can’t understand why Kansas City doesn’t blitz 

more. Finally, late in the first quarter, the Chiefs do, 

throwing Hurts for a 12-yard loss ,,, only to be called for 

“lining up in the neutral zone.” Instead of 4^th and 14 at 

the KC 46, Philadelphia was first and 10 at the 30 … 

However, the Chiefs came with another blitz, and Hurts, 

off-balance, was well short of the end zone for Brown 

… and BRYAN COOK made a diving interception for 

the Chiefs’ first takeaway this post-season.

With 8:40 remaining in the first half, the Eagles lined up 

to go for it on fourth and three at the KC 25. They 

wound up calling timeout and sending out kicking 

specialist JAKE “THE MAKE” ELLIOTT for a 43 

yard field goal … Brady approved, saying, “The way 

their defense is playing, you’ve got to get a two-score 

lead. You’re not going to need 30 points to win.” … 

Elliott hit from 43 but a lineman moved to soon, so he 

tried again – from 48 – and made that one, too, for a 10-

0 advantage that quickly became 17-0.

The Eagles continued to make QB PATRICK 

MAHOMES look ordinary, throwing him for back to 

back losses before rookie safety COOPER DEJEAN

 celebrated his 22d birthday with a pick-6 … “The 

Chiefs can’t become a one-dimensional team,” Brady 

said. “They’ve only run the ball once against the best 

pass defense in the league.”

Cut to a shot of Eagles’ OC KELLEN MOORE … 

who apparently will become next coach of the New 

Orleans Saints. “The good news is … he’s already 

here,” said Burkhardt.

The bad news for Fox was … unless the Chiefs, most 

notably Mahomes, made a quick comeback in the 

second half, viewers (especially KC fans) would click 

off and go to bed.

So, tell us, T. Brady, considered pro football’s G.O.A.T 

… how do the Chiefs get back into this thing … 

assuming they can, which is doubtful?

“First, you’re looking to gain some sort of confidence in 

what you’re doing,” Brady said. “There is no 24-point 

touchdown. You’ve got to just inch your way back and 

get some confidence in something. It could start with a 

drive that just passes the 50 yard line … but it can’t be 

‘we’re just going to turn this into a one dimensional 

pass-a-thon.’ You’ll have no chance against this really 

ferocious pass rush the Eagles displayed in the first 

half.”

Midway, KC had one first down and 23 yards of 

offense. It began the second half with a run then a pass 

for a first down. Then Mahomes was sacked twice (fifth 

time in all) for minus 17 yards, scrambled for plus eight 

… and the Chiefs had to punt. Brady: “Any time you go 

up against a great quarterback, you challenge your 

defensive line to disrupt the passing game and not give 

him much time to look down the field.”

Kelce finally catches a pass (with 3:19 left in the third 

quarter) but KC is still faced with 4^th and four at its 46. 

Trailing 27-0, the Chiefs go for it. Brady recommends 

going back to Kelce. Mahomes throws for DeANDRE 

HOPKINS … and it’s broken up. Game over?

Next snap … Burkhardt says, “They’ll run some time 

off the clock.” So Hurts fakes a handoff and goes deep 

to DEVONTA SMITH for a touchdown.“Unbelievable. 

Everyone thinks SAQUON [BARKLEY] is getting the 

ball … and Hurts makes the throw of his life,” Brady 

says. Game over.

OK, before we go … a few takeaways:

1 – Something was definitely wrong with Mahomes … 

that went beyond a breakdown of his offensive line in 

the face of unrelenting Eagles’ pressure. Too many 

passes were way off target. The first two intended for 

Kelce took a nose-dive, making them nearly-impossible 

to catch … A concussion perhaps? Mahomes landed 

hard on his head after a tackle early on. Then again he 

did complete 21 of 31 passes for 257 yards and three 

touchdowns … most of it after the outcome no longer 

was in doubt. Final: 40-22.

2 – Brady should never be compared with JOE 

MONTANA, the former greatest-all-time QB who 

absolutely bombed as TV commentator. Early in the 

season the critics had been downright harsh on Brady 

especially in New York where hatred for anything and 

anybody connected with BILL BELICHICK and the 

insanely-successful New England Patriots has been … 

insane … As the season progressed, Brady slowly 

eliminated the naysayers (everywhere but the Big 

Apple, naturally) … and it says here he came through 

Sunday. Understand, the fact that Tom Brady has an 

opinion makes it important … which is why Fox 

overpaid him with the big bucks.

3 – My only bummer of the network’s coverage overall 

was that it failed, at halftime, to ask Brady what went 

into New England’s miracle comeback in Super Bowl 

51 … Trailing 28-3, with 2:15 to go in the third quarter, 

the Patriots (and Brady) rallied to win 34-28 in 

overtime.

Finally … it was a terrible game … and one – possibly 

the only – reason Fox ignored Swift was … she was 

royally booed when those in attendance were made 

aware of her presence … while DONALD TRUMP, the 

first sitting President to attend a Super Bowl, was 

roundly applauded.

Until next time ...