The Chiefs' "Eras Tour"

For all the fuss over Taylor Swift, it's worth mentioning: Oh yes, there was a game last night. For the 1st 2 quarters, and most of the 3rd, it was kind of dull. Then it got really good.

It turned out to be the longest Super Bowl ever, only the 2nd to go to overtime, and the 7th-longest in NFL history. Under current overtime rules, the San Francisco 49ers kicked a field goal, but it would not be enough, as the Kansas City Chiefs would get a chance to at least tie the game, and scored a touchdown, a 3-yard pass from Patrick Mahomes, who won his 3rd Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award, to Mecole Hardman. Final: Kansas City 25, San Francisco 22.

The Chiefs have now won 3 titles in 4 appearances in 5 years. It's not quite a "dynasty," but, as Taylor might say, it's quite an "era." So, like Taylor, the Chiefs have their own "Eras Tour."

Andy Reid joins Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh and Joe Gibbs as coaches who have won 3 Super Bowls. Mahomes joins Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Troy Aikman and Peyton Manning as quarterbacks who've done it. And the Chiefs became the 1st back-to-back Super Bowl winners since the 1998-99 Denver Broncos.

(Note: Proven cheaters not included, so don't tell me about the Bill Belichick and Tom Brady New England Patriots.)

The winning touchdown was caught by Mecole Hardman -- who, like Aaron Rodgers, began the season with the New York Jets. For some people around here, Ouch.

Travis Kelce got a big hug from Taylor at the end, but, other than that, he was the one Chief who ended up not looking better. His antics on the victory stand didn't help. And getting caught yelling at Reid on the sideline was bad. He's already a meme.

Yeah. He's going to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as are Reid and Mahomes, but this is not a good look.

One more thing, for all the Trump fans: We might not be in the mess we've been in for the last 50 years if Frank Sinatra hadn't switched parties, and endorsed first Richard Nixon, then Ronald Reagan.

At least Frank hated Trump, as do his kids, who've spoken well of Taylor.

It's also worth noting that Elvis Presley didn't endorse Adlai Stevenson over Dwight D. Eisenhower. But he did get the polio vaccine, on live TV, right before the 1956 election! (Of course, both Ike and Adlai supported the vaccine.)

Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame the Referees for the Philadelphia Eagles Losing Super Bowl LVII

Last night, the Kansas City Chiefs came from behind to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-35 at State Farm Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

It was the most points ever scored by a team in a Super Bowl that still lost. It broke the record of 33, set by the New England Patriots, 5 years ago, when they lost 41-33... to the Eagles. That game remains the highest-scoring Super Bowl, topping last night's game, 74 to 73.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes fought off an ankle injury at the Eagles' defense, the best in the NFL all season long, to lead the comeback, and win his 2nd Super Bowl in 3 tries, and also his 2nd Pete Rozelle Award as the Most Valuable Player of the Super Bowl.

Harrison Butker kicked a 27-yard field goal with 8 seconds left in regulation, following a drive aided by a penalty on James Bradberry for holding Chiefs receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, giving the Chiefs an automatic 1st down. Eagle fans were furious over the call, which, if called an incomplete pass, would have meant 4th down and 8 yards to go on the 17.

Did Eagle fans have a point? It was a borderline call, and the tendency in the late moment of a postseason game, in any sport, is for the officials to "Let them play." This time, the call was made.

Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame the Referees for the Philadelphia Eagles Losing Super Bowl LVII

5. The Hurts Fumble Hurt. Jalen Hurts didn't play like a 2nd-year quarterback. He played as if pressure was a friend, not an enemy. But early in the 2nd quarter, with the Eagles leading 14-7, he fumbled the ball, and it was recovered by Nick Bolton, who returned it 36 yards for a game-tying touchdown.

If that fumble hadn't happened, even if the Eagles had stalled, and then held the Chiefs off on their next drive, they would have won the game.

4. Experience. In an exercise such as this, the easiest thing is to say, "The opposition was better," and make that Reason Number 1. Were the Chiefs better? Eagles head coach Nick Sirriani said so after the game: "Today, they were better than we were."

At the very least, they were more experienced. They won the Super Bowl 3 years ago, and lost another 2 years ago. Many of their players from those games were in this one as well, enabling them to overcome the "Dynasty of One" tag. In contrast, the Eagles only had 4 players remaining, and almost an entirely different coaching staff, from their Super Bowl win of 5 years ago. Aside from that, they didn't have Super Bowl experience.

Speaking of experience:

3. Andy Reid. In Super Bowl XXXIX, 18 years earlier, Reid coached the Eagles against the New England Patriots, and his poor clock management was one of the things that cost the Eagles the game. It wasn't the first time that happened while he was their coach, nor the last.

It was why I was sure the Chiefs would lose Super Bowl LIV to the San Francisco 49ers: I didn't trust him in the game's closing minutes. But he managed the clock well that time. And he did again last night, outcoaching Sirriani despite having a 24-to-36-minute time of possession deficit.

2. It Probably Didn't Matter. If the penalty hadn't been called, or had been overruled by the referee, or invalidated by instant replay -- instead of the referee calling for the replay, and the replay confirming that the right call was made -- it would have given the Chiefs 4th & 8 at the Eagles' 17. A field goal from there would have been 34 yards.

Granted, Butker had missed a field goal earlier, but that was from 42 yards. Even with the field being in bad shape, he should have been able to make it from 34, under a dome and thus in perfect weather.

It would have given the Eagles the ball back with about 1 minute to go, instead of 8 seconds. Depending on the lengths of the kickoff and its return, they would have needed 50 yards, maybe as little as 40, for a game-tying field goal. But as good as Hurts had been during the game, there's no guarantee that he would have been able to do it, especially win only 1 time-out remaining.

1. The Eagles Admitted It. Bradberry himself said, after the game, "I pulled on his jersey. They called it. I was hoping they would let it ride." And Sirriani said, "That's not what it is. There's so many plays that contribute to the end result of a game. And, today, they were better than we were."

VERDICT: Not Guilty. This game was fairly won, and it was fairly lost.

Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Dee Ford for the Kansas City Chiefs Losing the 2018 AFC Championship Game

So, the New England Patriots are in the Super Bowl again. They got there by beating the Kansas City Chiefs, 37-31 in overtime in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium.

The blame has largely landed on Dee Ford, a linebacker on Auburn University's 2010 National Champions, who was named to this season's Pro Bowl. As Tom Brady was driving for a game-tying touchdown in the final minutes, he threw an interception to Charvarius Ward, seemingly finishing the game off. But Ford was called for offside, the Pats had another chance, Brady got the tying touchdown, and the Pats won the game in overtime.

Is it really Ford's fault? Here's the case for, pardon the choice of words, the defense:

Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Dee Ford for the Kansas City Chiefs Losing the 2018 AFC Championship Game

5. The Officials. For years, people have viewed them as being pro-Patriots, not pro-rules. Once again, they had a point.

In the 4th quarter, Julian Edelman of the Patriots fumbled a punt. The original call was that the ball touched him. The officials went to the instant replay machine. The rule is that a call must be obviously wrong in order to overturn it. Every angle on the replay was inconclusive, so the call should have stood. Instead, after further review, it was -- either stupidly or corruptly -- decided that the ball never touched Edelman, and the Patriots kept the ball.

This ended up not mattering, because the Chiefs soon intercepted Brady, on a pass intended for Edelman. But, later, blown calls did matter: Chris Jones was called for roughing the passer. Apparently, when the passer is Tom Brady, "roughing the passer" means being in the same ZIP Code.

On that same drive, Chris Hogan was ruled to have caught a 3rd down pass. Chiefs coach Andy Reid challenged. The replay clearly showed that the ball hit the ground. But the catch was upheld. Six plays later, Sony Michel scored to send the game to overtime.

UPDATE: From 2020 to 2025, the Chiefs reached 5 Super Bowls, winning 3, succeeding the Patriots as the dominant team in the AFC, and fans began to think they were now getting all the calls.

4. Tom Brady. We don't know if, or how, he cheated this time. What we do know is that he led a Patriot offense that gained 524 total yards, to the Chiefs' 290. Patrick Mahomes showed he's ready for big games, but Brady has been in more big games than any player in NFL history, and has won more. He knows how to win -- fairly or otherwise.

3. Bill Belichick. To borrow the words of Max Kinkel, a disc jockey I used to listen to on WCBS-FM, New York's oldies station, "This guy doesn't need to read the back of the box for the directions, this guy is the directions."

2. The Rest of the Defense. When you allow 31 points in regulation at home in the AFC Championship Game, you don't get to claim you deserve to be in the Super Bowl. And you certainly don't get to blame one guy for your defeat.

The Chiefs led the NFL in sacks in the 2018 regular season. How many times did they sack Brady in this game? None. The New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles, in 3 Super Bowls between them, showed the way to beat the Patriots: Get in Brady's face and knock him on his candy ass.

The Chiefs didn't do that. Here is a franchise far better known for defense than for offense. Buck Buchanan, Bobby Bell, Willie Lanier, Emmitt Thomas and Johnny Robinson in the 1960s. Curley Culp and Gary Barbaro in the 1970s. Art Still, Gary Spani and Deron Cherry in the 1980s. Neil Smith and Derrick Thomas in the 1990s. Jared Allen in the 2000s.

Defensive coordinator Bob Sutton was fired after the game. But that's like the crew of the Titanic surviving the sinking, and firing the navigator. The Captain should go, too:

1. Andy Reid. In 20 seasons as an NFL head coach, the king of bad clock management is now 12-16 in postseason games, including 1-5 in Conference Championships. Asking Andy Reid to outcoach Bill Belichick in an AFC Championship Game is like asking George W. Bush to sing "The Major-General's Song."

So why is he still an NFL head coach? Does Chiefs owner Clark Hunt want to waste Mahomes' career?

VERDICT: Not Guilty.

UPDATE: Well, a year later, Andy Reid sure made me look like a fool, didn't he? Instead of, as had usually been the case, himself.