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.

Super Bowl Starting Quarterbacks' Records by Uniform Number

Super Bowl starting quarterbacks' records by uniform number:

1: 0-1. Cam Newton lost Super Bowl 50.

2: 0-1. Matt Ryan lost LI.

3: 1-2. Daryle Lamonica lost II, Russell Wilson won XLVIII and lost XLIX (but it was Pete Carroll's fault).

4: 1-1. Brett Favre won XXXI and lost XXXII.

5: 1-1. Donovan McNab lost XXXIX, Joe Flacco won XLVII.

6: 0-0. No quarterback wearing the number has ever started an NFL Championship Game, under any name.
7: 5-10. Craig Morton lost XII. Ron Jaworski lost XV. Ken Anderson lost XVI. Joe Theismann won XVII and lost XVIII. John Elway lost XXI, XXII and XXIV, and won XXXII and XXXIII. Boomer Esiason lost XXIII. Ben Roethlisberger won XL and XLIII and lost XLV. Colin Kaepernick lost XLVII.

8: 5-2. Troy Aikman won XXVII, XXVIII and XXX. Steve Young won XXIX. Trent Dilfer won XXXV. Matt Hasselbeck lost XL. Rex Grossman lost XLI.

9: 3-1. Jim McMahon won XX. Steve McNair lost XXXIV. Drew Brees won XLIV. Nick Foles won LII.

10: 2-3. Fran Tarkenton lost VIII, IX and XI. Eli Manning won XLII and XLVI. Jimmy Garoppolo, take note.

11: 2-3. Joe Kapp lost IV. Tony Eason lost XX. Phil Simms won XXI. Mark Rypien won XXVI. Drew Bledsoe lost XXXI.
12: 17-14. This will take a while. Joe Namath won III. Roger Staubach won VI and XII, and lost X and XIII. Bob Griese lost VI, and won VII and VIII. Terry Bradshaw won IX, X, XIII and XIV. Ken Stabler won XI. Jim Kelly lost XXV, XXVI, XXVII and XXVIII. Stan Humphries lost XXIX. Chris Chandler lost XXXIII. Kerry Collins lost XXXV. Tom Brady won XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIX, LI and LII, and lost XLII, XLVI and LII. Rich Gannon lost XXXVII. Aaron Rodgers won XLV.

13: 1-3. Dan Marino lost XIX. Kurt Warner won XXXIV, and lost XXXVI and XLIII.

14: 1-2. Craig Morton lost V. Neil O'Donnell lost XXX. Brad Johnson won XXXVII.

15: 4-2. Bart Starr won I and II. Earl Morrall lost III and won V. Vince Ferragamo lost XIV. Jeff Hostetler won XXV. Patrick Mahomes, take note.

16: 7-3. Len Dawson lost I and won IV. Jim Plunkett won XV and XVIII. Joe Montana won XVI, XIX, XXIII and XXIV. David Woodley lost XVII. Jared Goff lost LIII.

17: 1-2. Billy Kilmer lost VII. Doug Williams won XXII. Jake Delhomme lost XXXVIII.

18: 2-2. Peyton Manning won XLI and 50, and lost XLIV and XLVIII.

19: 0-0. Johnny Unitas played in 2, but wasn't the Colts' quarterback of record in either: He came off the bench in III, but couldn't save them; and started V, but was hurt, and Earl Morrall won it.