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The latest
Brady apologized to Mathieu for losing his composure in the heat of the moment, of which Mathieu said, “I’ve never really seen that side of him.”
During the game, Brady and Mathieu sparred multiple times. At one point, Brady even chased him down and got in his face.
Brady called Mathieu the “ultimate competitor” in his apology text and said he knew he needed to match Mathieu’s intensity Sunday.
The Worst Game of Patrick Mahomes’s Life and the End of the Chiefs’ Inevitability | The Ringer
It turns out Mahomes is not as inevitable as the tides or drunk pizza. The Chiefs once again etched their name in the playoff record books Sunday, but this time in a miserable way. Mahomes was pressured more than any other quarterback in Super Bowl history. His teammates had the most penalty yards in a quarter in Super Bowl history. Head coach Andy Reid made one of the riskiest timeout decisions in Super Bowl history. Usually Mahomes is a football elixir that solves every problem. But for the first time in his career, he was merely a great quarterback who couldn’t compensate for his team’s myriad woes. Mahomes was not a myth, but a mortal who was unable to fix everyone else’s flaws.
Bucs S Antoine Winfield Jr. on taunting Tyreek Hill: ‘Something I just had to do’ | NFL.com
“The taunting, it was something I just had to do,” Winfield said. “When we played them earlier, Hill went off on us. He back-flipped in front of my face and gave me the peace sign. So it was only right that I gave him the peace sign right back to him at this moment. It felt amazing to be able to do that. I’m not even gonna lie.”
Don’t pay up for running backs (again)
Just look at what these two teams got out of their respective running games in the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs could barely rely on Clyde Edwards-Helaire — their first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft — to do much of anything, while the Bucs got 125 yards and a touchdown on Leonard Fournette’s 20 total touches. Fournette, by the way, was available for nothing the week before the season started, and played behind Ronald Jones for most of the year.
There was a lot made of how it was alright for Kansas City to take a running back in the first round despite all available evidence that it is a poor use of resources, due to Edwards-Helaire’s perfect fit for the offense and game-breaking talent. But he underwhelmed during the regular season and looked like the team’s second-best back for most of the playoffs. Former college teammate Darrel Williams — an undrafted free agent — outplayed him when on the field. Fournette was a former No. 4 overall pick who, again, became available shortly before the start of the season. And the guy that replaced him in Jacksonville (undrafted free agent James Robinson) gave the Jags significantly more than Fournette ever did.
It’s just not worth it to pay up (or use a premium pick) at a position where production can be found for so little investment.
Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes face challenging road back to Super Bowl in loaded AFC | Sporting News
To say the Chiefs are subject to a post-Super Bowl jinx would be short-sighted. Kansas City still runs the AFC. Before Super Bowl 55, Mahomes’ nine losses as a starter were by an average of 4.4 points per game, none were by more than seven points and only five were against AFC teams where Brady wasn’t the quarterback.
That said, the AFC is loaded.
Seven other teams in the conference won 10 or more games in the 2020 season. The Bills will continue to build around Josh Allen. The Browns, who had their chances when Mahomes was knocked out of their divisional playoff game, will be competitive with Baker Mayfield. The Ravens present similar challenges with Lamar Jackson. The Titans, Colts and Dolphins are all solid. The Patriots and Bill Belichick figure to be a wild card when quarterback-hunting this offseason, and we have no idea whether Deshaun Watson will still be in the AFC.
Three-round 2021 NFL mock draft 1.0: Jets trade out of No. 2 overall pick | NFL.com
31 - Kansas City Chiefs
Carlos Basham Jr. · Edge rusher
School: Wake Forest | Year: Senior (RS)
Free agency could leave a large hole in the Chiefs’ defensive line. Basham’s strength and length make him a nice replacement for whichever veteran (Tanoh Kpassagnon, Alex Okafor and/or Taco Charlton) does not return.
The toxicology results aren’t back yet and within the legal system, Britt Reid maintains his innocence. The Chiefs are worldly enough to know, however, that when the police say when someone has bloodshot eyes and alcohol on their breath and that person admits to drinking before getting behind the wheel, the conclusion is all but forgone.
Medical bills can be covered without the organization admitting liability. Even if it couldn’t, the Hunts are worth an estimated $15 billion. They can afford to do the decent thing here.
The question is if they recognize it.
So far, the team has issued just a brief, terse and fairly heartless statement noting that “our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved.”
That’s it.
It isn’t enough.
Britt Reid didn’t coach in the Super Bowl, he himself is hospitalized after requiring surgery following the crash. He’s still employed by the team.
Around the NFL
The NFL’s 5 winners and 4 losers from the 2020-2021 season | SB Nation
Alex Smith
Simply setting foot for a cameo made Washington Football Team quarterback Alex Smith an extraordinary story. Actually playing a lot, and playing well enough to win five of his six regular-season starts, made what Smith accomplished something beyond extraordinary. Whatever that is. I don’t have the word for it.
Smith won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award. The league should probably rename it in his honor. After the gruesome 2018 broken leg and the subsequent infections that nearly resulted in amputation playing football — subjecting that leg to being hit by angry 300-pound people — shouldn’t have even been a consideration. Yet, Smith did it. And did it well.
Minnesota Vikings promote Klint Kubiak to offensive coordinator, sources say | ESPN
Klint Kubiak, 33, will take over the position his father held for the 2020 season. NFL Network was the first to report the younger Kubiak’s promotion to offensive coordinator after he coached Minnesota’s quarterbacks for the past two years.
Minnesota’s offensive staff is set for the upcoming season with Andrew Janocko, who coached wide receivers last season, expected to become the team’s quarterbacks coach, while Keenan McCardell, who coached wide receivers in Jacksonville from 2017 to 2020, will hold the same position with the Vikings, according to league sources.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
6 winners and 6 losers from the Chiefs’ loss in Super Bowl LV
Winners
Travis Kelce: The Chiefs’ star tight end wasn’t perfect on Sunday; he dropped a couple of passes he usually brings in. But with 10 receptions for 133 yards, he was really the only part of the offense that worked.
Patrick Mahomes: The stats will say he struggled mightily, but those watching the game realize that Mahomes was getting absolutely no help out there. He made some plays with his feet and put some deeper passes right where they needed to be... only to have them dropped. There wasn’t much more you could have asked of Mahomes. He was running for his life and desperately trying to make something happen. It just never did.
A tweet to make you think
Losing in the Super Bowl > losing in the AFC Playoffs
— Tom Childs (@tomchilds56) February 8, 2021
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