Okay, just feel like writing this now, and the 4th quarter hasn't even started. The Eagles just got a deep touchdown pass completion to make the score 34-0.
It was simple today.
The Eagles are a very good team to begin with, they just really really wanted this especially after the Super Bowl two years ago, and they were just exceptionally prepared for this one. Their defense was probably as good as the Bears was in '85 -- even though weird: the Chiefs defense was actually really pretty good today also. Their stud RB Saquon Barkley got not-much today.
It was our offensive flailing-about the entire game against this defense. The television people just said the Chiefs hadn't even gotten past midfield. Yet right after they said that sure enough Mahomes gets it to Worthy to get the ball to their 40. Huh, how about that. Past mid-field yay!
Anyway, other factors besides the fine Eagles defensive performance.
The main one was our offensive line. This whole game honestly felt like that Super Bowl against the Buccaneers four years ago. We simply could not hide that issue on our left side, especially against a team like this. Not having Joe Thuney at left guard because we simply did not have a decent left tackle was crushing. The Eagles defensive line just overwhelmed us. Patrick was sacked who-knows how-many times.
I have to add that I do also believe all the "Officiating favors the Chiefs" thing crippled us. Again, the Scorecasting factor tells us definitively that those kinds of things do influence how a game is called.
The first penalty of the game favoring the Chiefs was indeed totally legit. You can't substantively push off a defender as a WR, and AJ Brown did that to Trent McDuffie's head. Even the television ref said it was legit even if he didn't agree. But right out of the gate doubts are planted.
Just a bit later they called a head-to-head hit from McDuffie to their tight end which so wasn't. It would have been 4th down and we would have gotten their offense off the field. It was totally reminiscent of the phantom roughing-the-passer call on Chris Jones against Tom Brady in the 2018 AFC Championship Game. The Eagles went on to score a touchdown. This phantom call was a million times more damaging to the Chiefs than the previous legitimate call was to the Eagles.
This just set the tone for the rest of the game. The Chiefs simply looked like they could not play as aggressively as they would have liked.
In fact just to add to the whole officiating thing. It is early in the 4th quarter now as I write this and Patrick gets strip-sacked, Eagles recovering. But right as this was happening he got hammered in the facemask, a clear penalty. Not called. So yeah, I agree with all the people who are saying the officiating does favor a certain team. But again as I shared in my last post quite truthfully I feel, it isn't favoring the Chiefs. It never has.
But I will not take away from what the Eagles did legitimately. They did win convincingly, more kudos to them, honestly. They just played really well today.
For next year it is clear we also need something more of a running game. Wonderful work from Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco this year, but we need much more there back there. Even though Saquon Barkley was regularly stuffed tonight, just having him there opened up the rest of the Eagles offense and their fine QB Jalen Hurts took advantage of it. When he needed to chew yardages with his running and needed to make a decent pass often enough, he did.
We got a touchdown late in the 3rd, a nice long pass completion to Worthy at the goal line, so it wasn't a shutout, that's okay. We actually got a couple more TDs, the last one to Xavier on a super long bomb into the end zone, ahh, reminiscent of the 2018 Mahomes. It was nice to see considering.
Well, the three-peat is done. It was really nice to talk about it all season though, that was fun. Not many talked about the Packers two three-peats they had before the Super Bowl era, so really, it wouldn't have been as unprecedented as they say.
The great thing is Patrick Mahomes won't take this lightly, and ya know? Neither will Brett Veach. He'll know what to do with the draft, and with shoring up the things we must. He's got this.
And there is no reason to be disappointed. Here we were in the Super Bowl again. Again. Let's make everybody even madder when we get there again next year.
So just for next year -- who cares, it can never be too early!...
Go Chiefs!
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