Game overview:
When I think of how best to write up this game, I’m thrown a minor curveball -- because there’s not a lot of ‘football’ to discuss. No intriguing chess match moves to debate, no back-and-forth game moments to dissect, no referees to blame -- the Eagles just went out and kicked the Chiefs’ arses. End of analysis.
Even that’s too much of an action-packed way to put it...I more liken it to an anaconda (Philly) slowly wrapping around its prey (KC) and methodically, patiently squeezing the life out of them over 4+ hours. There was never a moment where Kansas City was ‘in’ this game. No reason for a giant game discussion.
But we will go through this game...in a different way. I’m going to follow along my random notes and discuss everything from the futures for the teams/players, to the halftime show, to the commercials...doing so from an NFL and/or future betting and/or Fantasy Football/Dynasty perspective.
Let’s go on a journey...one with a lot of pit stops and off-roading, as the mood strikes me. Let’s wrap up the 2024-25 season with a kaleidoscope of thoughts and topics from the Super Bowl. Here we go...
When I think back to this Super Bowl, whether next year or 5-50 years from now, I will remember it probably like a lot of people will think of it -- hey, that was the game where KC got blown out and I left a perfectly fine watch party very early because everyone at the party was wanting to stop watching/get on with their lives.
I can’t remember the last time I was so bored in a Super Bowl that I just willingly walked away from it way ahead of the ending. And it wasn’t just me...the others at the watch party were like: ‘Well, I’ve got to get up for work tomorrow...so, I might as well get a jump on things!’ And thus the clean-up of the party and the boxing up of food, etc., began when Philly took a 34-0 lead. When KC finally scored (the next drive) to make it 34-6, hardly anyone at the party (and mostly KC fans where I was) noticed...and definitely no one cared that KC scored. Most everyone had written off the Chiefs a while ago...and we were all out the door before the 4th-quarter began.
A sad way to end a season that was filled with great games and great moments. Just a bad luck of the draw for the Super Bowl. We’ll get into some of the player performances and coaching in the next section. Before we do, I want to hit on two non-football things from this event:
1) I am a Lauren Daigle fan...my wife is an even bigger fan. I’ve only been to three music concerts in my life (I really don’t like concerts/large gatherings in tight seating), and two of them were Lauren Daigle. With that said, I was excited when I saw that she was singing ‘America the Beautiful’ before kickoff.
But I was left a little flat by the performance (a sign of football things to come, apparently) -- it wasn’t a song where she could really ‘do her thing’ vocally. She is such an unbelievable singer with such a powerful voice...I could not recommend her highly enough, but music is such a particular/individual thing who knows who will like what, but I really love to listen to her stuff when the mood hits.
This wasn’t the only Super Bowl musical performance that didn’t work for me...but we’ll get into that in a bit.
2) The Commercials...
I’m not going to waste a ton of time going through the highs and lows of several commercials, as I usually do in this Super Bowl/season end extravaganza...but not this year. I’m so ‘over’ the Super Bowl commercials because they just get progressively worse every year.
You’d think they’d get ever better and ever more clever over time, but they just keep wasting our time...these Ad companies either shoot so low on the bad comedy scale or they shoot so high on the blowhardiness and artistic concept that the simple bottom line is missed -- did your ad move the needle or create awareness.
Are flying eyebrows and mustaches really making me hungry for Pringles? Now, when I think of Pringles...I think of two of the most disgusting body parts ripping away from human bodies and setting off to the skies. You’re driving me AWAY with your ad!
The Ben Affleck Dunkin commercials are on the (kinda) funny side, but when I think of Dunkin Donuts...I think -- isn’t that the place with the almost always quasi-stale donuts...so they have coffee too? I think these thoughts on my way past Dunkin and to Starbucks for the millionth time in my life. I have not been given a compelling reason to TRY a Dunkin coffee besides Ben Affleck and friends have funny Boston accents. If they talked about how their similar offering was just as good but at half the price of Starbucks, maybe I’d give them a shot. But they have ‘Donuts’ in their name, and they don’t have donuts down correctly...not at the places I’ve gone to. Krispy Kreme kicks their arse...so why should I think Dunkin has mastered coffee? But Ben Affleck is funny. I went to Dutch Bros. coffee for the first time on my recent travels -- no way Dunkin is better than them either.
Starbucks and Apple and other brands that sell themselves on quality...they don’t typically use funny commercials to push themselves...they don’t need to. But Dunkin coffee...or cheap pizza/Little Caesars...or car insurance...or chemical-laden chips/Pringles -- they have to roll out the ‘humor’ (in quotes) to deflect/distract you from how weak their products are by comparison.
I saw various top 10 Super Bowl 2025 commercial lists from writers or online voting perspectives -- which are just a list of the top 10 ads that ‘amused’ them. That’s the wrong way to look at it. Monday morning, I saw an Ad analyst ask the panel on CNBC if they knew what the #1 Super Bowl 2025 commercial was by actual response/people going online to research it? And the Ad analyst also added to his question...that this one advertisement was like 12x searched/sought out of the next most impactful Ad. The CNBC morning hosts didn’t/couldn’t name it, if I remember correctly. The correct answer surprised them...it was the T-Mobile/Starlink phone ad.
The thing that struck me about that T-Mo ad being #1...and the #2 and #3 ads that the Ad analyst talked about...was that none of the top 3 responsiveness measured commercials had celebrities in them. They didn’t have to get too cute or overspend on a celeb...they had a new product or a twist/upgrade on a product that they easily presented to the people to become aware of and left them wanting to find out more.
I hope this is a sign to companies to stop pushing agendas or artistic flairs or hack comedy pieces on Super Bowl (or all) ads into the future...and just tell us about products we might be interested in, simply and normally...have good products we might be interested in, is a good thing too. And I hope this is a sign that the American public is ‘over’ celebrity endorsements that aren’t even real/items they themselves really use or adore. I think society might be turning on the celebs. Taylor Swift can attest to that. We’re tired of being lied to or forced things down our throats...at least I hope society is.
I still can’t tell you what the one commercial with the guy who had a hat-shaped head/skull was pitching or selling or representing. Who approved that Ad pitch/concept and then who signed off on the finished product?
*I’ll talk about my take on the halftime show midway through the next section.
Player Scouting Notes from the game:
-- The main football takeaway I had from this game watch is: It’s stunning how fast an NFL team can turn itself around or advance to new heights in just one year.
The Eagles defense was SO bad by the end of the 2023 season that it got their 1st-year defensive coordinator fired after one whole season. They hired Vic Fangio and drafted two rookie DBs, two of the best the draft had to offer -- and then BOOM the Eagles have the best defense in football in 2024 and absolutely humiliated the defending champs and their holy QB.
It wasn’t the defensive line/pass rush that the Eagles invested in the prior few years that changed the defense -- Jordan Davis and Nolan Smith and Jalen Carter were there last year when this defense was a doormat to end 2023. It took an upgrade at the MOST important defensive position (cornerback...outside and slot) AND it more likely/impactful took a great defensive coach to bring it all together. You are likely not getting THIS defense, if the same exact personnel, but they kept the former D-C Sean Desai in place. Kudos to the Eagles management for hiring Vic Fangio.
Look at how much Washington improved in 2024, in a blink...from its long stretch of a disaster under the previous owner to Final Four this season. Detroit went from perpetual losers to now, arguably, the best team in all of football (when fully healthy) with Dan Campbell...it took two years to see the rise
NFL teams and fans should expect nothing less than a 1-2 years turnaround and if there is no sign of it, GMs and coaches should be fired after a year...two at the max. Coaches usually do get fired quickly...but somehow GMs avoid the quick churn. It must be the arrogance of upper management/GMs thinking they have given the coach 53 bars of gold to have...but those dumb coaches are messing up their personnel masterpiece. It’s Ryan Poles’ fault that the Bears have sucked the last two years. It’s Trent Baalke’s fault the Jags died off. Owners need to have a quicker hook on GMs, not more patience.
And when you think of how Vic Fangio failed in Miami, in his one year there...with a prior career of defensive gold and then this 2024 masterpiece -- how is it that Mike McDaniel is still employed as a head coach? A lot of people quipped...I wonder what the Giants owner thinks of his GM after watching Saquon win a Super Bowl. But why isn’t anyone wondering what Stephen Ross (Miami owner) thinks watching his 2023 defensive coordinator hire, one of the NFL’s best defensive minds of the past decade, utterly fail with his team and then have the GM/HC fire/’part ways’ with the man (Fangio) who might be the single most important thing Philly acquired in the offseason, more important than Saquon.
Mike McDaniel is a dead-man-walking in the 2025 season...or should be, but you never hear a peep about him, or the Dolphins GM being ragged on for the Fangio botch, and constant disappointments in Miami. There’s a reason Tyreek Hill blasted off on them/the team at the end of the 2024 season.
-- The strength/goodness of the offensive line is about to be the most important thing in the NFL...more important than QB. And we saw in this game how important the O-Line play/skill was. Patrick Mahomes was sacked 6 times and was hit 11 times...forcing him to throw two picks early and for the offense to barely gain yardage for three quarters of this game.
I say O-Line is going to surpass QB as ‘the most important position/thing’ in the NFL...because pretty soon, there will be so many capable QBs in the NFL...that the difference between them will come down to their protection. Just ask Mahomes, who looked terrible in this game...worst he has looked since the Bucs did this same thing to him in the Super Bowl in 2022 season (3 sacks, 9 QB hits, 0 TD passes/2 picks, 9 points scored on all field goals...in a 22-point beatdown by Tampa).
A good or bad O-Line, whether through talent and/or coaching or injuries, is changing NFL teams’ trajectories in an instant.
...you saw it up close in this game.
...you saw it in the weak numbers from C.J. Stroud in 2024 (thus, the O-C fired).
...you saw it in the Rams (1-4) start, when they were missing most of their very good O-Line...then once they started getting the O-Line back healthy, after their Week 6 bye, the Rams went (9-3) from there and took the division outta nowhere.
Matt Stafford threw for 324 yards, 2 TDs/0 INTs in the snow vs. this vaunted Eagles defense...credit Stafford but credit a top O-Line that had the Eagles team beat, but blew it with under a minute left when they gave up a sack on 3rd & 2 in the red zone to cost them the game. It was very close to being a Rams v. Chiefs Super Bowl...in part, because of the Rams O-Line.
...that’s why I’m not believing Will Levis is a ‘bad QB’ just yet -- because the Titans had the worst offensive line in the NFL...one of the worst pass protection O-Lines I’ve ever seen. It’s convenient for the fans and media, and his own coaches, to blame the Titans' issues on Levis. I’m telling you...it ran WAY deeper than that.
Since Mahomes was drafted, the Chiefs have had seven NFL Drafts...and not once did they draft an offensive lineman in the 1st-round...and when they didn’t have a 1st-round pick, their first pick in those drafts (2nd or 3rd round)...they also didn’t draft an offensive lineman either.
Will the NFL learn their lesson from observing all this O-Line importance? Nope. They’ll do what they always do...chase after QBs, and/or EDGE rushers, and/or skinny/fast WRs in the top 10-15 of the draft. Teams need one QB, two EDGE rushers, 2-3 WRs...but they need at least five, but really more like 7 to have five healthy offensive linemen with rotational depth -- but the NFL won’t prioritize/draft OLs with those proportions in mind.
The teams that figure out the O-Line dominance are going to be the teams of the future. The Detroit Lions are a blueprint, as are the Rams and Vikings. The old Patriots teams were dominant on the O-Line due to Dante Scarnecchia.
-- Let’s talk about the game MVP, Jalen Hurts.
I wonder if the Eagles hadn’t gotten screwed by the refs/won their 2022 Super Bowl showdown with KC...and thus this was Jalen Hurts’ 2nd Super Bowl title and MVP -- would we be saying that Jalen Hurts is the best QB in the NFL, not Patrick Mahomes? Hurts would then be (2-0) in Super Bowls (in my alternative universe scenario) with two MVPs and Mahomes would be (2-3) with wins over Jimmy G. and Brock Purdy.
You won’t get the NFL intelligentsia to ever admit that Jalen Hurts is a better QB than Patrick Mahomes...because then we’d all be reminded that every ‘smart’ NFL analyst and writer, and thus fan...especially Philly fans, were HOWLING for the Eagles to sign a QB in free agency or trade for a QB (like Deshaun Watson) and/or draft a QB during Hurts’ first two seasons...because THEY KNEW Hurts wasn’t a good QB...WHY he wasn’t even a 1st-round pick! As far as the fans were concerned, the Eagles stupidly took him in the 2nd-round, way ahead of when the experts said Hurts should be drafted. So, there is no way we can have this story wind up to be that Hurts is actually better than Mahomes -- but I do think there is a case for the debate.
Just like we will never get them to see that Brock Purdy was 10x better than their ‘generational talent’ in the 2022 NFL Draft, Trevor Lawrence.
These analysts and scouts and GMs and writers and fans...they really know QBs. Never question them. They’re only wrong about QBs like every draft season...so, why would you question them? Remember when they were ‘Tanking for Tua’? Remember when Baker Mayfield was a bust? Remember when they assured us that Jared Goff was stupid for Detroit to trade for?
But...I’m sure they’ll be ‘right’ this time on the great Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward duo. They’re overdue to be right some year.
I was listening to some Super Bowl pregame talk on Fox, and the analysts were going overboard to show how much they liked Jalen Hurts and they were gonna ‘hip’ you stupid fans to how you don’t appreciate Hurts like they do...which is funny because it’s the same analysts and media that caused the Hurts fan-repulsion early on. But I was sitting there listening to the panel try and one up each other with Hurts praise, and a couple of them harped on how Hurts is such a selfless player who doesn’t want the spotlight, that he just wants to win...yada, yada...and how it’s unusual for this trait to be present because so many players want the spotlight/attention...and that was the sign of a great NFL QB.
...and I was sitting there thinking...aren’t you all the same people who pushed Caleb Williams, known attention hog/blowhard and sawft mental constitution, as the top QB in the past draft (and now we find out he isn’t even top 4 in his draft class)? And they’ll be the same analysts who will push Shedeur Sanders as the top player for this draft -- Shedeur is the 180-degree opposite of Jalen Hurts in every way you could measure them for the NFL. So why does anyone in football analysis even remotely think Shedeur is the best player or QB, or close to it, in the 2025 NFL Draft...if character and leadership matters?
...wait, breaking news, I am getting word that Shedeur Sanders is looking at purchasing his 7th luxury car. More details when we get them...
-- OK, it’s HALFTIME of this report. Let’s talk about the halftime show.
The three nicest words I can express about this halftime show is: NOT. FOR. ME.
I like rap just fine...old school rap, I used to have mostly Run-DMC, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, etc., on my playlists/in my collection -- so, I’m not a total hater on the rap genre, per se...but I must be getting older (and/or wiser) because none of this halftime show’s ‘singing’ or ‘rapping’ made any sense to me.
Bad music (to me). Boring presentation. If the biggest thing you can take away from this show was something about his feud with something called ‘Drake’...then you lead a sad existence that you even care about/follow that.
The summary of my experience watching this halftime show can best be expressed with the following video clip where my reaction to the show are represented by the great Jackie Chan: https://youtu.be/cJX1REQB12o?si=ff2AJ1lRBOmCtKFS
The answer to the question in that video, for me: ‘No...I don’t’
Moving on.
-- The swan dive of Isiah Pacheco (3-7-0, 1-5-0/2) continued here...as I predicted it would, and as I bet on his ‘UNDERS’ for rushing totals. What a fall from grace this season.
The future of rapid rise-and-falls of RBs is just beginning. 2023 had a wave of RB talent hit the NFL...and 2024 has another wave coming in. There are too many talented RBs to not see backfield philosophy switching to hot hands and RBBCs...it only makes operational sense with this much talent. However, there are still plenty of coaches who fall in love with one of their RBs and they will ride him to the ends of the earth, even if it’s the lesser talented back (see: Najee Harris). One of my key priorities of the 2025 offseason is to find the backfield problems spots to avoid and find/run to the safe harbors...talent assessment is secondary...status is primary. We won’t be able to fully assess all that until after free agency and the draft.
Isiah Pacheco is in danger of being in a committee/no longer being ‘the guy’ in 2025. His 2024 injury opened that door, sadly/tragically for him. It will probably be specifically a Hunt-Pacheco mix in 2025. Hunt is much loved by Andy Reid, as is Pacheco.
-- Speaking of things that it’s probably time for the Chiefs to move on from: Travis Kelce, DeAndre Hopkins, Marquise Brown.
Kelce looked about as interested in playing in this game, as I did in watching the game from halftime on. Kelce really tailed off the 2nd-half+ of 2024 season...and never got it going in the playoffs, at all. Kelce averaged 3.0 rec. (5.0 targets), 29.0 yards, and 0.0 TDs in the last two, crucial, games for KC. And having down numbers is one thing, but it’s not even that teams are doubling him anymore...he’s just starting to fade out a bit. He could still go another year, and he probably will...but he has peaked as a performer. He’s earned the right to come back for another run...but KC really needs to move on with their lives.
DeAndre Hopkins (2-18-1/5) was really a key trade acquisition...wasn’t he? Man, what happened to that guy? Eventually, Father Time gets us all. Boy, that 3rd-down pass to him for a huge gain while it was still a game...that he dropped while so wide open...it might have been the moment in time this game was lost, because that catch and run might have turned the game around for KC’s offense.
Marquise Brown (2-15-0/6) really ended on a whimper this season. He looked nice in his return game from injury, then he died from there. Brown averaged 1.7 rec. (4.3 targets), 16.8 yards, 0.0 TDs per game in the KC playoff run.
-- Xavier Worthy (8-157-2/8) did absolutely nothing in this game, until it was 34-0 and the Eagles defense was playing some bizarre prevent defense that allowed Worthy to be wide open for an entire quarter. He was the only WR who was any threat on KC...and yet the Eagles just sat back and watched him catch passes all quarter. I would’ve tripled Worthy in a prevent and dared Kelce-Hopkins-Brown to catch a pass of any distance, because I’m not sure they could.
What’s funny is...had Worthy just ended up with 1-2 catches for nothing in this game, his Fantasy ADP would be whatever round/level in a redraft (like 4th-5th-round)...but him catching great junk time tallies pushes him +1-2 rounds higher than the dud would have had him at. The Super Bowl outputs will affect FF ADPs because of ‘the last thing we saw’ leaving an impression.
-- The biggest thing KC can do on defense this offseason is find an outside CB and send Trent McDuffie back into the slot. He’s not in a good position, for him/his talents, to play on the outside. WRs had their way with him all playoffs. He’s not a #1 outside, shutdown corner...even if the TV analysts seem to think he is. He was a very good slot CB until forced to the outside in 2024.
-- My biggest Prop bet for this Super Bowl game was for Eagles EDGE Nolan Smith to get a sack, because he’d been on fire getting sacks of late -- he had 4.0 sacks his three prior games and 6.0 sacks his prior 6 games. In the Super Bowl...no sacks, but 2 QB hits.
I projected the KC O-Line would be in trouble here and would give up sacks, and that Smith would surely have one...but he was like the only EDGE for Philly who DID NOT have one!! I hate losing any prop, but my thesis on this was correct, he just missed a sack or two by inches...dems da breaks.
Who did get one (half) of the sacks from Smith was rookie Jalyx Hunt (2 tackles, 0.5 sacks). I really like what I’ve seen of Hunt this season, and in this game. I think Hunt is more the pass rusher of the future than Nolan Smith is. But Jalyx played FCS ball in college, so he’ll probably be a backup again in 2025...because Smith went to Georgia and was a 1st-round pick, so that obviously means he’s better...obviously.
-- And lastly, one of my favorite idiotic football things...
The TV analysts went on-and-on about the Chiefs holding down Saquon, on the ground in this game. I kept shouting to the TV: Yeah, but at what price? The price of getting beat by everyone else...Hurts, DeVonta, etc.
I’ll bet the defensive coaches planned for two weeks on how to stop Saquon...they got the players to go all in following him around, then the Eagles just used Saquon to run clock and as a decoy to push 40 points on KC for a huge/easy win...but THEY STOPPED Saquon, mission accomplished!!!!...I guess?
That’s it for the 2024 season! Thank you to everyone who supported FFM this past season. I cannot do all the scouting work, have all the low sleep nights, do the video shows, answer all the emails, type all the lengthy reports...if not for your support. It’s not only a full-time endeavor...but it’s like two full-time jobs at a time type of endeavor during the regular season. Then a 1.5 full-time job during the offseason. It takes a ton of time to study and scout all this activity...to search for those betting and Fantasy edges.
It was a pretty successful season from an FF win rate that we tracked among the subscribers and a really nice ROI on Prop betting and parlays for the season. But 2024 is over now...and thus begins my/our 7-month study program for all of us to cash in a profit on, for the upcoming 2025 season.
Football (analysis) never ends.
Time to go to work fully on the offseason, preseason prep for next season!
Scouting Reports, Dynasty player rankings, Dynasty Rookie Mock Drafts, the Combine, Free Agency, summer-time seasonal Prop betting...it’s all coming up quickly!
