It Will Be Chiefs/Eagles In The Super Bowl

Well, the Super Bowl for February 2025 is set.  It will be a rematch of the Super Bowl from February 2023 with the Eagles and the Chiefs as the participants.  The game from two years ago was decided by 3 points and was tense from start to finish; we can only hope that will be the case about two weeks from now.

Eagles 55  Commanders 23: I certainly did not expect this result, but the dominance indicated by the score was about equal to the dominance displayed on the field.  The Eagles outgained the Commanders 459 yards to 350 yards and the Eagles’ defense forced 4 turnovers in the game.  With about 5 minutes left in the third quarter, the Commanders had closed the gap to 11 points, trailing 34-23.  Here are the Commanders’ possessions from that point on:

  • 5 plays  30 yards  1:12 time of possession  FUMBLE
  • 8 plays  1 yard  2:01 time of possession  SACK TURNOVER ON DOWNS
  • 10 plays  36 yards  3:00 time of possession  INTERCEPTION
  • 4 plays  7 yards  1:49 time of possession  TURNOVER ON DOWNS

Meanwhile in the same part of the game, here were the Eagles’ possessions:

  • 7 plays  29 yards  3:24 time of possession  PUNT
  • 5 plays  51 yards  2:58 time of possession  TOUCHDOWN
  • 4 plays  31 yards   2:21 time of possession  TOUCHDOWN
  • 4 plays  80 yards  1:48 time of possession  TOUCHDOWN
  • 2 plays  minus-6 yards  0:40 time of possession  END OF GAME

I said last week that the Commanders are both good and lucky; clearly, they used up their allocation of good fortune for the season before kickoff yesterday.  They were clearly outplayed – – and their fairy godmother took the day off too.

 

Chiefs 32  Bills 29: The game on the field was as even as the score would indicate:

  • Chiefs’ Total Offense = 368 yards   Bills’ Total Offense = 374 yards
  • Chiefs’ time of possession = 29:28   Bills’ time of possession = 30:32
  • Chiefs’ offensive plays = 63   Bills’ offensive plays = 68

This is the fourth time in a row that the Chiefs have beaten the Bills in the playoffs, but this one did not follow the script of other Chiefs/Bills games.  There was no miraculous drive by Patrick Mahomes and the offense in the final seconds to set up the winning score; this time, the Chiefs’ defense did the deed.  After the Chiefs took the lead 32-29 on a field goal with 3:33 left in the game, the defense batted down two Josh Allen pass attempts.  After a short gain on third down, the Bills had to go for it on fourth down.  [Aside: The Bills had gone for it on fourth down 5 times prior to this in the game and had converted 4 of those 5 attempts.]  The defense brought an all-out blitz forcing a hurried throw that fell incomplete.  The Chiefs’ offense then did its job and ran out the clock.

Changing the subject slightly, I also mentioned here before that many Commanders’ fans took a measure of joy that the team’s success came immediately after the departure of Danny Boy Snyder from the owner’s box.  Last week there were several articles indicating that Danny Boy is none too happy about the team’s success in his absence.  Here is a link to one such article at CBSSports.com; it will take you less than 5 minutes to read it:

That report comes from Will Brinson who is a solid NFL reporter and columnist; it cites information gathered by Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta who are both well-respected sports journalists.  In addition to being “intensely unhappy” with the Commanders’ success, the article says that Snyder threatened to back out of the sale process in the final stages of the purchase including a ploy where he would claim to have given up alcohol and that previous transgressions that may have happened were due to his debilitating alcohol dependency.

There are plenty of anonymous quotes in the article and plenty of hearsay contained in the anonymous quotes; so, this is not nearly what one might call “best evidence” for what transpired then or what Snyder’s sentiment is today.  Notwithstanding the accuracy of these recent reports, I can say from personal observation and interaction with Commanders’ fans in the DC area that the absence of Danny Boy Snyder enhances their joy at the turnaround by the team.

Finally, here is one of my favorite Darothy Parker quotes:

“That would be a good thing for them to cut on my tombstone: Wherever she went, including here, it was against her better judgment.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

2 thoughts on “It Will Be Chiefs/Eagles In The Super Bowl”

  1. Where does the 2025 AFC Championship game put Josh Allen on the “elite quarterbacks” list? Down three points, three timeouts, and three minutes remaining.

    1. TenaciousP:

      Josh Allen is an elite QB. Just about every team in the league would trade their starter for him straight up.

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