The Eagles win, the season ends, and the Texans look to the future.
The Day After the Day After…when the raw, immediate emotions from the aftermath of a game diminish into the realm of clarity and the proverbial (or literal) hangover no longer haunts the mind. With that, a review of the Super Bowl:
Set Number: X164676 TK1
It’s Over: This coming weekend is the first stretch of time since early August where we don’t have the NFL to distract us from our current stressful existence by giving us other stressful things to consider. In a Super Bowl that didn’t exactly enthrall the non-playing fanbases, the Eagles issued a-1980s style NFC beatdown of the Kansas City Chiefs, where the final score (40-22) does not reflect the Eagles’ domination. Jalen Hurts moved the offense, and the Eagles defensive front terrorized Patrick Mahomes. Even the Buddy Ryan D-lines of the late 1980s with Reggie White and Jerome Brown never brutalized an offensive line like the 2024-25 Eagles did. Six sacks, even more QB hits, and Mahomes had flashbacks to Super Bowl LV. The game was 34-0 in the third before the Chiefs gained some garbage time stats.
The Games May Be Over, but the Drama Never Stops: With the final whistle of Super Bowl LIX, the NFL moves to the offseason. No shortage of drama, from whether the Eagles can manage to repeat, to seeing what the Chiefs do to bounce back, to what the teams at the top of draft will do. Already, the soap opera that is Aaron Rodgers gears up with the news that the New York Jets will let him move on to other pastures. What do teams with cap room (New England Patriots) do this off-season and what do teams with little cap room (Cleveland Browns) end up doing? Where do some of the big stars who are trade candidates end up (Myles Garrett, Cooper Kupp, Micah Parsons)? So many questions, so much drama…and we haven’t even hit free agency yet. Also, get ready for millions and millions of mock drafts. Draft porn as far as the computer screen can shine.
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Included in that drama, the Houston Texans: Oh yes, the Texans. They did manage to get those offensive coordinator/offensive line coach slots filled. Unfortunately, the payoff is over half a year away. Until then, plenty of personnel concerns remain. The Texans find themselves anywhere between cap space of just $2M to over the cap by ~$1M. They have some significant decisions to make with players like Darnel Autry, who seem like clear cap cuts. Would Houston even consider a move like trading Laremy Tunsil (currently carrying the largest cap hit on the team at ~$26M)? The offensive line, especially the interior, is begging for additional reinforcements. Can Caserio get that during free agency? Do guys like Metchie and Hutchinson get traded? Does Houston see what it can get from first round bust Kenyon Green in the trade market? What of safety? Could Houston try to bring back Stephon Diggs? Oh, and what moves do division rivals like the Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars make? Can they actually make the AFC South more than just the Texans’ warm-up act for the playoffs?
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A key lesson for the Texans from the Philadelphia Eagles…Line Play Matters a Great Deal: At the risk of coach-speak, this game was won on the line of scrimmage. The Eagles’ defensive front owned the Chiefs, but the Eagles’ Oline more than held their own against the vaunted Spagnuolo defense. For Houston, at least there are some elements from the Eagles in place. The defensive ends pairing of Anderson and Hunter can match the Eagles’ edge rushers. However, the Texans should consider upgrading the defensive interior. Improvements on the O-line take priority, but Houston is in position to possess a defensive front every bit as strong as the Eagles with some key adds.
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FUN WITH NUMBERS:
2-1: The Eagles’ Record When Tom Brady Is Involved With Their Super Bowl Appearances. Dare we say that Tom Brady is the good luck charm for the Eagles? Brady got over on the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX, but since then, when the Eagles and Brady share the same field in a significant fashion, the Eagles are 2-0. First off, Super Bowl LII, where Brady’s great weakness as a receiver was exposed, never mind Brady set records in his primary throwing function. Then, with Brady the lead analyst for Super Bowl LIX, the Eagles blasted the Chiefs.
19: Average margin of victory by winning teams in Super Bowls played in the Superdome. Super Bowl LIX was the eighth Super Bowl played in that stadium. Most of them tend to be decisive blowouts. At one point, the Eagles led 40-6, and it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that the Eagles could make a run at the largest margin of victory (45), set in Super Bowl XXIV (also here), when the San Francisco 49ers bested the Denver Broncos 55-10. Some Chiefs’ garbage time magic ended that possibility, but the 40-22 thrashing was within the averages of Superdome Super Bowls (36-17 is the average). Take away the walk-off Patriots win in Super Bowl XXXVI and the “power outage” game of Super Bowl XLVII, and the margin jumps to 24 points (38-14). New Orleans: fun town to host Super Sunday, but the on-field product doesn’t turn out that great.
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GAME BALLS:
Eagles Defensive Line: Sure, Hurts got the MVP, and he did play a strong game, but multiple Eagles’ defensive linemen deserved to win it. Super Bowl XII saw DLs Randy White and Harvey Martin share MVP and Super Bowl XX gave the MVP honors to Richard Dent, even as other Bears’ defenders could have taken that honor. Likely, if the fans didn’t vote on the award, but it went back to those at the game, an Eagles’ defender probably gets the nod.
RB Saquon Barkley: His overall numbers don’t shout great play. However, he did set the NFL record for most overall yards rushing in a season. His 57 yards on 25 carries weren’t great, but he led the Eagles with six receptions (40 yards) and make some critical pass blocks . Yet, the biggest role he played was as decoy, allowing Hurts and the receivers to move the ball. The last time a running back played such a significant role as decoy was when the great Walter Payton did so against New England in Super Bowl XX. Hopefully, Barkley didn’t pout when he got shutout of the end zone.
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SHOULD BE FORCED TO BABYSIT DRUNK EAGLES FANS UNTIL THE DRAFT:
KC OC Matt Nagy: Perhaps lost in all of the Chiefs’ plotlines is that the offense never really got on track. Mahomes did not make the Pro Bowl, and KC just couldn’t put up the points. Then, in the Super Bowl, when the Chiefs had a bye and came off their best offensive output of the year in the AFC Title Game, the offense did NOTHING. No running game (24 yards on 7 carries by running backs). Midway through the third quarter, Mahomes was 8/16 for 52 yards and two INTs. All of this with no blocking. Nagy may survive until next season, but he is going to be under a major microscope, especially if the Chiefs can’t get going.
Heat President Pat Riley Odd that a basketball executive ends up here, but this hasn’t been a great week for the NBA legend. He lost his standoff with Jimmy Butler, trading him to the Golden State Warriors for a depressed value, ending a saga that didn’t reflect well on Riley. Then, with the result Sunday, he lost money, since he trademarked “Three-peat” back when he ran the “Showtime” Lakers in the 1980s.
With that, we bid adieu to the 2024-25 season. Next up, the online madness that is the offseason, free agency and the draft. The new NFL year kicks off in March. See you around then.