As a city whose NFL team is part of the AFC, I long for the day when the Houston Texans aren’t toiling for relevance in the midst of a dynastic run. For the Texan’s first 17 seasons, 2002 through 2018, the New England Patriots owned the football world, winning six Super Bowls, and making the AFC Title Game in 13 of those 18 seasons.
Now, after Sunday night’s 25-22 overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers, the dynasty baton has been handed to the Kansas City Chiefs, who have now, from 2019 through 2023, been to four Super Bowls, and won three of them. We went from the Age of Brady to the Era of Mahomes, with a little Taylor Swift mixed in for good measure.
It’s tough to simultaneously respect what Andy Reid, Mahomes, and the Hunt family have assembled in Kansas City while hating the futility of competing with them. The best you can do is try to build a better mousetrap, one that says “7 STROUD” on the label. We can only hope.
Let’s take a look at winners and losers from last night’s game, and an historic week in Las Vegas for the National Football League:
WINNERS
4. Vegas, baby! Vegas!
So let’s start there, with the host city. If I had to give a report grade to Las Vegas as a Super Bowl host, it would be a solid A-, with the caveat that they got all of the most important things correct. Any complaints I have are either about the weather (cold, rainy, the whole time, not really in their control) and small details (that would probably bore you) about Radio Row, which was basically my office all week. The bottom line is that, if the NFL made an announcement that every Super Bowl moving forward will be in Vegas, I’d happily sign up for that. Great job.
3. NFL schedule makers
With that win over San Francisco, the Chiefs not only cemented their dynasty status and got to raise another Lombardi Trophy, but they will also host the NFL’s season opener on the first Thursday night of the season. That’s the rule — the champ plays Thursday night in Week 1. It just so happens that the Texans are slated to play a road game in Kansas City next season. Could it be the season opener, like it was in 2020, after the Chiefs won the 2019 Super Bowl? Maybe, but I would guess Baltimore (AFC title game rematch), Cincinnati (multiple epic playoff games in recent past), and the Chargers (Jim Harbuagh’s debut) might all rank ahead of the Texans in the cachet department.
2. Patrick Mahomes
1. Andy Reid
For a while, it was looking like the carryover from the second half of the Chiefs’ win over the Ravens was in full effect. In that game in Baltimore, the Chiefs were able to hold on, despite being shut out in the second half of that game. On Sunday, they didn’t score a point until late in the first half. In the second half, though, Mahomes was able to get untracked, and wound up with 333 yards passing, 66 yards rushing, and a few monstrous plays down the stretch in regulation and overtime. With the win on Sunday, Mahomes now joins Brady, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, and Troy Aikman as the only three time Super Bowl winners at quarterback. Similarly, Andy Reid joins Belichick, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, and Joe Gibbs as the only head coaches to win three Super Bowls. This is a dynasty that we are watching.
LOSERS
4. The sports books
For pretty much the whole week leading up to the game, the spread on the game had held steady at Niners -2 and the total points over/under was 47.5. The total points moved to 46.5 by kickoff, which is VERY important to note. With most of the money in Vegas on the Chiefs and the over, the betting outlets were rooting hard for a low scoring Niners win, and for most of the evening, things were lined up just right. Then the Chiefs were able to force overtime, which allowed for another 15 minutes of football, and allowed for the final score to be 25-22, or 47 points total. A Chiefs win, and the over, which meant a bloodbath for the sports books. Too bad, so sad.
3. “Old head” halftime show viewers
Okay, this is where I show my age a little bit. I always enjoy the halftime show, even when the headliner (or supporting artists) aren’t necessarily my cup of tea. That said, I do like Usher, and I am a HUGE Alicia Keys fan. They were great on Sunday night. The other artists were fine, but here is my request to future TV carriers of the Super Bowl — when new artists enter the stage, can you put a caption as to who they are? Don’t assume your audience knows who all these artists are. Seems pretty basic to me.
2. Dre Greenlaw
It hurts me to even type about this one — I can’t think of a worse way for a Super Bowl Sunday to go than Niners linebacker Dre Greenlaw’s Sunday went. First, this Achilles tear running back onto the field:
And then your team loses in overtime, in a game where they held a 10 point lead. Brutal.
1. Kyle Shanahan
Speaking of ten point leads, this makes three Super Bowl teams in which Shanahan has played a key role in coughing up those leads. Shanahan was the Falcons’ offensive coordinator in the loss to the Patriots here in Houston, in which the Falcons led 28-3. Now, as head coach of the Niners, he’s coughed up two double digit leads to Reid and Mahomes in Super Bowls. Shanahan is undoubtedly one of the best coaches in the game today. Hell, half the teams in the league, including the Texans, are pilfering his assistants and trying to copy the Niners blueprint. For whatever reason, perhaps the lack of an elite quarterback, it hasn’t come together in the form of a world title. The Niners run it back with most of their guys again next season, but Sunday was another big chance squandered.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
