Another year and another Super Bowl preview, drama of it all style, looking at the narratives and storylines around the Super Bowl. Super Bowl preview for Super Bowl 58 here we go!
At the beginning of the week I sat down with my good friend Bryan on my podcast Endzone podcast and talked about the Super Bowl. Our conversation about the big game devolved into a 90 minute conversation about a wide range of topics, from whether Brock Purdy is marketable to a state of the league of sorts.
So I took the best parts of that podcast and the discussions that made me think the most and bought it here, to my Super Bowl preview. A piece I always spend a lot of time on and am incredibly proud of. It’s evolved over the years from generic sports blog musings to a look at the game and where we are at as a society with the sport of professional football. I always think my dad will enjoy these pieces of writing. He’s my target audience these days.
So without further ado, we dive into the biggest game in North American sports, the Super Bowl and where we are as a nation with the sport of football.
The Desperate Grasping To Fill The Hole Left by Tom Brady
Last year NFL GOAT Tom Brady retired. I can say that Brady was the GOAT (greatest of all time) with certainty, no player has close to his impressive 7 titles. To me Brady remains the gold standard of North American athlete. No one touches his legacy, not Jordan, not Gretzky, Brady stands alone. He is the standard at which the entirety of the sport now chases.
Look at the conversation surrounding Patrick Mahomes. Is he the greatest QB of this generation? Of all time? The simple answer to these questions is not yet. With a Super Bowl title on Sunday though Mahomes would have three titles to his name and be four away from catching Brady.
Mahomes is 28, and considering the protections QBs in the modern era have on the field, and the fact that advancements off the field now allow most athletes to reach the age of 38-42 and still play at a high level, at 28 Mahomes has a chance to catch Brady with a win Sunday.
On the other sideline, you have Brock Purdy. A second-year player who was the last pick of the NFL draft, the aptly named Mr. Irrelevant.
Parallels of Brady, a sixth-round pick, echo in Purdy’s story as well. Which brings me to my point, Tom Brady has left a GOAT sized void in the NFL and one that the league’s narrative creators are desperately trying to replace.
The comparison for every QB in the NFL is now Brady. For the top 1-10 QBs they are measured on how many titles they win compared to Brady. For late-round draft picks that emerge to be legitimate players at the signal caller position, the comparison is drawn to the lumpy combine photos of Brady.
Brady hasn’t played in a year yet the league is still desperately clinging on to his legacy. Quite honestly they might be doing that for the next 15 years while a new generation of football fans emerge with no memory of Brady. That will take a while though, no player in American sports has ever had the singular impact on the league they played in more than Tom Brady did.
So now the question is who replaces him? The answer appears to be Patrick Mahomes. Yet it is important to remember in terms of accolades Mahomes is still miles behind Brady. A third Super Bowl in his sixth season in the NFL though could keep him on pace with matching the GOAT.
As a Broncos fan, admiring Mahomes is tough, I hate Patrick Mahomes. In the same way I hated Brady as a 14 year old boy. The hate is raging and seething, but underneath that is a begrudging respect for greatness. It’s important to remember though, he hasn’t won three yet, three is a hurdle, once you get three the sky is the limit. At three you enter the conversation of Montana and Unitas, you surpass the likes of Manning and you cement yourself as an NFL legend.
The NFL is grasping for it’s new hero, for the next Brady, the pressure is on Mahomes. Purdy is just here for a good time.
Is The Domination Of A Single Super Star Good For The League?
A point brought up by my friend Bryan in the podcast we did this week was as follow, is having a super star on the level of Mahomes and dominating at his clip good for the sport?
I scoffed at him, my argument is yes of course it is. When Jordan dominated the NBA for a decade in the 90s basketball was at it’s most popular.
You can likewise credit Brady and the Patriot’s run as cementing Football as the standalone sport of the 2000s and 2010s. Do people get bored of dynasties? Of course, they do. They still watch them though, and they watch them out of spite.
Spite and anger have more power at withdrawing passion than love does. This is an unfortunate reality of human existence. We care more about those we despise and want to fall than those closest to us that we love. It is a great human flaw.
Mahomes and the Chiefs create a villain for the sport and people attach themselves to rooting against villains. In comic books and movies, the villains lose though, not so in real life.
Often in reality the villains of our society get the last laugh. That is what keeps the populous kicking and screaming. That is what keeps us voting in elections. That is what keeps us striving to advance in our careers. To find a way to somehow prevail over the villains in our lives. (The main villain in this case being late stage capitalism but I digress)
The thing people don’t want to realize though, is that success makes us villains. In American society we love an underdog, but don’t get too successful or we want to tear you down. Mahomes is entering the beginning of his villain arc, which draws millions of eyes, and millions of doubters.
Mahomes is right when he references the fact that the majority of the NFL picks against him and wants to see him lose. It’s his chip, in the same way that it was Brady’s, see back to Brady.
Villains are good for sports. Without them, we have nothing to root against and the truth is that people enjoy rooting against things more than they enjoy rooting for things.
Is The Brock Purdy Story Marketable?
Another question from Bryan. It’s an interesting one. His argument is that people watch the NFL because they like to watch the best of the best, the most talented, the most skilled professionals in the world.
Plain and simple Brock Purdy is not that. Purdy is a great QB but a very average athlete, with a very average arm, and a very average skill set. System QB as they say.
What makes Purdy special though, and what ultimately does make him marketable in my eyes is the fact that he’s an underdog.
No one is more of an underdog than Brock Purdy. It is impossible to be more of an underdog than Brock Purdy was and as stated before America loves underdog stories. Companies love underdog stories, Purdy is ultra marketable as a face of the NFL and as a player who came up because of hard work and endless dedication.
I can see the argument against it but I fundamentally disagree with the premise. Purdy is still an incredibly talented athlete, just not compared to other starting NFL QBs. Purdy is a great story and something the NFL can continue to build around.
If everyone has a chance to succeed in the right situation, it keeps athletes looking to enter the league interested in the sport no matter where they are projected to be drafted.
How Does The NFL Keep The Swifties Around?
Taylor Swift has been good for football. Is seeing her ten times a game annoying? Yes. I have decided to not be as annoyed though, because that’s frankly stupid to be annoyed by seeing a famous celebrity at a sporting event. She also doesn’t really seem like she wants to be on camera, so honestly I feel a little bit bad for her.
From a numbers standpoint, she is great for the game, Swifties are perhaps some of the most devoted fans on the planet and for the first time they are watching football. The sport needs to expand, we need more women withing the sphere of football. Having a strong and independent woman who likes football involved with the sport is a net positive.
It also becomes more of a family affair, it’s better for the sport when sisters, daughters, and mothers are interested in it. Because then it becomes a family interest, and not to mention something that will be passed to future generations creating more fans of the sport.
None of this is groundbreaking, but it just doesn’t make much sense that men are made to feel insecure when women like sports. While at the same time men often want a woman who will also like sports. It’s an interesting societal paradox but this isn’t a dating website so I won’t get to far into the weeds.
Swift has been good for football and even when Kelce is gone, the league should fight hard to keep her around. She clearly enjoys it.
The Game In Bullet Points
- Niner’s defense is just not that good, you can run on them and guess what all the corners are average or bad. Don’t know why more people haven’t talked about this, just a very middling defense.
- Styles make fights, Spags vs Kyle Shannahan. Two of the best game planners respectively on their sides of the ball in the NFL. It will be very interesting to see what the Chiefs answer to the Niner’s defense is and vice versa.
- Travis Kelce has played like an all pro for about a month now. Expect him to dominate Niner’s linebacker Fred Warner.
- MVS sightings will happen early and often in this game.
- Isaaiah Pacheco can dominate this game if Andy Reid gives him the ball.
- Niners defensive line can make life hell for Patrick Mahomes.
- I do think Brock Purdy plays well in this game, I do not see him making any mistakes, that said I can’t see him willing his team over Mahomes.
- Rule 1, never bet against Brady.
- Rule 2, never bet against Patrick Mahomes.
- The Chiefs’ offense has a field day.
Prediction
Mahomes, so easily.
Chiefs 30 Niners 23