By Tim Clark / February 11, 2024 / Column, Tim's Two Cents
Tuesday

I admit it.

In early December, after the Bills beat the Chiefs in Kansas City, I said I didn’t think there was any way the Chiefs were going to the Super Bowl much less winning it.

The lesson to be learned is never to doubt the combination of Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes because they are, without a doubt, the best in the business. 

Andy Reid is tracking Bill Belichick, with one exception. Reid was a successful coach in two different cities, Philadelphia and Kansas City.

Reid is racking up wins at a high rate. He currently ranks fourth on the all time list with 284, only 49 off the Belichick pace. It isn’t hard to imagine the Chiefs averaging at least 10 wins over the next five years, thus allowing Reid to surpass Belichick and put Don Shula in his sights. The only question seems to be whether Reid wants to keep coaching that long.

The thing that strikes me as most impressive about Reid is his knack for hiring excellent assistant coaches. It seems like he always has great assistant coaches. Steve Spagnola deserves a lot of credit for this Chiefs Super Bowl. What he did with that defense is nothing short of amazing.

The other obvious parallel between Belichick and Reid is both have/had the best quarterback in football at their disposal. In my mind, Brady made Belichick more than the other way around. With the Chiefs I see more of a 50/50 split for who deserves more credit.

Make no mistake, however, the difference between the Chiefs and every other team in the league is the Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes at quarterback and every other team does not.

What Mahomes accomplished this year had to be his most miraculous achievement. Tyreek Hill was gone, so he and more I’d changed the game plan and kept on truckin’.

This Chiefs offense was far from vintage.

The wide receivers were subpar no names, bad enough that they brought back Mercole Hardman after letting him go to the Jets in the offseason. Hardman would make the winning catch Sunday night in overtime. Rashee Rice turned into a sort of go to receiver, which isn’t saying much for the rest of the crew.

Isaiah Pacheco is a solid, but not spectacular running back. His backups are adequate at best. The most dynamic runner the Chiefs had was Patrick Mahomes, and he tried not to run very much.

The tight end is a Hall of Fame player, but looked old for much of the season. Then the playoffs rolled around and he looked rejuvenated. Travis Kelce was the one sure thing Mahomes still had, along with a solid offensive line.

How many times did Tom Brady win with mediocre talent around him on offense. That’s what the great ones do. Mahomes is a great one.

That loss to the Bills left the Chiefs 8-5, and two weeks later they lost at home to the Raiders to go 9-6. No way they could run the table in the playoffs, particularly on the road for at least two games.

But Patrick Mahomes.

Then Sunday night the Chiefs had absolutely nothing working. Thanks to a few mistakes from San Francisco, the Chiefs were only down 10-3 at halftime. Mahomes threw for a paltry 123 yards in the first half, then opened up the second half with an interception.

But Patrick Mahomes.

Mahomes finished with 333 yards and led the tying drive late in regulation. Then with the game on the line, Mahomes drove his team down the field for a Super Bowl winning touchdown in overtime, including two big runs of his own.

A game that started out as poorly as you could imagine wound up being an overtime classic.

Why?

Patrick Mahomes put his team on his back like the great ones do, and won another Super Bowl. The 49ers were in position, but could not hold off the greatness of Mahomes.

The Chiefs are officially a dynasty, and will attempt to become the first three-peat Super Bowl champion next year. I wouldn’t bet against them.

Why?

The Chiefs have possibly the best coach in NFL history. The Chiefs also have possibly the best quarterback in NFL history.

One thing we can remove the word possibly from.

Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes are the best in the business.

Super Bowl Two Cent Takes

  • All day pregame is unnecessary. I watched zero minutes of pregame.
  • Post Malone and Reba McIntyre was an interesting combo to start things off.
  • The first half was a slopfest. Hard to believe the game ended up that compelling.
  • The game was actually officiated pretty well.
  • The new overtime rules seemed confusing only to the 49ers.
  • Why did San Francisco quit leaning on the McCaffrey run game?
  • Did George Kittle play?
  • Last week I told you some relative unknown steps up. This year it was Jauan Jennings of the 49ers. 
  • I am still not sold on Brock Purdy outside of the Shanahan system. He is still a solid NFL QB.
  • The Kelce shove of Andy Reid tells me what I need to know about his self control. Bad look. Good luck Taylor.

 

 

  • I was amazed how much the Chiefs barked at each other mon the sidelines…and still won.
  • Still amazed how the Super Bowl brings a nation together, sports fans and non sports fans.
  • Halftime show was blah. I didn’t know most of the performers, and most of the bits were lame.
  • #SwiftEffect is real.
  • I appreciate Taylor Swift allowing Blake Lively to tag along. Good call, Taylor.

 

 

  • The best Super Bowl commercial in years. Absolutely hilarious.

 

 

 

Two Cent Takes

NFL

~It is officially the offseason, which means it is time to start thinking about the moves your team should make through free agency and the draft. The Steelers should sign Kirk Cousins not Ryan Tannehill. The draft should be OL, LB, and DB. The offseason is off to a great start with the releases of Mitch Trubisky and Pressley Harvin.

College Football

~Terry Donahue won 153 games at UCLA and had the Bruins finish in the top ten 5 times. Even he had a handful of bad years in Westwood. Since he left, Bob Toledo was a disaster minus two years, Karl Dorrell was a disaster, Rick Nueheisel was a disaster, Jim Mora was at least marginally decent but not great, and Chip Kelly has been a disaster. Translation: you aren’t winning at UCLA. Chip Kelly knew it, and he jumped ship for the OC job that opened up at Ohio State. He was begging to get out. He never seemed into it at UCLA. Fans were flying banners over the stadium asking for his firing. UCLA should have listened. They totally misread the room and now have egg on their face as they go full blown panic hire. The result: DeShaun Foster. Foster a legendary Bruin has never been a head coach, but in all honesty, may have been the best option.

~Bill O’Brien taking the BC job makes sense. A low expectation job that will allow him to keep his family near. This is the kind of situation where he might just thrive.

NBA

~Buddy Heild is a Sixer. Cam Payne is a Sixer. Kyle Lowry is a Sixer. None will matter much. Heild will give them a much needed three point presence, but won’t make up for the loss of Joel Embiid. The Sixers must try to keep their collective head above water until Embiid’s return and then make a run before the playoffs. A full roster could be dangerous, if it ever happens.

NHL

~The Penguins just don‘t have it. The goaltending has been way better than expected. But they can’t score. The first line scores. The others are invisible. The power play continues to fail.  Malkin is finished, but has little trade value. Do you trade Jake Guentzel? If you are Kyle Dubas you almost have to. Here is the damning stat.

 

~The Flyers are heading in the other direction with four straight wins since the all star break. Torterella special, I’m telling you.

Baseball

~Trevor Bauer says he will play for the league minimum plus incentives. He claims the Pirates told his agent, no. Are you kidding me? The same team that spent 10 million dollars on noted abuser Aroldis Chapman won’t sign Bauer? They need a starter more than a reliever. Bauer was convicted of nothing but bad judgment. League minimum is music to Bottom Line Bob’s ears, so what gives? Such a ridiculously poorly run organization. Not only did they sign Chapman, but are in pursuit of Domingo German. Are you telling me Bauer at league minimum isn’t better than millions for German?

College Basketball

~Kentucky has lost three straight home games, making one wonder if John Calipari has lost his fast ball.

~Down the road in Louisville, Kenny Payne is doing his best to salvage his season and job. The Cardinals have talent, but have been poorly coached to this point. A new coach would want to keep this young core in tact.

~This Rutgers team can’t be the same team I watched lose to Penn State two weeks ago. Night and day for the better.

~Ohio State beat Maryland in OT this weekend, as Chris Holtmann may be coaching for his job for the second year straight.

~USC lost to Stanford by 31 Saturday night. The Cardinal had a 25-0 run in the first Half. That axe you hear sharpening in Trojans AD Jen Cohen’s office could be coming for head coach Andy Enfield. This is Enfield’s best roster, and he is doing the least with it.

~The Pac-12 has a real chance to be a one bid league.

~The thought of Gonzaga missing the tournament is ludicrous. The win at Kentucky should quiet that noise.

~Are you paying attention to South Carolina yet?

The Weekly Shiny Penny

One of the biggest mistakes the Penguins ever made was allowing Marc-Andre Fleury go. He was one of the most beloved athletes in Pittsburgh history, and oh by the way, he was good at his job. In honor of him setting the all time games played as a goalie and wins, his buddy Sidney Crosby presented him with a pretty cool gift.

 

 

A Penny For My Final Thought…

Golf is golf.

It isn’t cornhole on the patio of the local tavern.

It isn’t darts or pool at your favorite pub.

Golf is golf.

Much like tennis, golf requires supreme concentration. Consequently, players need quiet when they are hitting a shot. The Waste Management Open turned into Happy Gilmore this past weekend. The tournament has always had the crazy 16th hole, and that has always been a blast for players and fans. It was unique. This year the fans took their drunkenness to all parts of the course. It nearly ruined the tournament.

This is Zach Johnson, who got sick of hearing jeers about his Ryder Cup failure.

 

 

This was a quote from Byeong Hun An.

 

 

This was Billy Horschel letting fans know this is the players’ job.

 

 

This was Jordan Spieth after someone yelled in his backswing.

 

 

Just for good measure, this is Jon Rahm at the LIV event looking like he may have made a mistake coming to LIV.

 

 

If I want to go be rowdy at a sporting event I will go to a football game or a basketball game. But this is golf. It isn’t meant to be a rowdy sport. 

For years it had the image of a country club sport, which of course it is. Look, I am far from snooty and actually hate the country club guys. However, I love that golf is played in a serene setting. It is one of the things I love about the sport. I am out in beautiful surroundings and it’s just peaceful. Even at my mediocre level of play, I still like to be able to concentrate over my shot.

It is why the LIV model won’t work. Sure, the players have been paid hundreds of millions of dollars to tell you how much they enjoy the music. They don’t. They are professionals and need to have concentration when they play. Did it look like Rahm was okay with the distractions?

Allow the 16th at the Waste Management to be the fun exception to the way we usually see golf played. It makes it unique and something players and fans look forward to. When you have drunk fans on every hole disrupting the players then you have lost control of the event.

Keep mic’ing up mthe players. It is fun and insightful.

Keep the 16th hole, at Waste Management as the rowdy hole. It is fun and unique.

Keep Happy Gilmore on the big screen. It’s an hilarious movie.

Golf is golf.

Let me enjoy the peace and serenity of the golf course. All I want to hear are them birds chirping, the smack of club to ball, and my cursing when it goes out of bounds.

Just my two cents…