Super Bowl hangover doubles up; Pats, Chiefs bring reinforcements
Updated Friday, October 1, 2021
Super Bowl hangover struck early this year. A double whammy, it staggered the winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers and also the losing Kansas City Chiefs. For the Chiefs, it’s Hangover 2. The champions of the 2019 season barely showed up for the following Super Bowl.
In their separate games last Sunday, the foggy Bucs induced a rain of yellow flags, and the equally unfocused Chiefs gave away footballs like they were Halloween candies.
The Bucs committed 27 penalties for 230 yards in a 10-point defeat to the Los Angeles Rams. The Chiefs had four turnovers and lost 30-24 to LA’s other team, the Chargers.
NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger tweeted that for the Chiefs, “just getting lined up correctly seems like an issue right now.”
There were blunders everywhere by both of these championship teams. The worst Buccaneer missteps were in a secondary ravaged by injuries. They missed cornerbacks Sean Murphy-Bunting and Jamel Dean.
So they signed Richard Sherman. He’s on the downside, at 33, but perhaps he can cover DeSean Jackson, who at age 34 caught 3 passes from Matthew Stafford, for 120 yards against the Bucs.
Meanwhile the Chiefs addressed one of their obvious deficiencies. Patrick Mahomes needs another weapon besides Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. They miss Sammy Watkins, who made a free-agency transfer to Baltimore.
So the Chiefs this week signed Josh Gordon, talented serial abuser of marijuana, cocaine and alcohol. He led the NFL in receiving in 2013, and if he can stay sober – biggest of ifs — he can be effective at age 30.
After the loss at home to the Chargers, Mahomes said, “It looks real dim right now. But if we find a way to get better from this, we’ll be where we want to be at the end of the season.”
Trouble is there’s so much that needs to get better, including Mahomes himself. He’s no longer able to get away with Globetrotter ball that worked so magically for the two previous seasons. Defenses adjust.
Mahomes threw two interceptions and his teammates lost two fumbles to the Chargers, and you don’t see NFL teams having four turnovers and winning.
Nor do you see many winning teams that allow 32 points per game, as the Chiefs are doing.
They are playing like typical Super Bowl losers. Ten of the past 20 of them were not in the playoffs the following season. Misery seems to result from coming so close to a championship and falling short.
Sometimes the misfortune includes bizarre, seemingly unrelated elements. Chiefs coach Andy Reid became dehydrated and light-headed at Arrowhead. After the game he was rushed to a hospital and was released the following day.
The hangover tends not to be as devastating for the Lombardi Trophy winners, though none have repeated as champions since the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Super winners are prone to inflated expectation that leads to arrogance. There was Tom Brady speculating about a perfect season, veering off the one-game-at-a-time mantra endemic to all sports.
Brady was a little too sure of himself, claiming his arm feels stronger than it has in years, and offseason knee surgery has given him mobility.
To be fair, he played a solid game in LA. He completed 41 of 55 for 432 yards, no turnovers. And he had a rare productive day as a runner: 3 carries for 14 yards and a TD.
But he still lost, and there are lingering doubts about the Bucs, even with Sherman bringing wisdom to the secondary and Brady’s favorite target Antonio Brown released from Covid quarantine. Where did the Bucs’ pass rush go?
The Rams, playing in their rocking new home of SoFi Stadium and smartly led by their new well-seasoned quarterback, were the more energized team. Will that still be true if they meet again for the NFC Championship?
Rex Ryan, former NFL coach, observed, on ESPN’s Get Up: “A lot of teams around the NFL have no passion; they just lay around because that’s how their coach is. But Sean McVay is running down the tunnel, looks ready for a fistfight: ‘Tampa Bay, I own you. I kicked your butt in Tampa last year when Jared Goff put up 400 yards. Guess what, my dude is better now.’”
