Tag: Super Bowl 55

Virtual Radio Row: Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith explains why Dallas hasn’t won a Super Bowl in 25 yea

SportsPulse: Mackenzie Salmon connects with Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith on USA TODAY’s ‘virtual’ radio row.

SportsPulse: Mackenzie Salmon connects with Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith on USA TODAY’s ‘virtual’ radio row.

Buccaneers fans try, fail to troll Saints with New Orleans billboard

Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans celebrated their Super Bowl 55 win by trying and failing to buy a billboard taunting the New Orleans Saints.

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Well, they can’t say they weren’t warned this would happen. Tampa Bay Buccaneers rallied on social media to raise funds for a billboard in New Orleans proclaiming “We Dat” after their team won Super Bowl LV, but their bid was ultimately unsuccessful. Organizers shared an update on Twitter that the billboard company they initially reached a deal with back out of the agreement and refunding their money.

That decision probably followed serious consideration as to whether Saints fans would stand for this kind of taunting. It’s a lesson Atlanta Falcons fans learned back in 2019 when New Orleans businesses wouldn’t accept their money. This was all prompted by one Saints diehard purchasing billboards in Atlanta after the “NFC no-call,” though Louisiana sports fans have an even deeper history of buying out billboards to send a message (remember the “Free Devin White” signs before 2018’s LSU-Alabama matchup?). Better luck next time to these NFC South rivals.

To the organizers’ credit, they’re taking this loss as well as they can, putting the next step in their supporters’ hands. A poll is running now to decide whether they should seek out a billboard in Tampa or, better yet, to donate the funds to Bruce Arians’ foundation, which supports Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), “in making sure that children who are involved in the court system, as a result of abuse or neglect by their families, receive the love and help they need.” More than 70% of the 1,200 votes cast at time of posting are coming in to support the Arians Family Foundation, so here’s hoping the money ends up helping a good cause.

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Antoine Winfield Jr. shared the most beautiful moment with his father after Super Bowl 55

This was special.

It’s been one week since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throttled the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 55, winning 31-9 thanks to a swarming defense (that took advantage of an overmatched offensive line.)

Antoine Winfield Jr., a rookie safety out of Minnesota who was the 45th pick in last year’s draft, was a key part of Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles’ plan to stop a Chiefs offense that had looked unstoppable. After missing the NFC Championship game with injury, Winfield Jr. returned to play 74 snaps, largely covering deep to take explosive plays away from Patrick Mahomes.

Winfield Jr. ended up with an interception and was in on six tackles as he won a title in his first year. There to exuberantly great him afterward? His father, Antoine Winfield Sr., who spent 14 years in the league and never got to a Super Bowl.

Winfield Sr. spent his career with the Bills (1999-2003) and Vikings (2004-2012) and appeared in only seven playoff games total. He understands how rare a victory like this is, thus the jubilation.

What a beautiful moment.

Of course Winfield Jr. will mostly be remembered for his epic taunt of Tyreek Hill.

He was fined $7,815 for the above and … what are you doing, NFL? Let the players have some fun.

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Tom Brady is now in trouble for chucking the Lombardi Trophy off a boat

The daughter of the original Lombardi Trophy silversmith is asking for an apology.

An on-his-way-to-wobbly Tom Brady decided, the other day, to chuck the Lombardi Trophy from one boat to another. A Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end, Cameron Brate, caught it with relative ease.

No doubt by now you’ve seen the clip, and maybe read that Brate called it the best catch of his life. Perhaps the funniest part of the whole ordeal is that somebody caught Brady’s daughter yelling, “Noooo!” because, yes, women are smarter and make better choices, just in general.

Anyway, that pretty much was that. Not going to say it made Tom Brady cool or relatable. But it was a thing he did.

Or! Apparently there’s controversy around it:

“It takes a lotta work, a lotta hard work. A lot of hours go into it. It just really upset me that this trophy was disgraced and disrespected by being thrown as if it was a real football. I didn’t sleep for the past two nights because of this. I was that upset. Because I know the passion that goes into this trophy and how my dad and all his fellow silversmiths are so proud to make this. I personally would like an apology, not just to me and my family and the other silversmiths, but to the fans.”

Huh. Well. Kudos to Lorraine for defending her father’s line of work, and I can see where she’s coming from. However I feel like we should point out that the Lombardi Trophy, unlike the Stanley Cup, is re-sculpted each year. Meaning that Tom Brady has held SEVEN of these things. He was bound to get bored with them at some point. He, better than anyone in the history of the sport, knows they’re replaceable.

Also, his forever teammate Rob Gronkowski once famously used a Lombardi earned by the New England Patriots to literally bunt a baseball, leaving a large dent.

Besides that, the Stanley Cup — which is actually an artifact — is routinely abused by hockey players in various ways. That World Series trophy that looks like it was made to break constantly breaks. One of the most prestigious awards anywhere, the one given for winning the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, ended up in shards on the floor of the Wisconsin locker room this year.

To the victors go the spoils. What happens next is up to them.

Virtual Radio Row: Falcons QB Matt Ryan discusses how long he sees himself playing in the NFL

SportsPulse: Mackenzie Salmon connects with Falcons QB Matt Ryan on USA TODAY’s ‘virtual’ radio row.

SportsPulse: Mackenzie Salmon connects with Falcons QB Matt Ryan on USA TODAY’s ‘virtual’ radio row.

Montana, Rice would love to see Deshaun Watson become a 49er

SportsPulse: Mackenzie Salmon connected with 49ers legends Joe Montana and Jerry Rice and asked if San Francisco should pursue Deshaun Watson. Both did not hide how they felt about him.

SportsPulse: Mackenzie Salmon connected with 49ers legends Joe Montana and Jerry Rice and asked if San Francisco should pursue Deshaun Watson. Both did not hide how they felt about him.

Patrick Mahomes was, in fact, good in the Super Bowl. The film of his negative plays proves it.

Let’s look at every negative play.

This article should not ned to exist. Most people watching the Buccaneers’ 31-9 win over the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV will tell you that Patrick Mahomes did everything in his power to give Kansas City a chance.

But there is a very loud group of people out there who will tell you that the Chiefs quarterback played poorly. Statistically speaking, that’s a fair assessment of his performance. It was, easily, the worst of his career. It was the first time Mahomes failed to lead his team to a touchdown. His 61 dropbacks resulted in a loss of 11.4 Expected Points. His 52.3 passer rating was the worst of his career.

The lack of production was mostly the result of the intense pressure Mahomes found himself under for most of the game. The Buccaneers pressured him on 52% of his dropbacks — the highest mark ever recorded in a Super Bowl. But some have argued that Mahomes brought some of that pressure on himself. That, at times, he reacted to pressure that wasn’t there, causing him to miss out on big plays down the field.

Respected NFL analyst Gregg Cossell was one of those people.

Others said he held the ball too long. And when he was able to get the ball off, he was inaccurate with his passes.

I didn’t see much of that on tape, though. In fact, after reviewing the tape, I wouldn’t even say Mahomes played poorly. There were, of course, some bad plays — there always are — but I don’t believe that any of the popular criticisms we’ve heard this week are valid.

But you don’t have to take my word for it. In this post, we’re going to be looking at every incompletion, interception and sack. I’ll offer my opinion on why the play failed but you’re free to form your own.

Let’s get started…

How Todd Bowles made life miserable for an overmatched Chiefs offensive line

The Bucs gave the Chiefs offensive line a good, old fashioned whoopin.

Blocking, or the inability to, was the defining story of Super Bowl LV. It’s not a profound thing to learn about the game of football, but it was startling that even the great Patrick Mahomes could almost look like a mere mortal against the Buccaneers.

It wasn’t just that the Chiefs were physically outmatched as their patchwork offensive line took on the Bucs front seven, but they were schematically outmatched too. Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles knew that the Chiefs offensive line didn’t have much time playing or practicing together, so he got a little creative with the ways that he attacked them.

Mahomes still put together a Herculean effort that featured multiple insane throws under duress, but the Chiefs receivers weren’t able to haul them in.

One of the first blitzes that Bowles used to attack the Chiefs was a double cornerback blitz that left Mahomes scrambling and trying to find a receiver deep down the field.

To be fair to the Chiefs, this would be a pretty hard block to pick up even for a veteran offensive line with hundreds of snaps together. An offensive line that was missing both starting tackles and the left guard from Kansas City’s Week 1 lineup simply had no chance.

Bowles deployed overload fronts, which is usually three or more rushers on one side of the line of scrimmage, and ran twists and games to free up rushers to rattle Mahomes. Shaq Barrett is tough to block by himself, but getting him an unblocked pressure just isn’t fair to the Chiefs offense.

The Bucs also stacked the offensive line with five man fronts featuring inside linebackers Lavonte David and Devin White over the offensive guards. David and White have the athleticism and range to blitz and cover, which puts a lot of stress on the offensive line. Prior to the snap, the offensive line can only guess whether or not they’re going to drop into coverage or blitz.

Early in the game, David ended up dropping into coverage on one of these five-man blitzes while White ran a twist with pass rusher Anthony Nelson. Nelson was a little clumsy on the play, but his twist with White confused the Chiefs offensive line just enough where he could get into the backfield and disrupt Mahomes — who still somehow managed to make a perfect throw.

When the Bucs weren’t playing games with the Chiefs offensive line, they were just beating them down. There was a severe talent disadvantage for the Chiefs offensive line. Mike Remmers, the Chiefs left tackle for the game, struggled immensely.

Barrett was able to get past him for a sack.

Vita Vea, a 350 pound nose tackle, was able to bully him into the backfield.

And Jason Pierre-Paul was able to get past Remmers with ease.

The Chiefs caught a string of bad luck with their offensive line injuries and the Bucs capitalized. The injury to Eric Fisher was the one the Chiefs simply could not overcome after so many other changes. This game, then, is not a grandiose statement on the quality of Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, or Eric Bienemy.

Bad injury luck caught up to the them. The game is the game.

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Virtual Radio Row: CeeDee Lamb talks Dak Prescott, Mike McCarthy and getting a goodnight sleep

SportsPulse: Jori Epstein connected with Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb on USA TODAY’s ‘virtual’ radio row.

SportsPulse: Jori Epstein connected with Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb on USA TODAY’s ‘virtual’ radio row.

The Weeknd is now sharing Weeknd Super Bowl memes

Fantastic!

The Weeknd gave us so much with his Super Bowl 55 halftime show: some of his amazing songs, a dizzy feeling for fans while watching him in a hall-of-mirrors segment and, of course, so many memes.

And I guess the recording artist has seen some of those memes, because he shared one of them on Wednesday, in which the dialogue of The Joker from The Dark Knight — doing the same “selfie” shot as the one we saw on Sunday —  is playing over The Weeknd’s performance.

Hey, if you can’t laugh at yourself … right?

Here’s The Weeknd’s tweet, that went extremely viral:

Amazing.

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