As I adroitly predicted, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV. I predicted a 36-31 win for Tom Brady & Co. but instead, they delivered a 31-9 cakewalk over the favored Chiefs and their great young quarterback, Patrick Mahomes.
So, what can the other 30 teams, especially the New York Giants, learn from this game? Plenty, it seems. Here are a few points that went through my head as this game unfolded.
Getting the quarterback right
Do the Giants have the right guy at quarterback in Daniel Jones? They seem to think so. The standings and stats say differently. Jones has not yet shown that he can be the transcendent player the Giants need him to be. As Ernie Accorsi said when choosing a quarterback: can he take you down the field and win the game when you need him to? The confidence is not there yet with Jones.
Roster building
The Giants have been defying logic here. They refuse to take what the football gods give them every April in the draft. Both Josh Allens and Justin Herbert could have been Giants. Kansas City traded up for Mahomes. The Giants could have done that. Why didn’t they? Sure they missed out on Chase Young and Devin White — those are the breaks — but they’re not helping themselves at the draft table.
Bring in talented veteran players
When a veteran free agent hits the market, the Giant him and haw. They rarely jump on a Tom Brady, Leonard Fournette, Rob Gronkowski, Ndamukong Suh or an Antonio Brown like Tampa did. In fact, they had to be practically forced to sign Logan Ryan before the season because they ran out of defensive backs and he turned out to be one of their only shining lights this season. Maybe they should rethink this strategy. In the future when a player that can help them becomes available, they need to start acting.
It’s a tight end league
We were reminded of that on Sunday when two of the best to ever lace up the cleats led each of their teams in receiving in Super Bowl LV. Travis Kelce caught 10 of 15 targets for 133 yards and Gronkowski had six receptions for 67 yards and two touchdowns. The Giants have Evan Engram, who although a Pro Bowler this season, has had issues holding onto the football and putting together back-to-back solid performances.
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