LIS, WHIT & THE NFL ⟩ Super Bowl LVI: “All right, man. Let’s just be legendary.”

Valges vormis mänginud meeskond on võitnud neliteist Super Bowli viimasest seitsmeteistkümnest. Valges saadi jagu Tennessee Titansist ning Kansas City Chiefsist, kuid esmaspäeva varahommikul jookseb Cincinnati Bengals Los Angeleses aasta tähtsaimas mängus väljakule… mustades särkides. Rams?

Hüva, off-white, mis peaks meenutama halli, but you get the point. Kardan, et sellega on mäng tehtud ja Rams võidab Super Bowli. Kuigi Drake curse mõne aasta eest katkes, jääb lootus, et needus taaselustub - champagnepapi panustas suti alla poole miljoni dollari Ramsi võidule (lisaks kaks beti Odell Beckhamile: et too skoorib touchdowni ning lõpetab mängu rohkem kui 62.5 söödujardiga). Omamoodi kihlveo on sõlminud ka Cincinnati ja Los Angelese linnapead, kaotaja peab kandma vastasvõistkonna särki ning võitja annetab raha teise tiimi linna lastehaiglale. Nunnu. Nagu seegi, kuidas rookie kicker Evan McPherson ütles, et “All right, man. Let’s just be legendary,” ning lõi džungliväravad Super Bowlile valla.

Super Bowl LVI logo Foto: National Football League / Wikimedia Commons

Oh, what a difference 2 years makes. Then: At 2-16, the Cincinnati Bengals had the unenviable honor of worst record in the NFL. Now: Comeback Kid Joe Burrow (and I mean literal Comeback Kid as he is this year's recipient of the Comeback Player of the Year, well deserved given that his first season was cut short with a brutal left knee injury), and his young, feisty entourage are giving Cincy their first Super Bowl appearance in over 3 decades. Following the abysmal 2 victory season, the Bengals made a good "halftime adjustment" by picking Burrow from LSU #1 in the draft, fresh off his Heisman trophy winning National Championship season with the Tigers. But then came another major bummer after Burrow suffered the injury just past the midway point of the schedule. So just one season ago, they finished with an improved yet still abysmal 4-11-1 record. Ohhhh, what an offseason it was, kids.

Instead of picking up a much needed offensive lineman to protect their new shiny future of the franchise (when I say much needed, I'm talking about Panthers-level ineptitude on the Bengals O-line), Burrow pushed Cincy to get his former LSU teammate, wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, with their 6th overall draft pick. And later they picked up the only kicker chosen in last year's draft, 5th rounder Evan McPherson. There are bets being made, very large sums of money, for McPherson to make the game winning walk-off field goal in the Super Bowl. Who is this Evan McPherson, you ask? Oh, just the dude who has made 100% of his field goals (12 for 12) and extra points in the postseason. The same guy who did this to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game 2 weeks ago, crushing their Super Bowl aspirations and pulling off one hell of an upset. Look at that, cool as a cucumber:

Evan McPherson is +12500 to win Super Bowl MVP 👀 pic.twitter.com/aAKxu3QU0g

— PointsBet Sportsbook (@PointsBetUSA) February 6, 2022

Not bad for a rookie, yeah? But what, or WHO, rather, set him up for this overtime, AFC Championship walk-off field goal? Joe Burrow, ladies and gentlemen. I'm tellin' y'all, Burrow is the next Tom Brady. He makes miracles happen. Seriously, they were down that game 21-3, in Kansas City, with Kansas City fans drowning out communication, and Joe pulled a total Tom, making the seemingly impossible possible. Throw in his brother from another mother, Ja'Marr Chase, the official 2021 Rookie Offensive Player of the Year, along with wide receivers Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd, and opposing defenses have a whole lot of somethin' to contend with.

If the NFL doesn’t give this man Super Bowl tickets I’m not watching pic.twitter.com/0H1TnKNmZS

— NFL Memes (@NFL_Memes) February 1, 2022

“Why not us?” kõlas hooaja alguses Cincy tight end C.J Uzomah vastus küsimusele, kas Bengals võiks sedapuhku Super Bowlil mängida. Ja nüüd usub juba kogu džungel, et “it is us”, sest Cincinnati, mida alles mõne aasta eest naljaga pooleks quarterback graveyardiks kutsuti, on Joe Burrow eestvedamisel viimaks ometi koledast keskajast taassünnini jõudnud. Offensive line ehk mängujuhti kaitsev müür on endiselt halb, et mitte öelda pask, kuid draft gamble tasus Chasei näol kuhjaga ära. Bengalsi rünne on kiire, täpne ja ohtlik ning trio Boyd-Chase-Higgins väärt vastane Los Angeles Ramsi suurepärasele kaitsele.

Oh jah. Kõigepealt number 99 ehk Aaron Donald, a bad man. Enne kui NFC tiitlimängus San Francisco vastu 17-7 kaotusseisust välja tuldi, oli just Donald see, kes väljaku ääres kaaslaste motti tõstis. “We’re here to play. We’re one game away. Bow up. We’re playing for something. It’s gotta mean something to you. It’s gotta mean something. Everything we got. Everything you got. Let’s finish this,” ja mehed läksid ja tegid. Järgmiseks outside linebacker Von Miller, kes Denver Broncos ridades Carolina vastu võidetud Super Bowlis valiti MVPks, sest: 2.5 sacks pluss kogu asja ära vormistanud strip lõpuminutite (mhmh, see). Siis Leonard Floyd, silent assassin on the edge, nagu kirjutas Los Angeles Times. Tüüp ise märkis, et talle sobib kui meedia tähelepanu on Donaldi ja Von Milleriga, saab ise rahulikult mängida. Ja seda ma kardangi, et Bengalsi offensive line jätab samuti Floydi kahe silma vahele ja ma ütlen teile, et siis saab Joey ka kohe maskipidi murusse litsutud ja nii see kõik väga persekursile kalduda ähvardab. Usun nii väga, tahan nii väga uskuda Cincinnati võimekusse võimatust vanglast võit välja venitada (see what I did there), ent lisaks Burrow takkakiirustamisele palli söötmisel, tuleb Los Angelese meestel hästi välja ka vastase wide receiveritega kaasa jõlkumine ehk pass defense, nii et shit’s tight for the Bengals.

Watching 3:32 of @AaronDonald97’s 20.5-sack season on repeat in honor of his birthday 🤩 pic.twitter.com/rEm2ADFUfF

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) May 24, 2021

The gaping weakness is the O-line. Burrow has just been absolutely incredible under pressure, especially with throws over 20 yards downfield. He was also able to scramble for 4 crucial first downs in the Chiefs game, something he admits he could have never done the first half of the season because of his knee. But the LA Rams defense isn't like other defenses. They are special and scary. Lineman Aaron Donald is mammoth size with the mobility of a ballerina. And Edge rusher Von Miller is going to wreak havoc all day, Mark my words. Nevermind the defensive back corp led by Jalen Ramsey, the most efficient pass defender in 1on 1 situations. It literally comes down to Joe Burrow's reactionary accuracy and crisp decision-making. The "bigness" of the Super Bowl stage could also prove too nerve-racking for the young Bengals squad. Mind you, this is mere speculation. Because I'm tellin' ya... Burrow is not to be underestimated. I have watched him elevate players around him. They believe not only in Joe Burrow the player, but more importantly Joe Burrow the person, and man it makes all the difference. My money is on Cincy upset. It will take a miracle, but let's see.

Mul süda Cincinnatiga, aga raha läheb Cooper Kuppi peale. Kolm aastat tagasi Super Bowlist vigastuse tõttu kõrvale jäänud wide receiver on seekord üks võtmetegelasi ning kui Ramsil lastakse söödumäng käima saada, pakun (fine, panustan), kaks või rohkem touchdowni. Kui viimases mängus Tampa Bay vastu oli aega 42 sekundit ning seis viiigis, tulistas quarterback Matt Stafford just Kuppi suunas ega pidanud pettuma. Eelmisel hooajal Detroidist lahku läinud QB võib enda otsustega igatahes rahul olla, kaksteist aastat on pikk aeg mitte võita. Tüübid nagu Kupp ja nüüd ka Odell Beckham justkui kinnitavad, et asi polnud temas, vaid… noh, muus. Muus on asi ka Tom Brady jaoks, kes ütles, et nüüd on aeg teha muud.

These are the kind of moments that made @TomBrady so special. 🙏 #ThankYouTom (via @thecheckdown) pic.twitter.com/LPfAesqeCw

— NFL (@NFL) January 29, 2022

So Tom Brady. The words finally came out of his mouth. At the tender age of 44, the greatest of all time has officially announced his retirement from professional football. I can't argue with his timing. He was the most productive quarterback in the NFL this season. He's won 7 Super Bowls. Go out on top my friend. Go be with your picture perfect family and enjoy. But I will throw this in there... His good friend and longtime teammate Rob Gronkowski has already said he thinks Tom will try to come back in a couple of years. Now that would be a hoot.