The Offense of Super Bowl LV

Author: Jack Casabonne

Editor: Fran Attie

Super Bowl LV will feature two extremely well-constructed rosters: The Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Both teams possess dangerous offenses, capable of scoring 40 points at will. There will be multiple players on the field who have the ability to take over a game at any second. So, the team that can take advantage of their strengths and play into potential mismatches should be able to hoist the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the night.

Quarterback:

Chiefs:

Patrick Mahomes has been the definition of a star since winning the starting quarterback spot in 2018. The 4th year player had another stellar season in 2020, throwing for 4,740 yards and 38 regular season touchdowns against just 6 interceptions. Mahomes, however, has been battling injuries for much of this Super Bowl run: he exited the Divisional Round matchup with the Browns due to a concussion, and also suffered a turf toe injury. While this is something to monitor, it didn’t seem like it slowed him down much, as the Chiefs were able to gain 325 yards through the air in the AFC Championship showdown with the Bills.

Bucs:

At age 43, Tom Brady shows no signs of slowing down. In his first season outside of New England, Brady led the Bucs through a tough NFC into his record 10th Super Bowl appearance. No player in the history of the league understands winning quite like Brady, as he looks now for his 7th Super Bowl ring. While he did turn the ball over 3 times in the NFC Championship clash with the Green Bay Packers, Brady has had a solid postseason performance so far—the signal caller has thrown for at least 2 touchdowns in every game, and he’s led the Bucs to at least 30 points in each game as well.

Running Back:

Chiefs:

2020 first round draft pick Clyde Edwards-Helaire hasn’t had an overly impressive rookie campaign, averaging just 4.4 yards per carry. Additionally, after missing over a month's worth of games due to ankle and hip issues, his return against the Bills on Sunday consisted of only 6 rushing attempts that netted 7 yards. With backup running back Le’Veon Bell nursing a knee injury as well, it’s been Darrel Williams who’s gotten the bulk of the carries during the playoffs. The former LSU Tiger ran for 52 yards against the Bills and 78 yards against the Browns. Hopefully the week off will allow this positional group to get healthy ahead of their Super Bowl matchup.

Bucs:

The combination of Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones have given the Bucs a 2-headed beast at the running back position. While it was Jones who received the majority of touches in the regular season, this dynamic has flipped in the playoffs—with Jones sitting out in the wild card matchup against Washington, Fournette took over lead back duties while rushing for 93 yards and a touchdown. Furthermore, “Playoff Lenny” has also been involved in the passing game, as he’s managed at least 4 catches in each playoff matchup. Expect the two to split carries and responsibilities again versus Kansas City.

Wide Receiver:

Chiefs:

Tyreek Hill remains the best vertical threat in football. His ability to take the top off a defense has to be considered on every offensive play, while he’s also one of the toughest players to tackle in space. His 172 yard performance against Bills corner Tre’Davious White showcased his ability to completely take over games. The Chiefs number two wideout is Sammy Watkins, but he’s missed both playoff games due to a calf injury. In his place the Chiefs have implemented the speedy Mecole Hardman, but while he has 4.3 speed to stretch secondaries, he actually made his biggest impact rushing the ball against Buffalo. Hardman had one carry but made the most of it, taking the wide receiver reverse for 50 yards.

Bucs:

Tampa Bay possesses the deepest wide receiver group in the entire NFL. Headlined by the 6’5” redzone beast Mike Evans, this bunch finished the regular season leading the NFC in receiving yards. Alongside Evans, the group consists of Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, Tyler Johnson and Scotty Miller. Now, Godwin’s production in 2020 didn’t match his gaudy numbers put up in 2019, as he missed 4 games, but he still came up critical in last Sunday’s matchup with the Packers, putting up 110 yards. Antonio Brown isn’t the same player he was a few years ago, but can still be a matchup nightmare out of the slot, and both of the youngsters, Tyler Johnson and Scotty Miller, have proven to be reliable targets for Brady, completing an insanely deep depth chart at wide receiver.

Tight End:

Chiefs:

Two words: Travis Kelce. The tight end has carried his stellar performance from the regular season over to the postseason. Following a year in which he finished 2nd in football with 1,416 receiving yards, Kelce has continued his dominance by compiling over 100 receiving yards in both playoff games. Sunday’s performance against Buffalo was a spectacle, as Kelce finished the night with 13 catches for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns. The 31 year old is playing the best football of his career right now and appears to be utterly impossible for defenses to contain.

Bucs:

While Rob Gronkowski’s return to football for the 2020 season didn’t see him put up the same stat lines from his younger years, he still has proven to be a reliable target for his familiar quarterback. Gronk finished the regular season with 623 yards and 7 touchdowns, but most importantly, he was able to stay healthy. In the playoffs however, Gronkowski has only caught 2 passes through 3 playoff games, as backup tight end Cameron Brate has been more involved, having had 11 catches in the same timespan.

Offensive Line:

Chiefs:

The loss of Mitchell Schwartz in Week 6 has definitely hurt the Chiefs throughout the season. The right tackle suffered a back injury and is not expected to be back for the Super Bowl. To make matters worse, starting left tackle Eric Fisher suffered an achilles injury in the AFC Championship game, leaving another starter out for the Super Bowl. While these injuries are concerning in light of a loaded Buccaneers’ front seven, the Chiefs were nonetheless able to hold the Bills to only 1 sack in their meeting last Sunday.

Bucs:

The Bucs offensive line has taken a huge step up from the 2019 season following the selection of offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs with the 13th pick in the draft. Brady only faced pressure on 24% of his dropbacks during the regular season, which was the 4th lowest percentage in the league. Additionally, this offensive line has given Brady plenty of protection throughout the past two weeks, holding the Packers and Saints to just one sack each. But a major question mark will revolve around their ability to pave holes for the running game in this matchup.

SPORTS ARE OUR UNIVERSE

A Letter To All Giants Fans

Author: Kiernan Fischer

Editor: Fran Attie

Okay, Giant’s fans, it has been a few weeks now since the brutal end to the regular season, and as tough as that was to swallow, the fact of the matter is it was never about the playoffs this year for the Giants; frankly, they just weren’t a playoff caliber team. There still was, however, a lot to like about the Giants this season, so in this article I am going to break down some things I saw, and what the plan should be moving forward.

First thing was the coaching staff. For the first time since Tom Coughlin had his falling out with the Giants we have a coach that the team really wants to play for. Joe Judge is our guy! I was skeptical of the hiring at first and, admittedly, was not a fan after the slow start, but Judge was still learning at that point, and in Belichick-like fashion, he got a feel for his roster as the year went on and started playing to their strengths. He started calling more designed runs for Daniel Jones, forcing teams to have to game plan for the option, and once he fired the offensive line coach, the line started playing better and the Giants became a running team even without Saquon Barkley. Losing Barkley and still winning 6 games really should be a testament to our coach’s talent.

It wasn’t just Joe Judge that impressed me, however, Patrick Graham made a case for best defensive coordinator in the league this year. Even though the Giants did not have one of the most talented defensive rosters going into the year, opposing offenses would still constantly talk about how the Giants were exceptionally coached and how well they changed up their defensive looks at the line. Pete Caroll said that facing the Giants was the first time he felt his offense didn’t know what to do. Graham just announced he will stay another year in his current position and the team needs to make sure he stays there as long as possible.

Finally, the Giants also did something they have not done since 2016, which is beating the Eagles and the Cowboys. This may not seem like a big deal to non-Giant fans, but losing to our two biggest rivals is always demoralizing. Now when playing big division games against the two, Giants players and fans will not have that “how will we blow this” moment of doubt creeping into their heads. That is a big deal, especially if you think about the improvement they showed from the first to the second Eagles game. And I firmly believe the win over Dallas in week 17 served as a huge building block for next season, seeing as we hadn't beaten the Cowboys since 2016!

Obviously the draft board will change a lot between now and draft night, so I am not going to break down the draft prospects quite yet. But overall, there was a lot to be happy about as a Giants fan in 2020. And though there is still a lot of work to be done, for the first time in a while we are headed in the right direction.

SPORTS ARE OUR UNIVERSE

What to Expect this Wild-Card Weekend?

Author: William Goldmark

Editor: Fran Attié

Saturday:

1:05 PM: No. 7 Indianapolis Colts at No. 2 Buffalo Bills (-6.5)

These are not your mother and father’s Buffalo Bills. This team is for real. Sitting at 13-3, (which would be 14-2 if not for a certain Arizona Cardinals Hail Mary), Josh Allen and his crew closed out the season by winning six straight double-digit games. Furthermore, Philip Rivers has a sub .500 record while playing in the postseason. So, while a tough Indianapolis defense should prevent this one from becoming a landslide, Buffalo’s offense is far too electric to bet against.

My pick: Buffalo (-6.5)

4:40 PM: No. 6 Los Angeles Rams at No. 3 Seattle Seahawks (-3.5)

For all the criticism Seattle’s defense has endured throughout 2020, the Seahawks have not given up more than 23 points in a game for the entire second half of the season. Additionally, they will now face a Rams offense that only mustered 9 points in their previous week 16 meeting, and struggled to materialize anything offensively against the New York Jets the week before—yes, the 0-13 Jets. Mr. Unlimited and wideout phenom DK Metcalf should be able to win this one comfortably in the Seahawks’ home building.

My pick: Seattle (-3.5)

8:15 PM: No. 5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-9) at No. 4 Washington Football Team

While Washington’s 7-9 record is far from intimidating, it is worth noting that they are actually 5-1 when future Comeback Player of the Year Alex Smith is under center. It is also worth noting that Tom Brady’s lack of mobility may be an issue against Washington’s disruptive front seven. It would be quite a surprise to see Tampa exit the playoffs after the first round, but Washington should be able to make this a defensive-minded game that comes down to the wire.

My pick: Washington (+9)

Sunday:

1:05 PM: No. 5 Baltimore Ravens at No. 4 Tennessee Titans (-3.5)

Baltimore will absolutely be playing with a chip on their shoulder on Sunday. Earlier this season, the Ravens blew a two-possession lead to the Titans before losing in overtime. Even worse, in last year’s Divisional Round, Tennessee shocked the NFL by manhandling Baltimore, raising tons of speculation regarding Lamar Jackson’s ability to perform in the big moments. It is likely that Lamar ‘took this personal’, and after very quietly ending their season on a 5-game win streak, the former MVP will be looking to pull off an upset.

My pick: Baltimore (+3.5)

4:40 PM: No. 7 Chicago Bears at No. 2 New Orleans Saints (-10)

The Chicago Bears rounded out the season with an 8-8 record and a +2 point differential, meaning they are the perfect definition of a mediocre football team. However, this Bears defense tends to keep their offense in games, as Chicago has not allowed more than 30 points this year to a team not led by Aaron Rodgers. Furthermore, the Saints’ inconsistent postseason play in recent years makes it difficult to be confident in them winning by double digits. In possibly his last opportunity to prove he can be a starting quarterback, expect Mitchell Trubisky to keep his squad in the game.

My pick: Chicago (+10)

8:15 PM: No. 6 Cleveland Browns at No. 3 Pittsburgh Steelers (-6)

Last Sunday, Kevin Stefanski and the Cleveland Browns defended their home turf and beat the Mason Rudolph-led Pittsburgh Steelers. Fast-forward one week: the Browns will be without their head coach after he tested positive for Covid-19; the game will be played at Heinz Field, where Cleveland has not been victorious since 2003; and of course, 2x Super Bowl Champion Ben Roethlisberger will be back in action after a week of rest. So, while Pittsburgh has lost 4 of their last 5 games, and Cleveland deserves plenty of credit for finally ending their 18-year playoff drought, this rivalry has been one-sided for decades and that will not change on Sunday night.

My pick: Pittsburgh (-6)

*Game lines accurate as of 1/7/21

SPORTS ARE OUR UNIVERSE