Clash of the Titans III

As Aaron Rodgers dropped back to pass for the last time in the 49ers' NFC Championship win over Green Bay, with offensive linemen falling like trees around him and red shirts closing in from all directions, we were somehow reminded of the valiant but doomed leadership of General Robert E. Lee, leading his bedraggled, beaten army of 8000 or so away from the wreckage at Sailor's Creek and toward an encampment of over 100,000 enemy soldiers. He wasn't ready to quit, not yet, and neither was Rodgers, despite having been sacked for the third time two plays earlier, despite no timeouts, despite a 17-point deficit. Rodgers ignored the pressure and heaved a beautiful rainbow pass downfield, but it was off-target and Richard Sherman made the easy interception that turned a contest into a celebration. The San Francisco 49ers are back in the Super Bowl!

And so are the Kansas City Chiefs, and as people who know us well have heard many a time, the Chiefs are our second-favorite team and our favorite from the old AFL of our childhood. And it was as an AFL team, the last one standing in fact, that the Chiefs last played for the world championship, in the fourth "NFL-AFL World Championship of Pro Football," as it was called then, concluding the 1969 season and the storied history of their league with a shockingly (to some, that is) one-sided victory over the NFL's best, the Minnesota Vikings. It's been fifty years for Kansas City, and only seven for the 49ers, but is there any doubt the Big Game will, this time, feature the NFL's two best?

"Clash of the Titans" is the nickname we bestowed upon Super Bowl XIII between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys, the two best teams of the 1970s, who met to decide which one would be the first team ever to win three Super Bowls.  Five years later the Los Angeles Raiders and the defending Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins were so dominant in their conferences during the regular season that their meeting in Super Bowl XVIII had an air of inevitability. The same could be said for the 49ers-Miami matchup a year later.  And now we have, for those with a fondness for legends, Joe Montana's first team against Joe Montana's second team. We missed out on "Joe versus Steve" in 1994, but in 2020, as Joe himself said the other day, "I guarantee my team will win this game!"

So we're not about to work up any animosity here for our opponent, a team that for awhile seemed to be a "rest home" for former 49er quarterbacks. Joe, Steve DeBerg before him, Steve Bono and Elvis Grbac after him-- all of them led Kansas City into the playoffs. Years later Alex Smith did the same. Whoever wins this game will deserve it-- as long as it isn't decided on a call or non-call, that is. Banish that thought!

It could be argued-- it is being argued-- that neither of these Super Bowl teams defeated their conference's best opponent to get here. The 49ers played the Packers and the Vikings, not the Seahawks and the Saints, while KC avoided the omnipresent Patriots and the top-dog Ravens. But that's missing the point. Both these teams were the most exciting, complete, and dynamic teams in their conferences all year long. The Kansas City defense hit a slump mid-season, but emerged as one of the strongest units in football down the stretch. The 49er defense likewise dropped off after a sensational start-- but after their first bye in 14 weeks, the unit came roaring back well-rested at full strength, as the Vikings and Packers will sadly testify. A year ago, "everyone" wanted to see the Los Angeles Rams and the Chiefs reprise their incredible 54-51 Monday night epic in the Super Bowl; "everyone" was disappointed. We're not aware of anyone who expects to be bored on February 2.

The contrast here is between the Chiefs' explosive passing offense featuring the amazing Patrick Mahomes, and the 49ers' unstoppable run game featuring Raheem Mostert-- unless it's Matt Breida or Tevin Coleman, that is. Mahomes certainly showed his matchless ability to turn a  game around in a manner of minutes; he did it in back-to-back weeks, erasing 24- and 10-point deficits like a six-foot sixth-grader after spotting his classmates a lead in a game of "Horse." The 49ers' great offensive front-- we're talking Laken Tomlinson, Mike Person and Ben Garland as well as tackles Joe Staley and Mike McGlinchey, plus the twin hammers of Kyle Jusczyk and George Kittle-- pounded one very good defense and another good defense into submission before halftime in each playoff game.

As we've said before, when the focus is on one side of the ball, look to the other side for the keys to victory. That's going to be  a little harder to do here, so we'll push it out to next week.

Bright moments:

Mostert, obviously, taking over the game as the premier ballcarrier of the weekend, doing a "Derrick Henry" on the Packers. That may be a tad unfair to Henry; last Sunday he didn't have lanes through which to run as Mostert did. But the point is, the "journeyman" back ran through those lanes on the way to his record four-touchdown game and a place in the record books behind only the Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson.

Kittle caught one ball. It was the biggest catch of the night, a 19-yard gain on first down with eight minutes to play and the Packers having cut the  lead to 14. Green Bay had thrown everything they had on defense into stopping the run in the fourth quarter, and they had been successful, forcing a critical three-and-out on three running plays after their failed onside kick. At the time, Jimmy Garoppolo-- hey, we finally mentioned his name!-- had not thrown a pass since the second quarter. This one let the air out of the Packers' tires, and three minutes later Robbie Gould's third field goal with 3:36 left made it 37-20 and turned Rodgers into General Lee, full of fight but out of time.

Robbie Gould! The ageless one still hasn't missed a field goal or extra point in the postseason, and he capped three drives that totaled 11 minutes with nine critical points, including the clincher.

DeForrest Buckner diving onto Rodgers' fumble at the 49er 25, late in the second quarter. Green Bay  had just put their first drive together, running the ball 4 times for 27 yards after Rodgers hit on a beautiful downfield pass.  Knowing who was at quarterback for the Packers, not a few of us were already mentally preparing for a 17-7 game. 60 yards and four minutes after the turnover, it was 20-0 instead, and then...

Emmanuel Moseley, who didn't even start a week ago, anticipating Rodgers' pass and beating Geronimo Allison to the ball on the interception that rendered the game un-competitive for the next 20 minutes. It was 27-0 at the half and 34-7 after three.

That man Deebo! Young Samuel, emerging as a star in this league, running the "Jet Sweep" twice on the same drive for 43 yards. He also caught two passes for 46 yards.

Eight passes. Who does Garoppolo think he is anyway, Bob Griese?



Eli's Going

Eli Manning retired this week after 16 years with the New York Giants. If you'll remember, he was even more heralded coming out of college than was big brother Peyton. Now, having wisely decided to let his legacy speak for him, he walks away with his health intact, and the Hall of Fame debate begins.

To us it's a no-brainer.  As Bill James said regarding qualifications for the baseball Hall of Fame, it's not that there is a player with Eli's qualifications who is in the Hall. It's that there is no player with Eli's qualifications who is not in the Hall of Fame. Yes, Jim Plunkett won two Super Bowls at quarterback, as did Eli, and he is not in. (We hope that will be rectified soon, while Mr Plunkett is still alive.) But only Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Tom Brady, and... Eli Manning have won multiple Super Bowl MVP awards. There would be no precedent for denying him entry into the Hall of Fame, though it may take a few years before it happens.



The Las Vegas Raiders

Well, they made it official yesterday, and we all may be grateful they didn't bastardize the name to "Vegas Raiders," which sounds like a bad TV movie from the early 1970s.

Laying aside the issue of Roger Goodell's warm embrace of public sports betting at this time-- who knows, he may be on to something, no one could possibly "fix" a game these days without the word getting out, and we trust his penalty for attempts at such would be harsh and merciless--  the move is not nearly as shocking as Al Davis' flight to Los Angeles 37 years ago, though the reasons for it are largely the same.

Oakland is a mess. The city government is a joke, with a mayor who ought to be in federal prison and likely depends on illegal votes to stay in office. The Coliseum Board remains answerable to no one but themselves. There is every chance they will lose the A's, too, though we hope not to an out-of-state location.

The population of the East Bay, with Oakland as its demographic center, is about 2.2 million as of the 2018 census. Greater Las Vegas, one of the fastest-growing cities in America, is about the same. And Las Vegas receives almost one million visitors per week on average. Per week!  Think any of 'em are football fans? Think fans from Green Bay, Boston, Baltimore, and Atlanta won't want to go to Vegas for a weekend and see their favorite team?

For the Oakland faithful, airfare to "Sin City" is about $100, so we're told. Consider that most season tickets are shared by groups these days. It's easy to imagine eight guys or four couples from the East Bay divvying up the eight home games into two weekend trips to Vegas each. And that's without having to sit in the decrepit Coliseum, park in Oakland, or ride BART. We expect the Raider fanbase in Oakland to handle this with enthusiasm. They'll still be the home team.