Post-Super Bowl Thoughts

 We can officially put the wraps on this Covid-19 NFL season, a season that challenged fans and players alike.

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers held up the Lombardi Trophy for winning Super Bowl LV, it capped a ho-hum, disappointing game that failed to live up the the hype. (Felt my own Super Bowl food choice of home-made crawfish & chicken gumbo was far better than the actual game, but I digress.)

Put the blame for that  boring game on the Buc defense and the injury-plagued offensive line. Poor Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes, it is said, ran for over 400 yards while doing his best Fran Tarkenton impression in trying to avoid Tampa's relentless pass rush. Am still marveling at his ability to escape, and that throw -- while parallel to the turf -- of 30 yards that hit his receiver in the hands!

Because that defense was so dominant, I felt the Bucs defense (or defensive coordinator Todd Bowles deserved the MVP, not quarterback Tom Brady.

When you look at the past 55 Super Bowls, a total of 31 MVP awards have gone to quarterbacks (Brady has five in his seven wins -- in 10 games played). Running backs and wide receivers have won seven each, a kick returner once (Desmond Howard in the Green Bay win in 1997) along with nine defensive players. That's actually 10, since Randy White and Harvey Martin shared the award for the Dallas Cowboys in 1978.

As an aside, while Bart Starr won the MVP award in the first two games (technically the NFL-AFL Championship Game) as the Green Bay Packers won, he should have at least shared the first one with wide receiver Max McGee. McGee wasn't expected to play, came in for an injured teammate and, hung over, caught seven passes for 138 yards and both of Starr's touchdowns.

By the way, in case you were wondering, the NFC has now won 27 of 55 games. The NFL split with the AFL prior to the merger of the two leagues, with Green Bay winning the first two, the New York Jets and the Kansas City Chiefs winning the next two.