We were treated to a great Super Bowl last night. It featured the two best teams in the NFL fighting it out to the finish, with both quarterbacks delivering impressive performances. The penalty on the last drive was unfortunate because it prevented a final drive from Jalen Hurts and the Eagles to tie or win the game, but the holding call was probably correct. In the end, the Kansas City Chiefs were able to pull out a win over a tough Philadelphia Eagles team that came to play.

Point Spread

Going into the game, the Eagles were a 1.5 point favorite with the over/under at around 50. The game was very close and lived up to the billing of the two best teams in the NFL making it to the game. The Eagles were the sexy pick to cover, and the Patrick Mahomes injury was certainly a factor, but as we pointed out, the Eagles hadn’t faced a very tough schedule. Could their defense hold up against Mahomes if he was relatively healthy?

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The line in the Super Bowl between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs started with the Chiefs as a 2.5 point favorite, but that didn’t last long at all. Money flooded to Philly, and now we have the Eagles as a 1.5 point favorite over the Chiefs.

Why all the confidence in Philly? The Patrick Mahomes injury is the most obvious and persuasive answer. He was limited in the KC win over the Bengals, even if it wasn’t nearly as bad as some expected.

Also, the Eagles have romped in the playoffs with big wins over the Giants and 49ers.

Still, can we be that impressed with those performances? The Giants are not an elite team, and the 49ers played without a healthy quarterback. If you take a look at Philadelphia’s schedule, and then take a look at their performance against the few good quarterbacks they faced, it’s difficult to get too confident in their ability to stop Mahomes, even if he’s not 100%.

In an NFL postseason dominated by close games, the Super Bowl delivered another exciting finish as the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals with a touchdown drive to take the lead at the end of the game. The Bengals had a chance to tie the game with a little over a minute left, but Aaron Donald got to Joe Burrow on fourth down at midfield to end any chance for the Bengals.

While the ending was exciting, both offenses struggled for long stretches in the game. The Bengals couldn’t protect Joe Borrow, and the Rams struggled behind a head-scratching game plan by Sean McVay. Many of us knew the Bengals would have trouble blocking the Rams front, but we didn’t expect McVay to continue calling running plays on first down when it was clear the Bengals were stopping the run. It’s one thing to have a game plan based on Cincinnati struggles against the run, but it’s quite another to continue running the ball on first down when the Bengals were obviously keying on the run.

Matthew Stafford was excellent on the final drive, and that’s exactly what you expect from a top-tier quarterback. His no-look pass to Cupp was nothing short of sensational. Cupp was amazing during the game, including a critical fourth down conversion on a WR sweep that kept the last drive alive. He certainly deserved the Super Bowl MVP trophy, though Donald would have been a worthy choice as well.

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The answer of course is yes . . . Joe Borrow can pull this off. The question is what are the chances he can pull it off and would you be willing to bet real dollars he can pull this off.

As you can see from the screen shot above from the Super Bowl media day interviews, Burrow has certainly been adding to his “Joe Cool” image. He’s confident bordering on cocky, and he gives all the right visual with the shades and cool demeanor. He’s already proven that he one of the best, if not the best, young quarterback in the NFL, and he can certainly add to his legacy with a win today in the Super Bowl.

The kid is incredibly talented. But he’s up against a Los Angeles Rams team that matches up very well against his Cincinnati Bengals, so we might be looking at a Dan Marino scenario where a brilliant young quarterback gets stifled by a superior football team in the Super Bowl. Burrow fans would hope that if this transpires that Joe will have more shots at the title unlike Marino who suffered for years trying to get back to the big dance.

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The NFL playoffs kick off today with the Las Vegas Raiders visiting Cincinnati in the opening game. Playoff weekend extends through Monday night as the NFL pushes to continue its dominance on television and maximize ratings.

As we start the payoffs, NFL futures have the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs as the favorites to meet in the Super Bowl as you can see above. Both teams are playing great football and a matchup of these two squads would probably give us a great Super Bowl, though we all know the NFL playoffs rarely work out that way. This is what makes the NFL great.

Here’s a quick look at the NFL lines for the playoff games:

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