February 14, 2023

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle:

A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 8 comments

It's interesting to see and hear all the fawning comments being made over the victorious Chiefs and to think back to what was being said as the Patriots won their second Super Bowl in the early 2000's.

With a sixth round draft pick QB and a surly head coach, the Patriots were still somewhat in "judgment being reserved" mode with the media after they beat the Panthers. All it showed was that the Pats' first title win over the Rams wasn't a fairy tale fluke.

No one was calling anybody "the greatest player of our time" as they now do with Mahomes. (Previously, he was "the best player in the league"). No one was lavishly throwing around the D word (dynasty) as is being done this week. The rush to anoint the Chiefs in all regards has been rather breathtaking.

And in the sea of love swirling around Andy Reid, mentions of DC Spagnuolo, OC Bienemy and OL coach Heck have been underwhelming.

I'd like to look through the laptops of various writers to read the sketched narratives they had tucked away as a hedge to use if the Eagles had won. It would be interesting to see how big a push to the other side the Chiefs would have been given as title game losers.

Edit: Here's a Boston Globe headline I just scrolled across:

"Andy Reid has the Chiefs back in the Super Bowl. And he could soon be nipping at Bill Belichick's heels."

Being as courteous as possible, that is a bit premature. Especially when it's running neck and neck with articles titled "Is Andy Reid going to retire if he wins?"

I don't think I'd want a job that required me to have fainting spells on a daily basis in order to feed the media content beast.

posted by beaverboard at 12:23 PM on February 14, 2023

CFL takes over ownership of Montreal Alouettes franchise

posted by tommybiden at 08:09 PM on February 14, 2023

I think the Chiefs have a long way to go to catch Brady-era Pats (similar for Mahomes to catch Brady), but getting to the Super Bowl 3 out of the last 4 years, winning 2, and the one year they didn't make it they lost in overtime of the conference championship game? I'm OK with calling that a dynasty in an era where parity is (maybe?) a bit more enforced than it was 20 years ago. And Mahomes has 2 SB wins, 2 season MVPs, and 2 SB MVP awards? Some fawning is OK. I'd call the 90s Cowboys a dynasty, and they only won 3 SBs with Aikman only winning one MVP (in an era where QBs didn't automatically get the MVP award).

posted by LionIndex at 08:24 PM on February 14, 2023

They've also hosted 5 AFC Championship Games in a row. I agree that the Patriots and Brady are in another class, but Kansas City is remarkably consistently dominant.

posted by bender at 09:49 PM on February 14, 2023

I think the current Chiefs after two Super Bowl wins are slightly ahead of where the Patriots were in 2003 after two Brady Super Bowl wins. But now the Chiefs have to win the next Super Bowl to stay ahead of where the Pats were in 2004, since they won a third.

All the Chiefs vs. Patriots talk is academic, though. This is the dawning of the Age of Jaguarius.

posted by rcade at 10:35 PM on February 14, 2023

CFL takes over ownership of Montreal Alouettes franchise

I hope they don't trade Chris Paul.

posted by rcade at 10:37 PM on February 14, 2023

I think the current Chiefs after two Super Bowl wins are slightly ahead of where the Patriots were in 2003

Those Patriot squads were probably a level above the Chiefs talent wise across the board and were not as reliant on Brady and a few other stars as KC currently is. The Patriots owned their division and were a contender for over a decade with different rosters. So far KC has been as dominant but they have a few more years to cement their legacy.

Mahomes is the best I've seen. He is a true gamer like Montana or Brady and always better in the bigger games but he is on an entire different level athletically. He does have a long way to go to win over an extended period as Brady did and he already has lost in a Superbowl which Montana never did.

posted by cixelsyd at 11:58 AM on February 15, 2023

The rush to anoint the Chiefs in all regards has been rather breathtaking.

I think the difference between the current Chiefs and the early -00's Pats is that the Chiefs clearly have the support of the Commissioner and the powers that be to be the Chosen Ones, where the Pats were still considered plucky underdogs at this point in their history. The Pats and Tommy eventually turned into the Chosen Ones, but it took them longer to earn it.

Love-a salty Bengals fan.

posted by tahoemoj at 02:21 PM on February 15, 2023

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