It was no masterpiece
Monday night’s 54-51 contest between the Rams and the Chiefs was more like a video game
The Big 12 conference has come to the NFL.
Without a doubt, the Monday-night scoring extravaganza between the Rams and Chiefs was entertaining. It had more spectacular plays and headspinning twists than a game of Madden or a matchup of teams from college football’s defencechallenged conference.
As for it being a pro football classic, no way.
And for those yearning to see a rematch in the Super Bowl, don’t count on it – unless each team finds a consistent defence.
Yeah, we know, there were several big defensive plays that produced points in Los Angeles’ 54-51 victory, the highest-scoring Monday night contest ever and the only time two teams have each exceeded 50 points in the same game.
Aaron Donald might have cemented a second straight NFL defensive player of the year award with his strip-sacks of
Patrick Mahomes.
There were three picks, though two came when Mahomes was in desperation mode. There were four lost fumbles as each defensive line made its present felt – for a few seconds.
The box score looks as long as one of Andy Reid’s play sheets.
What America saw was Madden 19 at its most frenetic. And
that’s exactly what much of the current sporting public covets. Give them receivers running free like deer in a meadow; light shows of points on the scoreboard; announcers fawning over the action while ignoring the quality of performance; and offensive records galore.
This was a home run derby with major league sluggers in a Little League park. It was a hockey shootout with NHL skaters facing amateur goalies. A dunk contest on nine-foot rims. Fantastic fun? For sure. But it can also be seen as an indictment of how the NFL – helped along by college football’s evolution – has headed toward flag football.
How did we get to a point where the third-highest scoring game in NFL history, chock full of flying flags (21 accepted penalties for 195 yards), terrible coverage and some overzealous coaching is labeled a masterpiece?
“A couple of things are contributing,” says Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy, now an analyst for NBC. “The skills of the players on offence and the way the coaches are designing things is one. And the practice schedule that has been reduced really favours the offence now.
“You can’t do as much work in the off-season and at training camp, and that hurts the defences. Quarterbacks take their groups and they can get together and throw and work on their timing for two or three weeks. Defences can’t do that, so they are behind the eight ball from the outset.”
Dungy and his NBC studio partner, former safety Rodney Harrison, bemoan the lack of fundamentals on defence. We saw as many examples of that on Monday night as we did tight spirals from Mahomes and Rams quarterback Jared Goff.
“As old school guys, we appreciate and we respect defence,” Harrison said. “I said something (Sunday) night: If I was a general manager, I would never hire a defensive-minded coach as a head coach. The league is about scoring points and developing young quarterbacks; see Andy Reid and the Chiefs, Sean Mcvay and the Rams, Matt Nagy and the Bears. You have these co-ordinators that have a very creative mind for offence. But look at their defences, they don’t have great defences.
“The league has really changed.”