OH, BOYS! DALLAS WINS SUPE LIII
Will beat Patriots & win title in Atlanta
MINNEaPOLIS — The Super Bowl gets an upgrade in 2019. Super Bowl LII was played Sunday night in the two-year-old U.S. Bank Stadium, which cost $1.1 billion to construct. Super Bowl LIII will be played next year in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in atlanta, which opened this season and cost $1.6 billion.
Now for our annual way-too-soon prediction: Who makes it to next year’s game?
In keeping with the theme about lots of money, I’m picking the cowboys and the Patriots. Billionaire Jerry Jones vs. billionaire Robert Kraft.
Based on Forbes’ most recent report, the cowboys are No. 1 on the list of most valuable NFL franchises at $4.8 billion. The Patriots are second at $3.7 billion.
On the day after the Super Bowl five years ago, I had my only direct hit: Denver vs. Seattle. I wasn’t brave enough to pick a score, but I’m pretty confident I would not have said Seahawks 43, Broncos 8.
It’s foolish to pick any team other than the Patriots in the AFC as long as Bill Belichick is the coach and Tom Brady is the quarterback. Why bother picking a trendy team like the Jaguars or chargers or a solid choice like the Steelers or a surprise like the Texans with Deshaun Watson and J.J. Watt coming back healthy?
Let’s face it: New England plays in a weak division and is virtually guaranteed to win the AFC East and receive a first round bye. Brady said again last week he wants to play into his mid-40s and as long as Belichick has Brady, he will continue to be a master of replaceable parts.
Belichick does have one big issue: He has to replace both his coordinators and while he’s lost coordinators in the past, never both at the same time. as early as Monday, the Lions will announce they’ve hired defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and the colts will name offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as their new head coach.
Will it matter? If there are any problems, Belichick can do both jobs himself in addition to being the head coach.
The cowboys are going to rebound from their 9-7 season that was sabotaged by Zeke Elliott’s six-game suspension for domestic violence. Even as Elliott kept pushing the suspension back with minor court victories, the inevitable hung over the cowboys all season. They were only 5-3 with him before the suspension finally hit, then lost their first three games without him and even though they won their last three without him, they were out of the race by the time he returned for the 15th game.
Dak Prescott regressed without Elliott but will build off the adversity. Jones needs to get him a new big-play receiver with Dez Bryant no longer being able to get any separation and he needs additional playmakers at each of the three levels of the defense.
With Carson Wentz coming back next season, the Eagles will contend. I like the Saints, but think they will have a tough time recovering from the Minneapolis Miracle and the NFC South is so competitive that they beat each other up. any of the four teams could win it; the Packers are always in it because of Aaron Rodgers but otherwise are flawed; the Rams are a fun team but not Super Bowl-ready just yet; the 49ers need two more drafts and they will be Super Bowl contenders with Jimmy G.
Super Bowl LIII: cowboys 31, Patriots 21
DANCING MACHINES
Odell Beckham Jr. and Eli Manning appear in an entertaining television spot promoting the NFL. It’s based on the movie “Dirty Dancing,” with the two of them dancing together in the Giants field house. at the end of the spot, they are standing about 30 yards apart and Manning motions with his index fingers for OBJ to run towards him just as Patrick Swayze did with Jennifer Grey in the movie. Beckham runs full speed and Manning lifts him over his head. They showed the commercial at the NFL Honors with Eli, Peyton, Archie and OBJ in attendance. The commercial was also shown on the scoreboard at the end of the third quarter and 70,000 people were laughing. … UCLA QB Josh Rosen was at an NFL event on Friday night and after speaking to him, I came away with this impression: He’s got lots of personality and would have no problem handling New York. He seems like a great kid. He said he holds Eli in the highest regard. … Not that I’m counting, but Super Bowl LIII was my 37th consecutive Super Bowl. I’m wondering if Brady will catch up.
JERSEY GATE
The NFL increased locker room security to make sure nobody swiped Brady’s jersey after the game. Brady alternated between being distraught and elated after the Super Bowl one year ago. He was elated because he had just led the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history, bringing the Patriots from 28-3 behind with 17 minutes remaining to win 34-28 in overtime. Distraught because he realized when he got to his locker following his post-game press conference that his game jersey was gone. He had planned to give it to his mother, who attended the game after receiving clearance from her cancer doctors. The jersey was later recovered in Mexico. This year, credentialed media and others were required to swipe in and swipe out utilizing RF readers located at the entrance to the locker room. Each credential was embedded with an electronic chip.
MAWAE IN ’19
I think Kevin Mawae, who played eight of his 16 years with the Jets, will get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame next year. For the second year in a row, he made the cut from the 15 finalists down to the final 10 but didn’t make the cut to the five who get in. Here’s how the reduction process went Saturday. The final 10: Tony Boselli, Brian Dawkins, Alan Faneca, Steve Hutchinson, Ty Law, Ray Lewis, Mawae, Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Brian Urlacher. Eliminated: Isaac Bruce, Joe Jacoby, Edgerrin James, John Lynch, Everson Walls. The final five: Dawkins, Lewis, Moss, Owens, Urlacher. as a voter, we are not given vote totals, so there is no way of knowing where in Nos. 6 through 10 Mawae finished, but judging by the comments in the meeting room, I think he was next man up. after the presentations, I thought Mawae would have to beat out Dawkins or Urlacher because it was clear Lewis, Moss and T.O. were getting in. The momentum moved in Owens’ favor about halfway through a long discussion about him. … Owens was in Minneapolis for much of the week, but was a no-show at the events the HOF invited the 15 finalists to attend in the days leading up to the vote. He didn’t show up at NFL Honors to be introduced after he was voted in.
and Owens was the only one of the eight new Hall of Famers, which included seniors Jerry Kramer and Robert Brazile and contributor Bobby Beathard, who did show up Sunday to be introduced in the middle of the first quarter.
classy right to the end. at least we don’t have to listen to him whining about getting screwed by the committee any more. Full disclosure: I disliked his disruptive act as a player, but I voted for him three years in a row. He didn’t even make the final 10 his first two years. So that should eliminate any thoughts of at least one voter letting personal feelings cloud objectivity… First-time
eligibles next year include Ed Reed, Tony Gonzalez and Champ Bailey. Prediction: Reed, Gonzalez and Bailey get in along with Mawae and either Boselli or Law.
VIKES AND COUSINS
all three of the Vikings QBs are scheduled to be free agents in March: Case Keenum, Sam Bradford and Teddy Bridgewater. If the Vikings don’t sign Kirk cousins, it seems likely the most logical move will be to bring back Keenum and Bridgewater. There was a report that Washington could still franchise cousins for a third straight year, even after getting Alex Smith, then trade him. That makes sense except for one thing: as soon as they franchise him, the $34.5 million franchise number goes on their cap. cousins would lose the ability to be an unrestricted free agent but still be in control of his fate because no team will trade for him without working out a long-term deal and cousins could refuse to sign unless he is traded to a team of his choice.
THE PLAYOFFS!
Here are my 2018 playoff predictions: NFC East: cowboys NFC North: Lions NFC South: Saints NFC West: Rams NFC Wild-Cards: 49ers, Packers AFC East: Patriots AFC North: Steelers AFC South: Texans AFC West: chargers AFC Wild-Cards: Jaguars, Jets
LEAVE IT TO ...
Brady and The Beav. The Beav is Brady’s secret weapon. His name is Jay Flannelly and he is 5 years older than Brady. His nickname is The Beav for Theodore “Beaver” cleaver from Leave It To Beaver. Flannelly looked like The Beav as a kid.
He took a circuitous route to University of Michigan and arrived in 1993, two years before Brady. The Beav roomed with Jason Carr, a senior backup quarterback and the son of coach Lloyd Carr.
“He’s a good guy. I’ve known him a long time,” Brady said. “We just had a great relationship.”
The Beav worked for the Michigan football team. When Brady was drafted by the Patriots, he didn’t know much about them. The Beav was a big Patriots and Drew Bledsoe fan, so he compiled a scouting report on the New England players and gave it to Brady. and from there… The Beav became Brady’s unofficial scout. Once Brady took over as the Patriots starting QB in the third game of the 2001 season following Bledsoe’s injury against the Jets, the secret weapon began emailing Brady scouting reports by Saturday at noon on the next day’s opponent, stuff that Brady wouldn’t necessarily get from Bill Belichick and the coaching staff. “It’s a report every week,” The Beav said. Brady’s response each week? “Good job, Beav,” Flannelly said.
Does Brady read them the scouting reports? “I try to,” he said. “I get a lot of emails so I try to do the best I can do.”
This year’s Super Bowl report was detailed. The Beav had two weeks to work on it. as usual, it was due to arrive in Brady’s inbox the day before the game. The Beav gained a bit of fame when one of the emails Brady wrote to him went public during the Deflategate investigation. He now has his own web site: Beav’s World.