HOPE YOU TOOK NOTES
Giants could learn plenty from best and worst of Super Bowl
Super Bowl LIV was a study in the three most important elements of modern football: coaching, quarterbacking, and rushing the passer.
A dominant pass rush is nearly impossible to overcome. A great quarterback is the only true answer to beat it. And even with a transcendent QB, a team is only going to reach its full potential if its head coach falls on the right side of critical ingame decisions.
All struggling NFL franchises, the Giants included, can start their quest for their own Super Bowl glory by assessing themselves in those three areas and watching the tape of the Chiefs and 49ers for lessons to apply in their own operations.
We start with an element that’s been glaringly absent from the Giants’ recent teams despite being so critical to some of their greatest championship squads: the pass rush.
GOOD LUCK BEATING A GOOD PASS RUSH
Patrick Mahomes basically had the worst game of his career through 48 minutes because the Chiefs’ offensive line had no answer for the Niners’ pass rush. It wasn’t just the four sacks, eight QB hits and six passes defended, either.
Mahomes said after the game, per The Ringer, that his inexplicable first interception to Niners linebacker Fred Warner was due to San Fran’s Dee Ford and Arik Armstead setting the edge so effectively.
Mahomes was trying to slide further to his right, forcing Warner to drift outside with him, and then hit Tyreek Hill in the resulting window. But he couldn’t go outside, so Warner remained inside, too, and he was waiting when Mahomes planted and threw anyway.
That third-quarter pick was preceded, as well, by Niners rookie Nick Bosa strip-sacking Mahomes to turn 2nd-and-5 into 3rd and-12. And that put pressure on Mahomes to force his INT, which gave the Niners a short field to punch in a Raheem Mostert touchdown for a 20-10 lead with 2:35 to play in the third quarter.
Bosa also was largely responsible for Mahomes’ second interception early in the fourth quarter. Bosa drove Chiefs left tackle Eric Fisher so quickly into Mahomes’ lap, the Chiefs QB rushed his throw to Hill over the middle, and so it was inaccurate and behind him, tipped and picked off by Tarvarius Moore.
When San Francisco had the ball, meanwhile, the Chiefs’ defensive line also played a major role in turning this game Kansas City’s way — even though they weren’t nearly as disruptive as the Niners were from the start.
Both of Jimmy Garoppolo’s interceptions were results of pressure, and D-tackle Chris Jones was the leader of the Chiefs’ onslaught.
Garoppolo’s first INT early in the second quarter to Bashaud Breeland was a direct result of Jones’ immediate pressure beating Niners right guard Mike Person. Jones grabbed Garoppolo and slipped off, but the Chiefs’ Mike Pennel put a lick on the Niners QB as he threw the ball up for grabs. The Chiefs cashed in a field goal for a 10-3 lead with 9:36 left in the second quarter.
Jones also made one of the most timely big plays of the game when he batted down Garoppolo’s pass at the line of scrimmage on 2nd and 5, trailing 20-17, with 5:23 to play. The Niners would go three-andout and punt, leading to KC’s go-ahead drive.
And late season veteran pickup Terrell Suggs’ pressure led to Garoppolo’s throw into traffic to Kendall Fuller late in the fourth to seal the game.
Bosa, the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft, was credited with 12 pressures by Pro Football Focus, the most ever in a Super Bowl since 2006, which is as far as PFF’s database goes back.
The Giants need a player like this. They have not drafted a pass rusher in the first round since Jason Pierre-Paul in 2010.
THE EXCEPTION: IF YOU HAVE A GREAT QB
It is absurd that the Chiefs were not whistled for holding once and that the officials ignored helmet hits to both QBs and a late hit out of bounds on Garoppolo, as well as a clear delay of game on Mahomes. If K.C. had been called for holding as often as they held, the Niners easily could have won the game.
Still, despite Mahomes taking a pounding and playing under the constant threat of pressure, he had the ability to make the plays that mattered most.
In the second quarter, right after the change of possession on Garoppolo’s first INT, Bosa beat Fisher off the edge and put a hit on Mahomes, but the Chiefs’ QB still delivered the ball 28 yards downfield into a window to Sammy Watkins, setting up a field goal for a 10-3 lead.
Mahomes made the throw of the game, his 44-yard bomb to Hill on 3rd-and-15, as DeForest Buckner bore down for a hit from the outside on a stunt (Bosa was held as he went inside). The Chiefs QB also scrambled for 29 yards and a rushing TD, making the Niners pay when their pass rush overcommitted. And he bounced back from multiple big hits, including Jimmie Ward’s huge shot on Mahomes’ 12-yard scramble that caused a fumble out of bounds.
Garoppolo played a pretty good game until late, but on his biggest play, he overthrew Emmanuel Sanders trailing, 24-20, with under two minutes left on 3rd-and-10. And that throw was affected by
pressure from Suggs and Tanoh Kpassagnon.
The Giants’ Daniel Jones has shown resilience in bouncing back from big hits and bad plays to fight on, but he’s also turned the ball over too frequently under pressure and struggled with understanding when to eat the ball versus when to get rid of it. Resilience may be the big lessons from Mahomes’ Super Bowl MVP performance, though, and the Giants hope Jones has that.
YOU NEED THE COACH TO PUT IT TOGETHER
Andy Reid’s 4th-and-1 direct snap out of the pistol to Damien Williams from the Niners’ 5-yard line in the first quarter was a winning decision. Not only was the fourman, pre-snap shift beautiful and deceptive (pulled from the 1948 Rose Bowl, per offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy). It also recognized the situation and how critical it was to come out of there with a 7-3 lead instead of an early 3-3 tie.
The Niners’ Kyle Shanahan, conversely, managed the middle of the game to lose. Prior to halftime, after stopping Kansas City and forcing a punt with 1:53 to play, Shanahan did not use his first of three remaining timeouts, even as GM John Lynch signaled for one up in the booth.
Valuable time ran off and — thanks also to a bad offensive pass interference call on George Kittle — the game went to halftime tied at 10. Then on the first drive of the second half, Shanahan had 3rd-and-5 at the Chiefs’ 27, threw the ball for three yards, and kicked a 42-yard field goal instead of going for it on 4th and 2 from the 24.
Prioritizing a 13-10 lead there over seven points against a Mahomes-led Chiefs team showed he misunderstood the situation and opponent he was trying to defeat.
That said, the Niners still looked to be in complete control, up 20-10, with 7:13 to play and the Chiefs facing 3rd and-15 on their own 35.But Mahomes made one big play, and everything changed. And now Shanahan has been the offensive play-caller for the two teams that have surrendered the largest fourth quarter leads in Super Bowl history: the 2016 Falcons and 2019 Niners.
Reid forever has been ridiculed (rightly) for his poor clock management and questionable decisions in some big moments, but on Sunday it flipped and Shanahan was on the wrong end while Reid looked wise.
The Giants believe Joe Judge understands situational football and is astute at preparing for and evaluating game situations as a Bill Belichick and Nick Saban understudy. Shanahan’s poor timeout usage late in Sunday’s first half was reminiscent of some of Pat Shurmur’s bad time management. The Giants hope to leave those kind of calls in the past.