I’ve had a history of doing __ thoughts after the __season or __ thoughts after Super Bowl __ throughout the years and making the numbers correlate. But these numbers are simply too large for me to pretend like I can keep doing this. I’m not sure I have 59 thoughts on anything other than things I’d like to try putting on my smoker in 2025.
So I’m telling you up front that I don’t know how many thoughts I have. The column is called “59 Thoughts After Super Bowl 59,” but I’m going keep going until I’m out and then we’ll just skip to 59.
1. Congratulations to the Eagles.
I can’t tell how embraceable they are to an average football fan. I think there was some preference for the Eagles over the (again?) Chiefs, but I’m not sure they were “America’s Team,” either. They’re not that far removed from their last Super Bowl win, so there’s no “long suffering” factor for their fan base. And since their fan base is notoriously best known for attacking Santa Claus, the “feel good” part was always going to be uphill. But again, not the Chiefs.
2. So how did this happen?
It doesn’t hurt to build the best roster. We’ll never fully understand what happened to the Eagles down the stretch of the 2023 season. But they stayed the course, recognizing how good the group was that they put together. They were loaded at every level. They drafted incredibly well and paired that with shrewd acquisitions, specifically a bold trade for A.J. Brown and the final piece of the puzzle, the addition of Saquon Barkley.
3. And then there’s the Jalen Hurts of it all.
I can’t believe we’ve made it to this point without “is Jalen Hurts elite” becoming an internet meme. We haven’t seen many quarterbacks who aren’t definitively “elite” win Super Bowls since the turn of the century. Hurts had an excellent season. But there’s a real “chicken and the egg” question to whether Hurts was really good because the Eagles put so much around him or the Eagles took the next step forward because Hurts vaulted into the top tier of quarterbacks.
I don’t have the answer. I think it’s going to be something we’ll be trying to make sense of this offseason.
4. Like a former quarterback who had “elite” questions, Jalen Hurts was named Super Bowl MVP.
Unlike 12 years ago, this one is a bit … tougher to defend. Yes, Hurts had a fine game. And yes, quarterbacks tend to be the only players allowed to win any football award where a “V” is the second letter in the acronym (we’ll talk more about that later). But we all watched the same game. The story was the defense. Josh Sweat, Milton Williams and Cooper DeJean were all viable choices. Sweat probably should have been the winner.
5. As far as the Chiefs are concerned, you know … real bummer, guys.
There is specific disappointment because they were trying to make history with a “three-peat” and that is, of course, out the window. The Chiefs never fully seemed “right” this season. Offensive line play was part of that. This is the second time this decade that shoddy protection factored into a Chiefs Super Bowl loss. Folks in Kansas City were skeptical that they could even get this far because of it. The frustrating part for other teams must be that they somehow weren’t able to take advantage of it.
6. Still, Patrick Mahomes is breathing and Andy Reid says he’ll be back.
I’m not sure whether Travis Kelce will return or take the logical next step toward boy band-dom, but the first two principles are the most important. As brutal as this loss was for them, it doesn’t suddenly make the AFC wide open next year. Everything still goes through Kansas City until proven otherwise.
7. There just weren’t a ton of local connections to Super Bowl LIX, but one in particular stands out.
Congratulations to Ellicott City native Thomas Booker (Gilman), a truly fascinating human being who is now a Super Bowl champion. I’m not sure how many Super Bowl champions were part of the Chinese Honor Society in high school.
Former Ravens linebackers coach Vic Fangio did an unbelievable job running the Eagles’ defense, but his more recent connections to Baltimore were a bit less positive. And one of the more interesting people in the Eagles’ front office is vice president of football operations and strategy Adam Berry, the Bel Air High School alum and twin brother of Browns GM Andrew Berry.
8. The reactions to Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show were pretty predictable.
For a lot of folks, it just isn’t their thing. Few of them are able to state it that way. We live in a society where “this isn’t my thing” is instead stated as “this is terrible.” It’s who we are. I think it’s fair to say that “K-Dot” was the halftime performer with the least broad appeal in the modern area. But he still had a TON of appeal. “Not Like Us” went from “diss track” to “iconic eternal anthem” and his performance of that song (complete will Serena Williams’ crip walk) and “tv off” gave the NFL the exact viral moments they want from halftime.
9. Those who weren’t as in to Kendrick Lamar might look toward next year’s Super Bowl in Santa Clara, Calif., and hope the league goes in a different direction.
Lots of people from a certain demographic in my own life have already campaigned for San Francisco’s own legendary rock band Metallica to get the gig. I find that … wildly unlikely. It is certainly possible the league could turn back to a young pop star like a Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, Olivia Rodrigo or Sabrina Carpenter. Female rappers like Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B and Nicki Minaj are all expected to release projects in 2025 and could be in the mix as well.
10. The commercials stunk.
The Seal commercial was stupid but the commercials were so bad and unmemorable that I think it might have also been my favorite? The Lilo & Stitch one with Stitch running around the field was cute. The bar is so low. I know I’m getting older but yeesh.
11. I mentioned the Super Bowl MVP thing earlier. We should probably talk about the NFL MVP thing.
The wrong guy won. That’s OK. It happens. It wasn’t the first time and it most certainly won’t be the last. Lamar Jackson had a truly historic season. Josh Allen had a good one. The combination of “voter fatigue” and predetermined narratives made me think Allen was going to win … right up until Jackson was voted first-team All-Pro.
The flipping of votes was genuinely stunning to me and all the more damning. A number of intelligent people decided to twist themselves into a pretzel to try to explain how Jackson was clearly better but Allen was still more “valuable.” It’s a silly argument. The concept is that Jackson had such a dramatically better team than Allen that Allen had to singlehandedly carry the Bills on his own, which makes sense when you consider that Allen had to put together a 114.4 QB rating in the playoffs to survive the Ravens and Jackson only had an 86.7.
Oh wait. It’s actually the opposite of that.
I realize the playoffs weren’t part of the MVP equation. But the point is that this mental math is nonsense. If Allen was the best quarterback, make him the MVP. But he wasn’t. So this is absurd. Maybe it’s time to scrap MVP in favor of MOP (Most Outstanding Player) to fix this.
And for what it’s worth, Bills fans now get to understand the emptiness of your favorite player winning MVP while your team is watching the Super Bowl from their couch.
12. Speaking of flawed processes, the changes the Pro Football Hall of Fame made to voting proved to be utterly disastrous.
There was already an insane backlog of truly deserving players, particularly at wide receiver. By increasing the number of finalists from five to seven and then requiring 80 percent of votes for election, the Hall made smaller classes dramatically more likely, as seen with this year’s three-person class (along with Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee selection Sterling Sharpe).
Some have suggested voting leaks were the reason for the change in the process. There had to be a better way to address that. There is also belief that inductees’ suggestions that the Hall had become too inclusive were taken to heart. That’s complete nonsense. There are 22 (25 if you include punter, kicker and returner) starters on each team in every NFL game. There are 10 in each MLB game (although you could make that 12 if you consider a second starting pitcher from every team and closer in the conversation).
The point is that the Pro Football Hall of Fame should not be inducting classes the same size as Baseball Hall of Fame induction classes. There should be a commitment to elect five or more in every class. Among this year’s finalists, Torry Holt, Luke Kuechly, Adam Vinatieri and Reggie Wayne stand out as slam-dunk Hall of Famers. It is inexplicable they have to continue to wait.
And yeah, Terrell Suggs and Marshal Yanda, too. We all expected that Yanda might have to wait because of the disrespect shown toward the guard position, but the man is a Hall of Famer. A process that requires a waiting period is silly. (There are certainly strong arguments for other finalists like Eli Manning, Jahri Evans, Fred Taylor and Willie Anderson, too.)
Things get worse next year when slam-dunk Hall of Famers Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Frank Gore and Jason Witten join the ballot (and the strong argument of Philip Rivers too). This cannot continue to be the process. It will continue to fail. The Pro Football Hall of Fame isn’t the one that inducted Harold Baines. It needs to make these backlogs easier to clear. It’s more difficult for a wide receiver to get into the Hall of Fame than it is for a rich man to choose not to insufferably believe they can run the country.
13. All eyes shift to Ronnie Stanley now in Baltimore.
We’re a month away from the start of free agency in the NFL. Justin Tucker might be the biggest issue facing the team, but Ronnie Stanley is next. The tag period is Feb. 20 to March 5. A tag for Stanley feels unlikely because it sets his value at a number the team would probably be trying to avoid. But allowing him to depart is terrifying.
14. OK, I’m tapping out. Let’s skip ahead a bit.
59. I miss you already, football.
I can’t pretend that I’ll watch even a second of the Daytona 500 or NBA All-Star weekend. Maryland and Towson basketball are compelling. Hopkins and Maryland lacrosse are off to good starts. Maybe there’s still somehow a pitching addition that can get us a bit more excited about pitchers reporting to Sarasota in the coming days. But I miss you terribly, football. Please come back to us fast.