Thoughts & Jots: From Kyle Shanahan to Jason Momoa to Baker Mayfield

Things on my mind

1. Fire Kyle Shanahan? Did I hear the talking heads say that the day after his San Francisco 49ers squandered yet another double-digit lead in yet another Super Bowl that he should be axed? He has coached in three Super Bowls where his offense was up by double-digits and subsequently lost all three. The first was as the OC with the Atlanta Falcons with a 28-3 lead against the New England Patriots. Then his 49ers were up by 10 twice. That is three losses in eight years.

San Francisco has won all these games in the regular season and he is this offensive ‘genius’, right? Get this: the Niners have been outscored by a combined 58-12 in the fourth quarter and overtime. Should this fact alone become an offense that results in him getting fired?

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One thing for certain, there is a problem in Shanahan’s house. Everyone talks about being ‘out-coached’, there’s also a thing about just making wrong decisions over and over. It’s called a pattern. In overtime, he was playing for the extra period’s third possession without any assumption that there would never be one.

He’s led some of the best offenses the NFL has ever seen. Why didn’t Shanahan use RB Christian McCaffrey more? The Kansas City Chiefs’ run defense was suspect at best, and McCaffrey is the NFL Offensive Player of the Year. The Niners went away from their bread and butter when they had the chance to put the game away. Shanahan deserves the blame for that.

After the Falcons debacle, there was an online petition to fire Shanahan. Will there become another petition?

On the Tuesday after the big game, Shanahan stated that he expected all coaches would return. One day later, he fired DC Steve Wilks. Shanahan stated, “Even though it was one I didn’t want to make, it was something that once I realized that a different direction was what’s best for our organization, it’s something that I have to do.”

Someone has to take the blame and throw shade on Shanahan, eh?

2. What will the Browns do with the linebacker position? Currently, the team has five linebackers listed on their free agent list. Anthony Walker could be re-signed on another one-year deal but will that actually happen with his injury history? Sione Takitaki is the most obvious to retain. Matthew Adams and Jordan Kunaszyk were both on the roster for special teams. Jacob Phillips cannot remain healthy and has only played in 20 games since 2020 so it is very doubtful he will be back.

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Is the defense ready to proceed with Takitaki, Tony Fields, and JOK as the starting group with Mohamoud Diabate and Charlie Thomas as backups?

The Browns will need to bring in a seasoned veteran during free agency and draft a young buck this year. The best FA linebackers are Devin White (age 25) and Lavonte David (33) – Tampa Bay, Patrick Queen (24) – Baltimore, and Frankie Luvu (27) – Carolina. At the #54 spot where the Browns draft in the second round, Junior Colson of Michigan and North Carolina State’s Payton Wilson should be there.

3. Did you see where Damar Hamlin received more first-place votes for the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award yet Joe Flacco took home the trophy? The thing is, Baker Mayfield had the better story with more success. He ranked as the ninth-best QB in 2023 and had 28 touchdowns versus 10 interceptions. Hamlin died on the football field. He then came back to play the following season. How in the hell did that not win? The dude was dead. On the field. In Prime-Time television. And then he played an entire NFL season.

Love that Flacco got the hardware, but Joe didn’t lose consciousness, his pulse, all heartbeats, and lose any extremities. The NFL canceled a game because of his situation. They should have just given Hamlin the trophy and not even voted on it.

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4. Speaking of voting, at the beginning of the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl, they announced that voting was open for the game’s MVP. I went online and voted for Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker who had nailed all four field goals. Mine was one of four votes. Four. At that time, Mahomes and Purdy were leading by large margins. A field goal try is nine players against 11. He made four kicks including a Super Bowl record 57-yarder and another from 55-yards, totaling 12 points. At the end of regulation, the Chiefs had 19. The dude led his team in scoring. No tears for the little guys.

5. What were your thoughts on the Super Bowl commercials? It used to be that no advertiser would dare provide a sneak peek, but now, you can see almost every commercial beforehand. This takes away the viewer’s hesitation to take a quick bathroom break or leave the room at all.

Older commercials especially the beer companies and Doritos were so funny, but now? 59 different commercials graced our screens this year, but I have to ask: what was their strategy for the overtime period? There is no chance they saved any, so, did they just re-run a few? Were these companies charged the same $7 million for the added air time, or charged at all?

The best seemed to be Kia’s “Perfect 10”, the “Wicked” movie trailer, the NFL International Player Pathway Program with the kid from Giana featuring Osi Umenyiora, Volkswagen “An American Love Story”, Paramount+ with Patrick Stewart, T-Mobile with Jason Momoa, Kawasaki “Mullets”, and the M&M’s “Almost Champions” with Dan Marino, TO, Bruce Smith, and Scarlett Johansson.

To me, the worst was Hellman’s “Cat Mayo”, Pluto TV “Couch Potatoes”, all those Temu spots, “Less Social Media, more Snapchat”, BMW’s “Talkin with Walken”, and what was with that Kennedy ad? And Ah-nold Schwarzenegger misusing the English language? Yeah, that joke was done in the 1950s.

6. In April’s NFL draft, I would love to see the Browns go heavy on defense, then draft a tight end and a backup/developmental offensive tackle. Wide receiver has been mentioned as a critical need, but is it really? Amari Cooper is the team’s resident Pro Bowler. And yes, after him, the skill level tappers off quite a bit. Both Elijah Moore and Marquise Goodwin were brought in because of their speed and their playmaker abilities.

But Goodwin is now a free agent and with his lack of production will be gone. And Moore? His 104 targets, 59 receptions, and 640 yards are all career highs but are certainly not the numbers anyone in Cleveland envisioned from this former second-round draft pick whom the Browns spent another second-round pick in their trade to acquire him.

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Rookie Cedric Tillman had a rookie year production, but the enigma is David Bell. He was the Big 10 Receiver of the Year in his senior campaign. Ohio State is known for sending elite receivers to the NFL, but Bell played for Purdue. Bell has started just six games in two seasons, and his targets are he is considered the afterthought although he catches almost every pass thrown his way. I don’t get it.

Cooper on one side, Tillman/Moore manning the other outside receiver spot, with Bell in the slot with Michael Woods as a backup. And it is not like the Browns haven’t tried to bring in another guy. Anthony Schwartz, Demetric Felton, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Antonio Callaway, and Damion Ratley were all recently drafted to be one of the starters and then found employment with someone else. Just a thought before the team wastes another pick on a receiver they don’t need.

7. In the Super Bowl, which became the most-watched TV program ever, the punt in the third quarter changed the course of the game. The ball in its descent hit the heel of 49ers special teamer Darrell Luter, Jr. What was odd was return man Ran-Ray McCloud could see the flight of the ball was going to fall short of where he was standing despite calling for a fair catch. Yet, why didn’t he yell out “Peter! Peter! Peter!”

Nowhere on the broadcast replay was this heard, or assuming it was never shouted. These three words are universal in American Football when a return man knows he is not going to catch the ball, and doesn’t want the loose rock to hit anyone on any funky bounce and for everyone to get far away. Therefore, as the ball is falling back to earth, the returner yells out “Peter! Peter! Peter!” as loud as he can, and then everyone on the punt return team immediately scatters so that the ball doesn’t have a chance of touching them. This is fundamental football. Sunday, not being fundamental became six points for the other club.

8. After the Super Bowl and now having won the NFL pinnacle two years in a row, Kansas City QB Patrick Mahomes stated in his post-game press conference about the Chiefs starting to aim at becoming the first pro football team to win three straight championships. Mahomes said, “No one’s ever done it.” Excuse me?

The Green Bay Packers have won three in a row – twice. They won NFL titles from 1929-1931. And then from 1965-1967, they not only won three consecutive NFL titles, but added the first two Super Bowls (which to some equates to five crowns in a row). The Cleveland Browns have won five pro football titles in a row from 1946-1950. Then there are the Kansas Koyotes who were part of the American Professional Football League, an indoor entity. The Koyotes won six successive titles from 2003-2008.

So, what Mahomes should have said was, “We look forward to tying the Packers for the third most consecutive professional football titles.” Who says? Says history!

9. What is the controversy regarding when Shanahan won the coin flip for the overtime period, and then elected to receive? He received lots of heat for taking the ball first. Did this one decision blow the outcome of the game? For one, this was the first overtime played since the NFL changed the rules to ensure possession for both teams in the playoffs.

It seems Shanahan wanted the ball first not because of their first drive in the extra period, but to prepare for the third possession. He assumed that his team would score points and the Chiefs would answer. Then the 49ers would get the ball back and go down and score the winning points to end the game. But what happened instead was that San Fran only netted three on their drive which KC scored six. If the Niners’ defense had held the Chiefs for a game-tying field goal, then his assumption about the third possession might have come through for him.

But how do you count out Mahomes? You don’t. After the Super Bowl, Shanahan stated that the overtime rules had been reviewed the week of, and they knew what to expect.

What would Andy Reid have done if they won the coin flip? After the game, he was asked just that. His answer? They would have kicked off. With how tired both defenses were at that point, it could have gone either way. But like in baseball being the home team and batting last, by going second instead of first, the Chiefs were able to see exactly what they had to do instead of wondering if what they scored was enough. With Kansas City getting the ball second, it basically gave Mahomes an extra down each series.

But Shanahan was correct to state that if both teams had scored equal amounts on their drives, then the third possession is a big advantage. That is if it got to that point, but it didn’t. So, was this strategy, analytics, or just dumb?

10. For the cover of Madden NFL football next year, I have a suggestion: