The Shenoa Report
February 3, 2019
SUPER BOWL 53
I have put this off until now because I’m still a little bit
upset about the officiating of the Championship games. The no-call for pass
interference in the Saints game was blatantly obvious but that was just one
call they got wrong. There were 3 different calls in the KC game that went the
wrong way and gave the Pats the win. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the refs of
that game driving around in Ferrari's because of some Pats payoff… I am now all
in on the Bumblebees, so much so that I ordered a Rams t-shirt just so I would
have something to wear today and a statement that I’m totally against the Pats.
On the other hand, I’m a little sad that another football season
has come to an end, but as a Giants fan, a little relieved. This will be the
last time we have football on Sunday until August, unless you want to start
watching the AAF.
The AAF stands for the Alliance of America Football league. The
AAF’s season will start on February 9th. There will 8 teams in the league,
notable players include Jared Allen, Hines Ward, and Troy Polamalu. It’s mission
is to provide “high-quality professional football fueled by a dynamic Alliance
between players, fans and the game.” So, if you need a football fix after
the Super Bowl give this league a try.
Today (2/3) is the 11 year anniversary of Super Bowl 42, aka the
best Super Bowl Ever, aka the helmet catch Super Bowl, aka the NY Football
Giants ruining the Patriots perfect season. Sometimes it is good to reminisce.
Now let’s recap Championship Sunday to see who advanced to
Atlanta for Super Bowl 53. This was the first time in league history that both
games were decided by overtime. I went 1-1 on my picks.
Rams @ Saints 26-23 OT
This game was pretty evenly matched especially seeing as it went
to overtime. The Saints started off strong with a 13 point lead in the first
quarter shutting out the Rams who had a slow start. The Rams came back in the
second quarter, scoring 10 points, and shutting out the Saints. Both teams
scored a touchdown each in the third quarter and the fourth quarter got
interesting. The Saints could’ve and should’ve won this game in regulation but
there was a missed, and I don’t know how, pass interference call against the
Rams on the 5 yard line late in the fourth quarter and the Saints had to settle
for a field goal. It didn’t help that the stadium showed the play over and over
on the globatron punctuating the audacity of the missed call and angering fans
in the meantime. This field goal gave the Saints the lead 23-20 with 1:41 left
in regulation. The Rams answered back with a 48-yard field goal to send the
game into overtime. The Saints won the coin toss and elected to receive the
ball. Their possession was short lived as Drew Brees floated a pass that was
picked off by John Johnson III. Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein won the game after making
a 57 yard field goal in overtime. Fun fact, Zuerlein was my kicker in fantasy.
He’s great.
Patriots @ Chiefs 37-31 OT
This game was much more of a heartbreaker for me. Just as the
Saints felt robbed of missed calls I think the Chiefs were just as much. The
Patriots last series reeked of missed calls or lopsided out right wrong calls,
in my opinion. The sad thing is this isn’t surprising, almost expected. The
Patriots jumped out to a 14-0 lead keeping the Chiefs scoreless in the first
half, but the Chiefs clawed their way back into the game scoring on their first
drive of the second half. The Chiefs then held the Pats to a field goal in the
third quarter. The fourth quarter was when all the action seemed to happen. New
England had two touchdowns and the Chiefs had three touchdowns and a field goal
to send the game into overtime. Unfortunately for KC they didn’t see the ball
in overtime as the Patriots got a lot of favorable calls go their way to help
them score a touchdown on their opening drive of overtime. It was dumb, and I
no longer want to discuss it.
SUPER BOWL SUNDAY
Sunday February 3rd
Patriots VS Rams [6:30pm CBS]
This is the 9th Super Bowl that I’ve written about, the 5th with
the Patriots. At this point I should just copy paste the Patriots side, as my
views on them haven’t changed. I’ve never rooted for them in the Super
Bowl and that will not change anytime soon. Though I am writing this as a
Golden State Warriors fan and I am always excited when they make it to the Championships.
I have learned that haters gonna hate, and I don’t mind being one of those
haters.
Super Bowl 53 will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in
Atlanta, home of the Falcons. I’m sure that the Falcons fans will be honorary
Rams fans after their Super Bowl loss to the Patriots two years ago. Coverage
for the game starts at 10am Sunday morning on ESPN and then at 12pm on CBS.
Kick off is set for approximately 6:30pm EST with Jim Nantz and Tony Romo
calling the game in the booth. The halftime show will feature Maroon 5 and
Gladys Knight will sing the national anthem.
This will be the Patriots 11th Super Bowl appearance
and the Rams 3rd. The Patriots and the Rams met in Super Bowl 36
where the outcome was a New England win 20-17.
This should be a pretty evenly matched game. If the Rams defense
can get to Brady early they have a chance at a win. What we have learned in the
past is that if the Patriots opponent gets the lead they can’t let off the gas,
so to speak. That was the Falcons problem. The only teams that have been able
to out play the Pats in the Super Bowl came from the NFC East. Hopefully the
Rams can bring the NFC West into that elite group.
Fun facts. Brady’s first Super Bowl win came against the Rams 17
years ago. It is very rare for a non QB to get the MVP in a Super Bowl. Von
Miller got the MVP for Super Bowl 50 with the Broncos. Aqib Talib played in
that Super Bowl with Von on the defense. He now plays for the Rams.
Hopefully a defensive Rams player will get the MVP of the game this time
around. Some of Atlanta’s stadium fun
facts are that the food and beverage program was ranked No. 1 in the NFL and
MLS “Voice of the Fan” surveys in 2017. $5 craft beer was introduced
into the fan first menu for the 2018 season, joining the $5 domestic draft
already on the menu. There are 1,262 beer taps with 47 different
beers available. These are the fun facts that made the list because I like
affordable craft beer and those two never go hand in hand in football stadiums.
I
even went onto Fanatics.com and bought Rams sweatpants and t-shirts to wear
during the Super Bowl in my allegiance against the Pats.
All the experts are divided on who will win this game. Half are
going with the Rams and half are going with the Patriots. It should be a very
close game with the potential for a lot of points. During the regular
season I usually, begrudgingly, pick the Patriots to win, but I’ve only picked
them to win the Super Bowl once, last year. I AM picking the Pats to win this
time around too so hopefully that will secure a Rams win in reality.
GO RAMS!!!!!!
