The Shenoa Report
February 12, 2023
Super Bowl LVII
This is the Super Bowl edition of The Shenoa Report but first I want to highlight the NFL honors from the Associated Press that happened earlier this week. CONGRATULATIONS to Brian Daboll, head coach of the NY Football Giants, for winning coach of the year. What you did was unbelievable. But you did it! You took a team with minimal talent at best, with no cap space to bring in any big names, and turned what I thought should be a 3 win season to a season with 9 wins! That’s incredible!
Other awards include: Most Valuable Player: Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs quarterback. Comeback Player of the Year: Geno Smith, Seahawks quarterback. Offensive Player of the Year: Justin Jefferson, Vikings wide receiver. Defensive Player of the Year: Nick Bosa, 49ers defensive end. Offensive Rookie of the Year: Garrett Wilson, Jets wide receiver. Defensive Rookie of the Year: Sauce Gardner, Jets cornerback. Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year: Dak Prescott, Cowboys quarterback. Also announced was the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2023: Ronde Barber; Darrelle Revis; Joe Thomas; Zach Thomas; DeMarcus Ware; Don Coryell (coach/contributor); Chuck Howley (senior); Joe Klecko (senior); Ken Riley (senior)
Well, here we are. Super Bowl 57. The Philadelphia Eagles will face off against the Kansas City Chiefs. Someone will win and someone will lose. The confetti will fall and then darkness will cover the earth, until August when preseason starts up again.
I’m not gonna lie guys, I was more excited for the “Pro Bowl” than I am for the Super Bowl. I really think the NFL made the right decision in making the Pro Bowl more about the different events and less about a meaningless game. The flag football games were great! The events were very entertaining, from a balloon toss, to dodgeball, and even a drill in which the big defensive players had to hold multiple footballs and try to catch another one when it was shot by the jugs machine. Also, Payton and Eli Manning were the head coaches, and antics ensued. I was happy to see Eli FINALLY beat his big brother on the football field. The Giants never beat the Colts or Broncos when both Mannings were playing.
So, how did we get here? Let’s recap another weekend of football a lot of fans would like to forget about.
49ers @ Eagles (3pm FOX)
I’m sick of the refs, but more sick of “New York’s” inability to weigh in when needed. Like, for instance, on Philly's first drive. It was 4th and 3 and Jalen Hurts threw a bomb to Devonta Smith. It was called a catch on the field, and it CLEARLY was not. Did NY weigh in? No they did not. This catch led to a touchdown to end the drive. When the 49ers had their first possession Brock Purdy went out on the third play of the drive with an elbow injury. Did the refs call roughing the passer? No they did not. I just knew it was over for the 49ers right then. The 49ers brought in backup to the backup to the backup, Josh Johnson, who didn’t last more than a complete drive as he was also pulled from the game and put into concussion protocol. At one point the viewers and announcers would have watched Christian McCaffrey go in as quarterback. Purdy came back into the game but the Eagles knew he couldn't pass more than 5 yards and essentially at that point the game was over. Cool.
Bengals @ Chiefs (4:30pm CBS)
This game was better. It was actually a game in which you didn’t know who was going to win until the last second. Both teams were competitive and evenly matched. The first quarter was very defense heavy, the Chiefs shut out the Bengals while Cincinnati held KC to a field goal. The second quarter was a little more active. The Chiefs were able to hold the Bengals two just 2 field goals while KC was able to score a field goal and a touchdown. Both teams had a touchdown in the 3rd quarter and the Bengals tied the game early in the 4th quarter. The Bengals had a chance to go up in their next possession but Joe Burrow threw an interception to give the ball back to the Chiefs. The next two drives for both teams ended in punts. The Chiefs got the ball back late in the 4th with less than a minute left. It was a third and 4 and Mahomes, on an injured ankle, had to scramble and then take off in a sprint to get the first down. He was successful but then was hit out of bounds by defender Joseph Ossai. Ossai was called for unnecessary roughness and a 15 yard penalty was enforced at the Cincinnati 42 yard line, putting the Chiefs into field goal territory. With 3 seconds left Harrison Butker kicked the game winning field goal to send the Chiefs to the Super Bowl.
February 12 - Super Bowl Sunday
How to watch Super Bowl LVII
Well, coverage has already started but the actual game time is 6:30 p.m. ET. This year's game will be played at State Farm Arena (Glendale, Arizona). Fox will be hosting the game and you can also stream the game to mobile devices on NFL+. This will mark the Fox Network’s final game to be broadcast under the current NFL television contract. Fox charged up to about $7 million for a 30-second Super Bowl commercial this year.
The head referee is Carl Cheffers. TV announcers are Kevin Burkhardt, Greg Olsen, Erin Andrews, and Tom Rinaldi.
The Eagles are the designated home team this year, based on the annual rotation between the two conferences, they are choosing to wear their green home jerseys with white pants. The Chiefs will wear their white away jerseys with red pants.
Fun facts: This game has been referred to as "The Andy Reid Bowl", as Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was also the head coach of the Eagles from 1999 to 2012.
Another nickname for the game is "The Kelce Bowl". This will mark the first Super Bowl to feature brothers playing against each other: Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Eagles center Jason Kelce.
Also, this will be the first Super Bowl between two black starting quarterbacks: Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs and Jalen Hurts of the Eagles. Mahomes (27 years of age) and Hurts (24) will be the youngest starting quarterback pair in Super Bowl history.
I don’t have anything nice to say about the Eagles but I will say something nice about their quarterback. Hurts has an all female management team. It’s no wonder he’s been so successful this season. Shout out to his agent, Nicole Lynn who has become the first black woman to represent a starting quarterback in the NFL. She’s also an attorney and president of football operations at Klutch Sport! Get it girl!
The Pregame performers include American country singer Chris Stapleton who will be performing the national anthem. Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph will perform "Lift Every Voice and Sing", and R & B singer Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds will sing "America the Beautiful". All three songs will also be translated on the field in American Sign Language by actor and Arizona native Troy Kotsur.
The headliner for the Halftime show is Rihanna. This will mark Rihanna's first live performance in over five years.
After the game is over and the confetti falls, Fox will air the season two premiere of Next Level Chef as its lead-out program. I think I may be more excited for the show after the game than the actual game.
It’s no surprise that I will be rooting for and picking the Chiefs to win this game. I don’t care if I get the pick wrong, I mean I got both picks wrong 2 weeks ago… GO CHIEFS!
Happy Super Bowl Sunday!
