Add this to the list of records the Patriots set or extended by reaching another AFC championship game: most eye-rollingest quote since the AFL-NFL merger.
"You know everyone thinks we suck and we can't win any games, so we’ll see. Should be fun," Tom Brady told CBS' Tracy Wolfson.
America's reaction when that got out late Sunday?
It was a delayed reaction, since most of said country had turned off the Patriots' divisional-round dismantling of the Chargers long before Brady did his post-game interview on the field.
And choosing Michael Jordan as the spokesman there is not random — he remains the acknowledged all-time leader in pulling faux-motivational crap straight out of his Carolina blue shorts.
Still, you could see what Brady — and, as it turns out, some of his teammates — had in mind.
Brady and the Patriots have gone so far beyond the previously accepted expiration date on their true championship contention and elite-level performance, expecting the fall-off is entirely logical and reasonable. What has actually happened, though, is that the predictions of doom that have accompanied every regular-season drop-off in play over the past five seasons have gotten more muted and filled with caveats every year.
If Brady has to over-inflate (get it, nudge-nudge) the perceived slights at this point, at age 41 and in his 17th season through the meat-grinder, then everyone will have to live with it. And in turn, he’ll have to live with the fact that picking him and his team over the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and the Chiefs, as well as the rest of an AFC with a fraction of the track record they have, was the easiest move of the postseason.
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It's pretty mind-boggling, though, that this whole dance did begin in 2014, after the beatdown they took early in the season in, coincidentally, Kansas City. (That was the season that birthed, "On to Cincinnati.") That season ended with, of course, the Super Bowl win over the Seahawks secured by the Malcolm Butler goal-line interception.
Speaking of Kansas City (again), the Patriots got blown out by the Chiefs in last year’s opener, triggering the earliest semi-doomsaying to that point … and New England made it back to the big game.
If the Pats pull it off again, by winning the AFC championship game in Kansas City next week, that will be four trips in five seasons of seeing their demise predicted prematurely.
It’s eye-rollingly annoying, yet impressive at the same time. And all likely to be repeated next season.
— Patriots-Chiefs, the same but different —
Both conference title games are rematches of regular-season games, and both ended one team’s undefeated start. The AFC showdown was in Week 6, in Foxboro, with the Patriots winning, 43-40. What all has changed for either team since then?
- The Patriots were the third team to whom the Chiefs allowed 500 yards or more in the first six weeks. They didn't do it again the rest of the season, not even in the 54-51 shootout against the Rams.
- Kareem Hunt gained 185 combined rushing and passing yards for the Chiefs. Josh Gordon caught five passes for 42 yards for the Patriots. Neither is in the league now.
- Chiefs safety Eric Berry had not yet played a game with his injured calf. He played two late-season games, was not active for the playoff win over the Colts and could return for this game.
- Rex Burkhead missed eight games, including the Chiefs games, with a neck injury. He returned in December and got his first rushing touchdown of the season Sunday against the Chargers.
- The Patriots went into the game at only 3-2 and began the week tied for first in the AFC East with Miami, and just a game ahead of the Jets and Bills. They ended up 11-5, winning the division for the 10th straight time.
— Saints fake punt, ready but not ready—
So many moments Sunday defined who the Saints are and why they're one game away from the Super Bowl. The fake punt Sean Payton called, and Taysom Hill helped execute, is as big as any of them. That kept alive the drive that got the Saints on the board for the first time, after they'd fallen behind, 14-0.
The beauty of this one was that if the Eagles knew anything about the Saints, they knew Payton is always eager to try something special on special teams, and that the Swiss Army Knife that Hill serves as is always a threat. Hill converted fake punts at least twice in the regular season, passing and running, including an attempt on the first drive of the game in a win in Baltimore.
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The Eagles took some heat for giving the Saints the chance to go for the fake, on fourth-and-1 at their own 30, after declining a holding penalty after Mark Ingram was stopped on third down. On the other hand, of course, giving Drew Brees an extra play was far from logical, either. It came down to being ready for a fake just in case. Hill converted it, anyway, and the Saints scored nine plays later.
(Yes, nine plays; it was a 12-play, six-plus-minute drive, which would be dwarfed later on their go-ahead scoring drive.)
— Foles or Wentz? Choose wisely —
The Eagles now have a decision so easy to get wrong, it would almost be a miracle if they get it right. Nick Foles or Carson Wentz?
It's not a win-win situation; not even close.
There will be encyclopedias written about this by the start of next season, but just a quick glance at this very season sheds light on how fragile the quarterback choice can be. Remember, the Saints team that beat Foles' Eagles just missed reaching this same point last January, when the Vikings pulled off the miracle, game-winning touchdown pass in Minneapolis. The Vikings and Case Keenum were then eliminated by the Eagles … and Keenum headed into free agency, as did their one-time franchise quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater.
Keep one? Keep both? Keep neither?
The Vikings chose neither, let them both walk, and put their huge quarterback money into Kirk Cousins. In Year 1, it … did not go well.
The worst-case scenario for the Eagles for both Foles and Wentz is well known. This team, coach and management are plenty good enough to stay at this level for a long time. But messing up this quarterback decision would be a historic waste of talent and opportunity.
— Harsh, cold, avoidable fate for Chargers —
So much of the Chargers' season will be defined by the drubbing they took in Foxboro on Sunday. It somewhat will negate the seasons by Philip Rivers, Keenan Allen (who almost screwed Stephon Gilmore into the turf on his touchdown catch), Melvin Ingram, coach Anthony Lynn and the rest.
It's not totally undeserved, though.
No team in the AFC had a better record than the 12-4 Chargers, and only the Saints and Rams did better overall. The Week 15 Thursday night comeback win in Kansas City was the type that should have been a springboard to a Super Bowl run. Win their last two games and the road to Atlanta in the AFC would run through their little soccer emporium in Carson, Calif.
But they lost the following Saturday night, in Carson, to the Ravens, and Lamar Jackson in his sixth NFL start. The repercussions were enormous. The loss to the Patriots in the biting cold of Gillette Stadium was only the last step. The Chargers were relegated to a wild card, had to travel to the East Coast for a game in nippy Baltimore at 10 a.m. West Coast time, then had to go back again a week later to play in the same time slot against Bill Belichick and his rested, prepared team.
If given a chance, avoiding the Patriots, and cold weather, and long travel across time zones, is what most teams would prefer. That preference has to be earned, though. The Chargers couldn't do it. In that sense, what happened was inevitable.
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— Gurley and Anderson: both Rams bargains —
The daily, public struggle many have with the value of running backs and the running game in the NFL continues. The Rams did not make it any easier Saturday night in the Coliseum against the Cowboys.
The case for tipping the balance far in favor of video game-style passing schemes was thrown off badly by the Rams' domination on the ground, with a franchise playoff-record 273 yards, and with two players rushing for more than 100 for only the fourth time ever in a playoff game.
Who did it for the Rams made it even more problematic. C.J. Anderson, a journeyman in every sense, signed last month as insurance for the injured Gurley, for a reported $790,000. The “never invest in running backs, ever” crowd soaked up his 123-yard, two-touchdown performance.
Yet Gurley — whose effectiveness going into this game was anyone’s guess — did fine with 115 yards and a touchdown himself. He signed for $45 million guaranteed last offseason and has done nothing to indicate he isn't worth it. He did, however, get largely overlooked in the celebration of Anderson’s Cinderella story.
The sport tends to adore players who produce a lot without getting paid much. Yet no one can deny, especially after Saturday, the Rams are getting what they paid for.
— Executive of the Year: Jon Gruden —
The Cowboys and Bears are now out of the playoffs. They both can still look back at transformative seasons that were propelled by clever transactions. And they both have the Raiders to thank for it all. Hence, the honors for Jon Gruden.
Yes, it’s been beaten almost into the ground, but here's one last good whack. Gruden is the one who decided he'd rather trade Khalil Mack in the preseason than figure out a way to pay the recent Defensive Player of the Year. The Bears made the move and paid him what the Raiders wouldn't, and Mack is the main reason Chicago won its division. Similarly, when Gruden and his offensive wisdom couldn't figure out a way to get Cooper the ball, he put him on the market to get what he could. The Cowboys paid up, and no one was more responsible for the turnaround of the entire offense the second half of the season, leading to their division title.
The Cowboys lost in the divisional round of the playoffs, despite Cooper catching an early touchdown pass. The Bears went out in the wild-card round, despite Mack and the defense smothering the Eagles until their final drive. Had Gruden tired of his kicker and traded him to the Bears, too, Chicago might have played this weekend along with Dallas.
Either way, though, the Mack influence on the Bears' defense pushed coordinator Vic Fangio into long-overdue territory: head-coaching candidate. Fangio is now the Broncos' head coach. Chalk that up to Gruden, then, too.
And if, as it’s widely speculated, Cowboys passing game coordinator Kris Richard — a hot head-coaching candidate himself — is promoted to offensive coordinator after Cooper and Co. found another level … well, congrats again to the most influential front-office executive in the NFL.
