Hot Button: Mahomes, Chiefs win instant classic Super Bowl ... Saturday era ends on Sunday for Colts ... Eagles hired coach Fangio for two-week Super Bowl prep

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CHIEFS TOP EAGLES
IN INSTANT CLASSIC

Sunday, February 12: Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs overcame a 24-14 halftime deficit and scored points on every possession of the second half, finishing with a Harrison Butker 27-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining to beat the Eagles, 38-35 in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Mahomes was named MVP, his second in four years, going 21 of 27 for 186 yards and three touchdown passes, plus 44 yards on six scrambles with a high-ankle sprain — two of which were critical to touchdown drives.

Jalen Hurts had a record-setting day for the Eagles, becoming the first quarterback to have three rushing touchdowns — also tying a record for running backs in the Super Bowl — and was catalyst for the Philly offense, throwing for 304 yards and a score and leading the Eagles with 70 rushing yards. He also had a two-point conversion rush. The defense, however, which led the NFL with 70 sacks, got zero in this game and forced no turnovers.

The difference was two splash plays, both for Kansas City. After Philadeplphia scored touchdowns on its first two possessions of the game and possessing the ball up 14-7, Hurts fumbled as he attempted to secure the ball on a designed quarterback run, which was picked up by Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton and returned 36 yards for a touchdown. Later, in the fourth quarter up by one point, 28-27, Kedarius Toney returned a punt 65 yards to the Eagles’ 5-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes hit Skyy Moore from four-yards out to build a 35-27 lead.

Hurts marched the Eagles right back down the field on the ensuing possession, hitting DeVonta Smith for 45 yards to the Chiefs’ 2 before taking it back in himself and converting the two-point play to tie it up.

It wouldn’t be a Super Bowl without controversy, and it happened next. On what would be Kansas City’s game-winning drive — which included an amazing 27-yard scramble by a hobbled Mahomes — the Chiefs found themselves 3rd-and-8 at the Philly 15 when a corner throw by Mahomes dropped incomplete. But a flag was thrown on James Bradberry for holding JuJu Smith-Schuster on the intended route and the Chiefs got a first down from the penalty. It was the only flag thrown on either secondary in the game. Replays shown on television showed a definite tug as JuJu went into his break but it seemed less than other things witnessed in the game which were not called. This allowed Kansas City to kneel the clock down to 11 seconds and kick the winning field goal.

My take: Heck of a game. Hurts was amazing, dropping dimes all over the field and making plays with his legs, but this came down to the splash and as I wrote in comments during the game, the Chiefs got significant contributions from all three phases and Hurts wasn’t enough to overcome that himself, though he sure made it close. I think the Eagles will regret not doing more to establish a traditional running game — Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott combined for 17 total touches, and they didn’t adjust on defense when they couldn’t get pressure with their front four and allowed JuJu and Travis Kelce own the middle of the field. That said, it was a last-seconds field goal to decide it. Cap-tip to both teams. Instant classic. — Bob

COLTS TARGET STEICHEN
FOR NEXT HEAD COACH

Sunday, February 12: The Colts have informed all their head-coach candidates that they are “moving in a different direction,” according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, with Schefter reporting among others that Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen is now the front-runner among the Colts brass.

That means that Jeff Saturday will not be returning. Colts owner Jim Irsay was considering keeping Saturday on as head coach after a disastrous 1-7 campaign in 2022 as interim head coach, following the firing of Frank Reich. Saturday, a Colts great at center and a consultant for the franchise, had never coached in any capacity at any level of football before being hired by Irsay, causing much controversy among fans, coaches and analysts alike, including a stern rebuke by Bill Cowher, who called Irsay’s decision “a disgrace to the coaching profession.”

Not everyone shared Cowher’s disdain, however, including Colts two-time All-Pro linebacker Shaq Leonard, who publicly supported Saturday this week in interviews and hoped he would be hired. 

My take: Well, winning position coaches are always a hot commodity, and it appears the Nick Sirianni coaching tree is about to sprout its first major branch. The Colts need an offensive identity, so it makes sense, and with the fourth-overall pick a franchise quarterback is the primary need. As for Leonard, he was injured and played just three games in 2022, and only one for Saturday — ironically, in his first game and only win. So not sure what inspired his defense of Saturday, having not played in any of those seven consecutive losses to close out the season and being away from the team for a good portion of it due to back surgery. — Bob

FANGIO CONSULTED WITH
EAGLES FOR TWO WEEKS

Sunday, February 12: The Eagles are looking for any advantage against league MVP Patrick Mahones, so they decided to dip into the AFC West for some help. Philadelphia hired former Broncos head coach Vic Fangio as a consultant for the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. 

Fangio has already been hired to be the Dolphins’ defensive coordinator for 2023, but the job does not officially start until Monday, so the Eagles reached out and asked if Fangio would be willing to join the club in the interim to take advantage of his three seasons facing off against Andy Reid and the Kansas City offense while with Denver.

A win Sunday and Fangio earns a Super Bowl ring.

My take: Nice benefit for two weeks work if the Eagles emerge victorious. That said, Fangio was 0-6 against the Chiefs by a combined 168-74 — Denver hasn’t beaten Kansas City since 2015 — so I’m not sure how much help he's been. We'll see. — Bob

ACC ADMITS REFS BLEW CRITICAL
CALL IN DUKE-VIRGINIA CONTEST

Sunday, February 12: The ACC has admitted that the officials made a mistake at the end of regulation of the Duke-Virginia game Saturday, which cost Duke potential free throws to win after time expired.

With the score knotted at 58-58 with 1.2 seconds remaining, Duke guard Tyrese Proctor inbounded the ball to center Kyle Filipowski, who was slashing toward the net. Filipowski immediately went for a layup as he caught the ball and was fouled on the arm and the body by Ryan Dunn as he released the shot, which missed. The referee whistled a foul and it was expected Filipowski would have two free-throws with a chance to win the game.

However, all on-court officials huddled and determined after video review that the foul occurred after the clock hit 0.0, rendering it moot. The game was declared a tie in regulation and Virginia went on to win in overtime, 69-62. 

The ACC’s statement was direct in its explanation: “A foul was called on Virginia’s Ryan Dunn during a shot attempt by Duke’s Kyle Filipowski as time expired. Upon the officials’ review of the play, it was determined that the foul committed occurred after the clock reached 0.0. However, the play should have resulted in two free throws for Duke.” The statement continued, citing Rule 5, Section 7, Article 3c of the NCAA Rule Book, which states “while a foul occurred after expiration of play, the ball was still in flight, thus the student-athlete should have been granted two free throw attempts. 

My take: The only thing worse than so much replay in basketball is how often they get it wrong after reviewing the replay. Even worse in this case, the replay was necessary only in the context of the shot itself, which clearly was released prior to the clock hitting 0.0. After that, the officials just didn’t know the rules, which is unacceptable. — Bob

MIRACLE FINISH PROPELS
PORTLAND STATE TO WIN

Saturday, February 11: Portland State had only 0.4 seconds remaining, down by one point to Northern Arizona and inbounding the ball from their own end line, leaving just enough time for a deflection or tip play, but not enough time for a catch-and-shoot. Guard Hunter Woods roamed the back line for the inbound pass and chucked it the full length in the direction of forward Isaiah Johnson:

Johnson remained prone on the court for a couple minutes, having fallen hard on the play, but he was still stormed by his teammates. He eventually was able to get up and head to the locker room under his own power. 

My take: Not really a shot, so play of the year? Remarkable ability by Johnson to give that “shot” a … um … shot. It’s everything that’s great about college basketball, courtesy of two Big Sky Conference bottom dwellers. — Bob

FORSBERG LEAVES ICE 
ON STRETCHER 

Saturday, February 11: Senator goalie Anton Forsberg was forced to leave the ice on a stretcher with a leg injury suffered in the third period of a 6-3 loss to the Oilers.

It was a case of friendly fire as defenseman Travis Hamonic pushed Oilers forward Zach Hyman into Forsberg and onto his outstretched leg:

The Senators are now without their top two goalies — starter Cam Talbot has been sidelined since January 25 with a lower-body injury. Forberg — 11-11-2 this season with a 3.04 goals-against average — was replaced by Mads Sogaard.

My take: Unfortunate. Completely unnecessary play by Hamonic — it was almost like he was trying to force a goaltender interference call. This does little to alter Ottawa's season, stuck at 51 points and unlikely to make a playoff run. Still, it's not good hockey when an NHL team is down to AHL goalies. — Bob

Update: Forsberg is out indefinitely after MCL injuries to BOTH knees on the play. Not sure I've ever seen that happen before in any sport. — Bob

ROMO GETS BACKING
FROM CBS SPORTS BOSS

Friday, February 10: CBS Sports president Sean McManus attempted Friday to debunk a New York Post report that network executives had held “something of an intervention” with Tony Romo over a decline in his booth-analyst performance.

McManus told the “MadDog Unleashed” Sirius XM Radio program that he did meet with Romo to discuss his performance, but “the thought that there is some kind of story behind the fact that I sat down with Tony to talk about how he can get better is just inaccurate,” adding that he does that with many of the network’s on-air sports talent. He admitted that Romo is “not your typical analyst. He is enthusiastic. He sometimes speaks more of a fan than even an analyst, which I think people like. So I think this is being overplayed.” 

McManus chalked it up to rumor and social media making too much of the situation but added “Can [Romo] get better? We can all get better.”

My take: Romo did take a step backward in 2022. He was often talking over booth partner Jim Nantz and would be speaking over game action at times. I nearly broke my television during the Bengals-Bills Divisional Round game when Romo said Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo’s name 22 times (I counted) during the broadcast. It just seemed like Romo was pressing for some reason and just overtalked, leaving no dead air in the broadcast. I’m sure that was addressed in McManus’ meeting. Saying “I think this is being overplayed” and “we can all get better” isn’t exactly a straight denial of the NYP story, but I’m confident Romo can get back on track in 2023. — Bob

STREAKER BIG STORY 
AT PHOENIX OPEN

Friday, February 10: A streaker wearing only underwear and a painted down arrow on his back which was captioned “19th Hole” ran through the 16th hole of the Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale Friday, eluding security to perform a brief pole dance at the flag, then ran off before jumping into a lake on a different hole.

The 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale is one of the most famous holes in golf. Not for it’s difficulty — it averages about par over four days every year — but for it’s insane gallery, a raucous and rowdy bunch aligned in a stadium setting by tournament organizers every year. Normal golf decorum is dispatched for the hole and the atmosphere is similar to a football game, including tailgating overnight and filing into the first-come-first-serve seats at first light.

My take: I’m never sure how I feel about this hole. On one hand, it’s fun to see golfers so used to silence have to execute shots with people screaming — there’s nothing like it anywhere in the sport and adds some character to the game; on the other hand, it’s a bunch of drunkards reminiscent of Bills fans ... which eventually leads to streaking-type behavior. Meh. — Bob 

TARASENKO A RANGER IN
DEAL BOOSTING OFFENSE

Thursday, February 9: The Rangers acquired forward Vladimir Tarasenko in a trade Thursday with the Blues in exchange for forward Sammy Blais, prospect defenseman Hunter Skinner, and two conditional picks: A 2023 first-rounder and a 2024 fourth-rounder. St. Louis also sent New York defenseman Niko Mikkola and will pay half of Tarasenko’s remaining salary this season.

Tarasenko, 31, is scheduled to be a free agent after this season. The 16th overall pick in the 2010 draft has 10 goals and 19 assists in 38 games, missing 10 games in January to a hand injury. He has not played a game since January 30. In parts of 11 NHL seasons, all with the Blues, Tarasenko has 262 goals and 291 assists in 644 games. He is expected to play on the top line with Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad.  A natural left shot who plays the right wing, Tarasenko will likely slot in as left wing on that line.

Nikkola, 26, is a bottom-pair defenseman with three assists on the season in 50 games.

Blais, 26, returns to the Blues, for whom he played four seasons after being drafted by that franchise in 2014. The left wing has no goals and five assists in 40 games this season, primarily in a fourth-line role. For his career, he has 17 goals and 27 assists in 173 games.

Skinner, 21, is a right-shot defenseman who was drafted by the Rangers in the fourth round of the 2019 draft. After two seasons and 59 AHL games with the Hartford Wolfpack — the Rangers’ AHL affiliate — Skinner was demoted to the ECHL this season, registering just 8 AHL games and recording two assists at that level. 

My take: Tarasenko is a great get if he can stay healthy, and that’s been a problem in three of his last four seasons. Is the hand healed? He’s off LTIR, but did not score or register a point in the four games he played since returning — his last goal was December 23. A great addition if he’s right, a bust if he’s not because of that conditional first-rounder. The other players in the deal are window dressing. As with all trades, time will tell. — Bob

Update: Tarasenko scored Friday night on his first shot as a Ranger. Strange how often that seems to happen. — Bob

TEXAS. OKLAHOMA EXITING
BIG 12 AFTER THIS SEASON

Thursday, February 9: The Universities of Texas and Oklahoma have agreed to pay the Big 12 a combined $100 million to leave the conference one year early and join the SEC in 2024. The teams were originally set to leave the conference in 2025, stuck in the Big 12 because of a FOX television rights deal. Some of the early exit fees will go to the network to compensate for losing the televised games for those two programs for one year.

Originally, the Big 12 was going to hold each school to that schedule. But the conference approached the schools about leaving a year early with a negotiated settlement, anxious to begin long-term scheduling for incoming programs replacing the two longtime conference stalwarts. Brigham Young University, which has always been independent, will join the Big 12 in July, along with up-and-coming programs Cincinnati, Central Florida and Houston.

My take: The almighty dollar drives all. This was all network driven. The Big 12 and member schools could not make this decision on their own — they needed FOX's blessing. That network could have killed this deal in its tracks and forced those schools to stick it out until 2025. Not much of that $100 million will end up in the conference's pocket. — Bob

LANCE, PURDY WILL BATTLE
TO BE 49ERS QB1

Thursday, February 9: Brock Purdy will be ready during 49ers training camp. The rookie quarterback tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow during the first quarter of the NFC Championship Game against the Eagles and has elected to have a surgical repair on February 22. The surgery has an estimated six-month recovery, making Purdy’s return likely toward the end of training camp.

Purdy’s success this season, made all the more unlikely as the last player taken in the 2022 draft, has created a quarterback controversy heading into the 2023 season. Jimmy Garoppolo will be gone, but second-year quarterback Trey Lance, who was the declared starter entering 2022 before succumbing to a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2 against the Seahawks, now finds himself in a battle for the starting position with Purdy.

Lance, the third-overall pick in 2021, told "The Rich Eisen Show" he knows what he’s up against, saying, “Brock doesn’t just come in and play that well, and I just get handed something out of the blue. And I don’t expect that or want that, but I truly believe, yeah, I just want an opportunity to compete. That’s all I wanted going into this offseason.”

My take: It’s Purdy’s job to lose, but he might not be ready, likely getting cleared with just two weeks remaining in camp. Meanwhile, Lance will have had all the reps with the 1s all through minicamp and OTAs and the majority of camp. Lance should get a chance to keep the job he’ll likely get to begin the season, but one hiccup and he's out. — Bob