Bird Words 9: Super Bowl Match-up set and some crazy baseball stuff
Chiefs and Niners dominate. Also, the MLB seems to be having a moment.
The Super Bowl matchup is set! We finally know who will be facing off in Miami on the first Sunday in February to compete for the NFL’s ultimate crown. The MLB also had a crazy cheating scandal that could not stop growing and encompassing even more teams and players in its abyss.
Let's get to it:
Kansas City shatters the glass slipper
The Tennessee Titans were the Cinderella team of 2019, after beating three straight division champions in the Houston Texans, New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens on their run to the AFC Championship Game. They got a shot at the fourth division winner in the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend, and another upset victory would book their ticket to the Super Bowl.
Things looked good for them early on as well. They raced to an early 10-0 lead on the back Derrick Henry and AJ Brown. Ryan Tannehill looked like he could actually throw the ball for the first time in these playoffs. But just like the Texans learned last week, literally no lead is safe against the Chiefs.
Patrick Mahomes fired his team back in front before the half just as he did last week when his offense faced a double-digit deficit. He capped things off with a ridiculous touchdown run just before the break to give his team a 21-17 lead.
Kansas City dominated the second half as neither Tannehill nor Henry could really jump start the Titans offense and they inevitably lost 35-24, booking Kansas City their first Super Bowl berth in 50 years.
The Chiefs offense is a buzzsaw. When Mahomes and his crew get into a groove they are unstoppable. Few defenses capable of stopping these Chiefs. Unfortunately for them, though, one of those defenses happens to be their opposition in two weeks time because:
The 49ers gave the Packers another NFC Championship beat down
The Green Bay Packers were last in the NFC Championship Game in the 2017 season. It looked like they were prepared for a Super Bowl appearance as they were in the midst of a long winning streak. They looked unstoppable, until they ran into a Kyle Shanahan led offense that featured league MVP Matt Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones leading an incredible Atlanta Falcons team. The Packers were obliterated.
Green Bay had a chance to get revenge on Shanahan this year, as he now leads the San Francisco 49ers. Shanahan seems to be the Packers kryptonite, though, as his offense dismantled a talented Green Bay defense in a route to earn a Super Bowl berth.
Things were different this time around, though. While the Falcons beat the Packers on the back of a dynamic air attack, the 49ers got it done on the ground.
Newly enshrined starting running back Raheem Mostert put together one of the greatest rushing performances in NFL playoff history with 220 yards and four touchdowns on 29 carries. Star tight end George Kittle did not even catch a pass until things were already over in the fourth quarter, and Jimmy Garoppolo managed to get away with only throwing eight pass attempts on route to a win.
Their defense was incredible as well. They shut down a washed Aaron Rodgers, and managed to keep wide receiver Davante Adams quiet until a huge catch very late on in the game. Rodgers was under constant hell and rookie defensive end Nick Bosa had yet another stand out performance as he is already starting to declare himself as the league's best edge rusher.
And let’s talk about the Packers some more. Their defense was an absolute mess. Blake Martinez was washed out on basically every play and was most responsible for Mostert’s big day. As great as their defensive backs and pass rushers are, it was a lot harder for them to make an impact on the game when the 49ers never had to drop back to pass and the linebackers did absolutely nothing to stop the run.
Green Bay never really stood a chance with their linebackers playing this badly. They do not have the offensive firepower to keep up with a streaking 49ers offense, and the strength of their defense does not matter when Mostert can just run them over all day.
What’s happening over in the MLB?
So apparently everyone in the MLB has been cheating. And not like, regular, steroid, cheating, but some real life high tech crazy cheating I would never even think of.
Everyone from Jose Altuve to the niece of now former (does it even count if he did not coach a game?) New York Mets manager Carlos Beltran got in on the action. Here’s a quick rundown to those of you that don’t have a twitter for some reason:
The Houston Astros were caught using cameras to steal signals from opposing teams pitchers and catchers, and then making their batter aware of what pitch was coming based on whether someone would bash a trash can in a room in the clubhouse. If the batter heard a loud thud, he would know an offspeed pitch was on the way.
This opened up a can of worms in baseball cheating, as the Boston Red Sox were caught in the scandal as well and had to let go of a few executives. While the Mets are clean (for now), Beltran was with the Astros when the cheating was going down, and had to be let go as well (big L for the Mets here they didn’t even benefit from the cheating).
Then shit went off the rails. An account that apparently belonged to Beltran’s niece (but according to Gary Shieffield it actually belongs to another, anonymous, MLB player) accused Altuve and Alex Bregman of the Astros of having buzzers inside their uniforms that would tell them when off-speed pitches were on the way - just in a more high tech fashion.
Way back in the ALCS, Altuve clinched the Astros’ series win over the New York Yankees on a walk off homerun off of Aroldis Chapman. While rounding third and heading home, he motioned to his teammates awaiting him to not rip his shirt off. After quickly celebrating with his team, he ran to the dugout and put his jersey somewhere - almost as if he had something to hide.
Ken Rosenthal (who happened to break the story for The Athletic) asked Altuve why he chose to do that in the postgame interview. Altuve hesitated before saying that he was just shy (even though he had ripped his shirt off many times in previous games).
I am not really sure what to make of all of this. I do feel for the Yankees. Unlike (my) Washington Nationals, the Yankees were an elite team who was not caught cheating (yet) and they did not get a ring out of it. The Nationals managed to defy the odds (and buzzers) to win a World Series in 2019. The Yankees never even got a chance to play in the Fall Classic as the two other contenders in the AL happened to be cheating.
I am very interested to see what happens from here, though. Stripping the Astros or Red Sox of World Series titles would be a huge move for the MLB, but they may have to. Other players around the league are publically pressuring the league to take real action against the teams for cheating, and I agree that they do not deserve those trophies. The players themselves also seem set for a suspension, but if I was the commissioner I am not sure how you do not ban them for life.
Baseball is also a sport where stuff like this often carries into the games themselves. Pitchers often bean players based on the smallest of incidents, and with so many players very mad (rightfully) about the Astros and Red Sox cheating, I can not imagine brawls not breaking out in almost every game that features either team next year. If Altuve and Bregman do end up playing next season, I can not imagine that pitchers will not headhunt them.
What I’m Watching
I watched the third and final season of Netflix’s Jessica Jones, and it was a horrible end to a great series. As I wrote (article linked below go read it!) last week, the show seemingly wanted to be “woke” but made an absolute mess of it.
Messiah was surprisingly one of my favorite watches over the past few months. The Netflix series follows a man who seems to be the true second coming of Christ, and how his arrival seems to affect almost everyone in the world despite the little action he truly takes on his own. It is great commentary on how people use religion to avoid taking responsibility for themselves, and what we truly consider to a “moral” way to act.
Things I Wrote this Week
Jessica Jones had puzzling opinions on ‘Law and Order’ - Medium
Draft Film Breakdown: Utah State’s Jordan Love- Pride of Detroit
Detroit Lions Film Breakdown: Jarrad Davis- Pride of Detroit
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