Super Bowl Opening Line Is 49ers -2 Over KC And What Do These Games Make You Think Of The Dolphins?

[lynx]

People are being too hard on the Dolphins in this thread IMO.

If they were fully healthy I think they could compete against these teams, Tua was under complete duress against what seems to be the #1 defense in the league in Kansas City. What was that offensive line supposed to do against Chris Jones and that D? They wrecked Lamar and Baltimore in Baltimore's house, they are elite.

We were missing half of our defensive starters and still kept Mahomes to field goals for the most part.

Injuries killed this season for the Dolphins.

 

[andyahs]

People are being too hard on the Dolphins in this thread IMO.

If they were fully healthy I think they could compete against these teams, Tua was under complete duress against what seems to be the #1 defense in the league in Kansas City. What was that offensive line supposed to do against Chris Jones and that D? They wrecked Lamar and Baltimore in Baltimore's house, they are elite.

We were missing half of our defensive starters and still kept Mahomes to field goals for the most part.

Injuries killed this season for the Dolphins.

That's what the OP hoped for.

 

[Danny]

Two weeks in a row the 49ers stole a game. They have not looked great. Purdy frankly has been terrible in my view. Got a lot of lucky breaks again, to get him somewhat going. But still couldn’t really throw the ball, although did OK with his legs late in the game.

I am stunned that the opening line is the 49ers -2 given how Purdy has looked, and frankly how the team has looked the last two games, ex the luck and slop from their opponents, which is unlikely to happen against a playoff tested Mahomes and KC with a veteran coach as well. The over under is currently 47 FWIW.

PS, Who do you blame more?
-Dan Campbell for not taking the points twice when there was a good case to kick the FGs instead of going for it on 4th
-WR#8 on Detroit for the huge drops
-The lucky bounce on the deep ball to Aiyuk

PPS after watching these games (including AFC Championship) do you think Miami is closer than you thought, or further away than you thought? My view, watching the AFC Championship made me think the Dolphins are miles away. Those teams just seemed so much tougher. But then after watching the NFC Championship, it kind of looked like two sloppy and mistake prone teams where anything can happen and watching Detroit sort of reminded me of watching the Dolphins (including going for it on 4th downs), and I think Tua and Purdy are more or less in the same class as QBs give or take. Purdy more mobile and creative (although far from dynamic), Tua maybe a bit more accurate and a better passer under perfect conditions. Their #'s in regular season were close too, slight nod to Purdy.

hard to tell how close or far we are when we don’t even know which players we'll have coming back and which players we'll lose to free agency.

 

[MDP]

please cheer for the Chiefs. Taylor "Cant Sing" Swift says thanks !

 

[JoeFromManyPlaces]

What does it make me think of the Dolphins? I think we need a player to get with a chick that's popular to the point her obsessive fans will bring an entire segment of the population to watch the NFL that otherwise wouldn't ever have watched, cared, or bought merch.

That way we can be a favored franchise again!

Bingo!

 

[xSxPxHx]

Miami is not close.

 

[bdizzle00]

I was kind of surprised how poorly Lamar Jackson played. He did make some great plays, including catching his own pass!

But, overall he wasn't sharp, and that shows how good this KC defense can be. Tua looked bad against the Chiefs as well.

In his defense, at least Tua had the excuse of playing on the road in negative 30 degree weather.

The Chiefs D is legit, which is why I think they will beat San Fran.

 

[SF Dolphin Fan]

In his defense, at least Tua had the excuse of playing on the road in negative 30 degree weather.

The Chiefs D is legit, which is why I think they will beat San Fran.

And it was Tua's first playoff game. Lamar Jackson, as great as he is, has had quite a few playoff stinkers.

 

[The Ghost]

Sadly the games today make me think the Dolphins are even further away from being in this position.

If the Dolphins were playing against any of the 4 teams today they would have been blown out and not competitive.

See I thought the opposite. Surely the team at the end of the year was missing a lot of starters but by and large I thought we could’ve competed with those teams playing yesterday.

Baltimore basically could only check down to the RB (3rd and 16 to Justice Hill is still bothering me). Despite the final score that game could’ve went completely different if not for that play and the Tyreek Hill drop.

If we learned one thing it’s that we need OL who can physically move DL and we need bigger targets in offense so we can have some boring, methodical, drives ourselves. We don’t have to score 60 yard TDs every time.

 

[The Ghost]

In his defense, at least Tua had the excuse of playing on the road in negative 30 degree weather.

The Chiefs D is legit, which is why I think they will beat San Fran.

100%. Chris Jones cemented his status as an NFL legend yesterday.

Mahomes is awesome but he doesn’t have two rings and a shot at a third if not for Chris Jones.

 

[bdizzle00]

And it was Tua's first playoff game. Lamar Jackson, as great as he is, has had quite a few playoff stinkers.

Yep, and I still think Jackson is great, he just ran into a great defensive game plan and things didn’t go the Ravens way. It happens.

The exact opposite happened in the San Fran win. They were gifted the game and Purdy gets the accolades. I think Purdy is good but I wouldn’t credit him as being the reason San Fran won by any means.

 

[Mike13]

I think that the Chiefs have the best Defense in NFL and the best QB in the NFL.

 

[AdamD13]

One take, sometimes the football bounces funny. That Aiyuk catch, off the bounce, turned into the biggest play of the game in the NFC Championship. And it easily could have been intercepted as well. Had it been, Detroit most likely advances to the super bowl.

Campbell happens to rhythm with gamble and that didn't pay off today. But he got them to 12-5 with the same approach. With a young team, I think you have to sometimes take the points and be a little more conservative. A 27-10 lead midway through the 3rd might have calmed the nerves of younger players.

Kansas City still looks to be on a different level. When their backs were against the wall this season, they played their best football.

That said, I think San Francisco has more talent than Kansas City, but do you bet against Mahomes?

As to Miami, I think with the right moves and a little luck, the Dolphins could still be on the rise. The number of injuries this team endured is hard to overcome.

Excellent post.

I like a coach willing to be aggressive, but is also able to understand the context as well.

Up by 14 in the 3rd quarter when a FG makes it a 3 score game and can result in a momentum swing if not converted is a no-brainier to kick the FG in that context.

Same goes for kicking the FG to tie the game in the 4th when down by 3 considering los and yards needed because the momentum goes to the other team and if they score a TD the game is essentially over if the opposing team doesn’t beat itself.

I agree SF has more talent, but Mahomes may be the greatest QB all-time and thrives in the playoffs.

KC is 14-3 when he starts and his numbers…

Mahomes Passing Playoffs:

422 comp, 626 att, 67.41%, 4,802 yards, 7.67 YA, 39 TDs, 7 int, 106.3 QB rating

Mahomes Rushing Playoffs:

81 att, 458 yards, 5.65 YA, 5 TD, 1 lost fumble.

A 4 to 1 TD/TO (42-8) going up against the best competition is ridiculous.

His only bad game, arguably, was against the Buccaneers in the Super Bowl. His OL got eaten up by the Bucs D. Next Generation Stats recorded Mahomes running for “497 Yards” running behind the los before throwing a pass or getting sacked that game. By far the most ever recorded.

There were also 2 dropped TD passes that game, at least one was by Tyreek.

 

[cltchperf]

If chiefs win the super bowl which I think they will. I think chiefs defense will cause purdy to struggle and not be lucky and offense will do enough vs niners. Chiefs slowed in the 2nd half but they moved well vs the ravens defense in 1st half which I think ravens defense is better than niners defense actually. They shut down lamar too who is more dangerous qb than purdy and did pretty well vs allen, a better passer and much more dangerous than purdy. If they win this super bowl, I think it will be unfortunate for rest of the afc. Brady played so long and patriots were dominant and got in the way for more really good afc teams and great qbs winning more super bowls like Peyton with colts, Chargers and Rivers. Big Ben did get 2 superbowls. But there's so many good or great qbs in the afc now and I wonder if despite that, it's gonna be dominated by chiefs and mahomes like it was for Brady and patriots

 

[utahphinsfan]

It's very good for the business side of the NFL to have Mahomes, Kelce (and Taylor Swift) in the Super Bowl. They also deserve to be there because they're great I'm going with KC in the big game. Andy Reid knows what he is doing.

McD could learn alot from Reid about calling "exotic" plays at odd moments.