Cote: What Eagles Super Bowl win tells teams like Dolphins, plus Sunday’s winners & losers | Opinion
The day after Super Bowl Sunday is when we all agree the Kansas City Chiefs’ dynasty is dead and the Philadelphia Eagles’ time on top has only just begun, its own dynasty newly christened.
Even though we wouldn’t and shouldn’t bet on either being true, because, well, we follow the NFL.
Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes after the 40-22 loss tweeted to Chiefs fans, “I let y’all down,” but ended the message with, “We’ll be back.” Anybody ready to go all in that he’s wrong after one aberrant night of human frailty in a punishing sport that does not allow it?
Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts lifted the Vince Lombardi Trophy and all remaining doubts about him lifted as well. But the season Saquon Barkley had and the night the Eagles defense just had ... were those repeatable phenomenons, or more the one-off magic of sports?
When it was 34-0 the Eagles were playing as close to a perfect game as football gets, while the Chiefs had been so stunningly inept the conspiracy theorists didn’t even dare blame the officiating.
“S--- happens,” as a great man once said. One game defines no team, not even this game. And this verifies it:
The Super Bowl betting odds for next season were out Sunday night before the confetti was done falling in New Orleans, because sportsbooks never miss a chance to take your money. Using the ESPNBet sportsbook as one example:
The Chiefs, despite the humbling loss, are tied with the Ravens as 2025 SB favorites at plus-650, with the Bills, Lions and champion Eagles bunched next at plus-700.
Bottom line? Too close to call, but with neither the Chiefs forecast for a fall nor the Eagles conceded back on top. The safest conclusion (I’m being parochial here) is that the Miami Dolphins and their fans — along with every other NFL wannabe — can take zero consolation from the dethroning (for now) of Kansas City.
In the brutally dense and difficult AFC, Lamar Jackson’s Ravens, Mahomes’ newly motivated Chiefs and league MVP Josh Allen’s Bills all clearly remain a lap up on Miami. And you could well argue the Texans, Chargers, Bengals, Steelers and Broncos are now in front of the Fins, too.
What Philly’s ascension and Sunday night’s rout should remind the Dolphins and other chasers is that the fundamentals of football — offensive and defensive lines — are the starting blocks from which everything else emanates. In what still is a pass-first league, the two lines protect your quarterback and bother the other team’s. And nowhere more than Miami and Tua Tagovailoa is the protect part of that paramount.
Still, the Chiefs’ loss is not a win for any team chasing, just as the Eagles’ win comes with no promises.
There were other winners and losers besides the teams Sunday night, though.
Here are several of ours, at you randomly:
▪ Winner: Vic Fangio: In a game in which Barkley ran in mud (25 for 57) and it took two garbage-time Chiefs TDs to make the score less embarrassing, Philly clearly won with defense. And coordinator Fangio’s unit brilliantly managed to pressure Mahomes all night (six sacks, two interceptions) while not blitzing at all. Hey Vic, where as that magic in your one season in Miami last year? (Answer: The Eagles have better players, line to secondary and in between.)
▪ Loser: Pat Riley: The Miami Heat president trademarked the phrase ‘three-peat” and derivatives in the late ’80s, and sold their rights to the NFL and Chiefs ahead of this game. Riley stood to make a fortune on his cut of merch sales had Kansas City won a third straight Super Bowl. Alas, “two-peat “ doesn’t have the same ring and wold make a lousy T-shirt brag.
▪ Winner: Kendrick Lamar: The halftime show was great and Lamar, after a couple of teases, finally rapped his Drake diss track, “Not Like Us,” the night’s must-hear. He self-censored the incendiary, lawsuit-bringing use of the word pedophile (as Roger Goodell breathed relief), but still a great and live-sung performance. Bonus: Retired tennis star Serena Williams, who once dated Drake, with a worth-noticing crip walk dance on the corner of the stage.
▪ Loser: Taylor Swift: She was booed her only time shown on the Jumbotron during the Fox broadcast, after appearing 12 times during last year’s Super Bowl on CBS. And boyfriend Travis Kelce was a nonfactor in the game. (Consolation: Swift is worth $1.6 billion.)
▪ Winner: Dunkin’: The coffee ‘n donut shop returned with its DunKings-theme ad, this one starring Ben Affleck and Bill Belichick, and it was a splendid diss track of its own against rival Starbuck’s. (Nobody think the TV ads are as anticipated as the game itself except TV ad producers, but when they hit, they bang.)
▪ Loser: Seal as a seal: Mountain Dew’s “Kiss From a Lime” commercial featured once-popular British singer Seal with his face superimposed on an actual seal. A winning ad, maybe, because it made you laugh, and it was memorable. But just way creepy. Ca-reepy.
▪ Winner: The NFL: Dog of a lopsided game? Who cares. Viewership may be down from last year when final numbers are out, but the NFL never loses, always wins. Just like Fox-TV won even if viewership was down, thanks to reaping $8 million plus per 30-second ad.
▪ Loser and winner: You: The incessant noise at the Super Bowl party you attended drowned out a lot of Kendrick Lamar and the best commercials. Then again, you didn’t spend $5,640 for a lousy seat in the Superdome to watch a dreadful football game.
