As it became clear that Patriots' ownership had grown tired of Bill Belichick and the direction that the organization was headed in, they decided that not only was Bill a big part of the problem but the entire problem. Just look around at all those left standing. Or better yet, how some of those individuals earned promotions - Eliot Wolf and Patrick Stewart, to name two - while the man Belichick had overseeing everything, Matt Groh, has had his role altered (focusing on college scouting and the draft). Sure seems like business as usual, minus the man who lorded over the franchise for two-and-a-half decades.
Let's see if the Krafts are right.
Early signs are confusing. Naming Jerod Mayo the successor-in-waiting - and how that helped create discord on the coaching staff during a 4-13 train wreck of a car crash season - should have at least forced the Krafts to reevaluate their plans, buyout of Mayo (if there was one) or not. But okay, if you believe as strongly as Robert does that Jerod is the man to lead this team back to the promised land, shouldn't there have been a better plan when approaching the offensive coordinator vacancy?
The Pats moved slowly to start, then ripped through a dozen candidates, many of whom - as I reported - came away unmoved by the team's approach/vision. Considering there are only 32 of these jobs in the NFL, the fact that their opening did not have candidates lining up down the block should get your antenna up.
Landing on Alex Van Pelt, the 12th of 12 interviews, was met with shrugs across the league. Yes, Van Pelt is a "glue" guy and good with quarterbacks - getting five ready to play this year in Cleveland drew rave reviews - but he's 53 years old and hasn't called plays for an entire season since 2009. In fact, he's barely called plays at all since that time (two games when Kevin Stefanski was sick). Did the rest of the NFL miss out on Van Pelt's play-calling skills for over a decade, or was he a position coach thrust into this role when the Pats' plan to pair him with a young OC went awry? That's how league sources view the situation. It doesn't mean this can't work, just as some hotshot 30-something (or, in Nick Caley's case, 40-something) could equally fall flat on his face. Hence the addition of Ben McAdoo, who has called plays more recently (2022 in Carolina) and could easily be viewed as a fail-safe should Van Pelt not thrive.
McAdoo is not for everyone. He has a strong personality and a strong belief in his way of doing business. He stumped for Patrick Mahomes when he was with the Giants in 2017 and was either overruled or management was unwilling to pay the price to move up from 23 in the draft to 10, which is where the Chiefs had to navigate to in order to snag Mahomes. Instead, the Giants ended ups with tight end Evan Engram and McAdoo was out on his ass 12 games into his second season as the head coach. A year later, he reportedly had Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson one-two on his QB board, ahead of Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold. If true, McAdoo nailed that. But…he didn't return to the league until 2020 as the Jaguars' quarterback coach (that entire staff got blown out after the season) and also found himself without a gig this past season. That's another question to ask: If he's as good an evaluator and QB coach as I've been told - and that's consistently what I've heard - why wasn't McAdoo in more demand, including this offseason?
Of course, they'll tell you in Foxborough that none of that matters. This is where the Pats are now and who they are. Internally, they're excited about this staff, the offseason, and the ability to rethink the organization's direction. Finding instant success will be challenging. You've seen the roster on the offensive side of the ball. It's not good. But a structural foundation has been laid, and we'll judge this group on how it goes. Maybe they'll prove detractors wrong. Or maybe Belichick wasn't the only problem.
SPOTLIGHT ON SHANNY
One of the not-so-sneaky subplots of this Super Bowl is Kyle Shanahan. He is the exalted one amongst NFL media obsessed with Xs and Os, and understandably so. But Shanahan is entering an area historically that he would prefer to avoid. He is one of four coaches in NFL history to lose their first two Super Bowl appearances as head coach or offensive coordinator with two different teams.
Shanahan was part of Atlanta's Super Bowl LI defeat in 2016 (he was the OC in the 28-3 game) and then Super Bowl LIV as San Fran's HC in 2019. He joins Don Shula, John Fox, and Ted Marchibroda in that category. Of these coaches, only Shula went on to win a Super Bowl in his career (he got two). No coach who has ever lost three Super Bowls to start a career went on to win one. Not great, Kyle. Not great at all.
"I've been able to coach in two Super Bowls, and both of them are heartbreaking," said Shanahan Tuesday. "Those things last a while. But it's all about getting back there again, and that's what I'm excited for today."
What's stark about Shanahan's failings is that his teams have been on the precipice of titles in both cases, holding 10-plus point leads entering the fourth quarter in both of those Super Bowl losses - 28-9 against the Pats and 20-10 a few years later to the Chiefs. The offensive whiz kid saw his teams score precisely zero points in those fourth quarters (and yes, I know Jimmy G overthrew Manny Sanders on the post, but I will tolerate no Jimmy slander here unless I'm doing the slandering).
"Everything is put into trying to get to the last week," said Shanahan." You're always hoping to be the team that wins the last game."
This is Shanahan's best team, and while the Chiefs have the game's best player in Patrick Mahomes, this KC team isn't nearly of the same quality offensively as the one that beat SF a few years back. In other words - this is Shanahan's best shot. He best not miss.\
MIDDLER
After failing to reach 1,000 yards receiving for the first time in seven seasons, Travis Kelce is on a postseason heater. He snagged a pair of touchdown catches in a road win over Buffalo, then caught all 11 of his targets for 116 yards and a score in the AFC title game against Baltimore.
"When the lights get brighter, he plays better," said Mahomes. "That's the true mark of a champion, and that's what he is."
Despite his underwhelming regular season, Kelce still worked the middle of the field better than any pass catcher in football this year, with his 55 catches in that area tops in the league (per Next Gen Stats). That has continued into the playoffs, where 8 of Kelce's 16 receptions have come.
Finding those gaps on Sunday will be more difficult. The 49ers have two of the best coverage linebackers in the game - Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw. Warner, in particular, is a monster of the middle, allowing a 61.9 passer rating as the nearest defender in coverage in 2023. That's the best among LBs.
"I feel like that's going to be the narrative throughout this week, going into the Super Bowl: 'How are the linebackers going to stop Kelce and Mahomes?'" said Warner, who intercepted Mahomes the last time these teams met in the Super Bowl. "At the end of the day, the way I look at it, it's going to take everybody. They are really good. I give them my respect. I've seen it on tape. I've seen it for a long time now from them doing it, and I've seen it in person in the biggest game."
Mahomes and Kelce's chemistry may be unmatched, but defensively, Warner and Greenlaw have a similar yin and yang, sometimes with just a look.
"We understand each other, the defense, what we're supposed to do, and we've played a lot of ball," Greenlaw told NBC Sports Bay Area. "We understand where the offense is trying to attack and how they're trying to attack us.
"Us having that good relationship of, 'Hey, this is what they're trying to do, or this is where he's going to be.' We have a good feel for it and help each other."
A PACHECO PUSHER
Despite having invested a ton of resources into their front seven, the 49ers defense has been scuffling against the run recently. And while the Chiefs are built around Mahomes, Isiah Pacheco could be primed for a big day.
San Fran allowed 136 yards on the ground to Green Bay in the divisional round, then surrendered 182 in the NFC Championship game to Detroit. That's 63 yards more per game than they allowed in the regular season, making this the largest increase in NFL history by a team to reach the Super Bowl (min. 2 games). The 2014 Seahawks and 2002 Raiders saw the two largest previous jumps, and neither one of those teams could win the big game.
Enter Pacheco, who runs angrier than former colleague Kyle Brandt could ever dream of. As a rookie, he emerged as a big-time player for the Chiefs and was arguably the second-best player in their Super Bowl win over the Eagles. He's had the same impact in year two, including 254 rushing yards and three TDs in these playoffs.
"That running style is just being determined, having the mindset of getting the job done – no man can take me down," said Pacheco. "Like Marshawn Lynch said, 'Stand on business, 10 for 10.'"
A proven playoff performer, the former Rutgers product (shoutout to Bedard, the McCourty twins, and Duron Harmon, but not necessarily in that order) has the 49ers' attention.
"He runs hard. He is always the same," said Shanahan. "He is one of the more consistent players in this league. Every single run, first run to the last run, to whenever you turn on the clip, cold weather, on the road, at home. He runs extremely hard. He's our type of runner that we like. I'd say that's the best thing.
The Niners can be attacked on the edges, especially on Chase Young's side, as he loves to work up the field, creating space if blocked properly. The Chiefs have done that, although they found it a little more difficult against the Ravens without guard Joe Thuney, who appears to be a long shot to play with that pec injury. But if KC is to come away with another Lombardi, I suspect Pacheco will be a major player for them.