From the desk of JON RALPH November 12, 2019 CONFESSION time. One of the sporting highlights of my 20-year journalism career was watching the New England Patriots get beaten in a Super Bowl. It sounds mean-spirited, but like Nick Kyrgios and the AFL’s Collingwood football club, there is no middle ground with the all-conquering Pats. If you support them you love them with a rare passion. And if you don’t, you relish every chance to see them get rolled. In Minneapolis in February 2018 the Philadelphia Eagles pulled out every trick play in the book and still had to survive a last-minute Hail Mary from Tom Brady to win Super Bowl LII. It was simply beautiful. Call it jealousy, or their devious methods or the way they have ignored character to recruit a series of the most nefarious individuals. All of it adds up to the Patriots being one of all of sport’s most villainous teams. So with 10 weeks gone in this captivating NFL season, here is the good news. If you are on your way to Miami for Super Bowl LIV on February 2, you are likely in for a treat. In all probability Bill Belichick’s Patriots will be there competing for their seventh Super Bowl given what we have seen so far this season. If they aren’t it might be because Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens have beaten them a fortnight before in the AFC Championship. You are in for a hell of a ride either way. In Week 10 Belichick’s Patriots licked their wounds with the bye, aware there is much work to do despite a spectacular 8-1 record. In case you missed it, they were torched by the transcendent Jackson in Week 9, witnessing first-hand the kind of gifts many once wrote off as a flash in the pan. Jackson is the kind of college quarterback phenom we have seen before, with running gifts that almost never translate into NFL production. Yet after winning the starting role from Super Bowl champion Joe Flacco this year, he is on track to become the best running quarterback in history. Last week he did it all – with arm and legs – tearing the much-vaunted New England defence to shreds. Against the hapless Cincinnati Bengals he not only finished with a perfect passer rating for the second game this year, he played party tricks on the Bengals defence. His spin move out of trouble as three Bengals defenders tried to pounce capped a 47-yard touchdown run that was the highlight of a 49-13 victory. Can the Ravens be the first team in history to build a Super Bowl tilt around a running quarterback? It’s going to be a heck of a lot of fun watching Baltimore’s head coach John Harbaugh try to do just that.
SO JACKSON IS THE MVP, RIGHT?
Not so fast. Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey was stopped inches short of the goal line on the final play of the 16-24 defeat against Green Bay, dropping his side to 5-4. It might be the only time someone has stopped him in his tracks in a beast of a season that has him on track for 20 rushing and 6 receiving touchdowns. He added another 108 yards and a touchdown, helping pace a Panthers offence holding up well with backup quarterback Kyle Allen playing so well he might displace injured veteran starter Cam Newton next year. Not since Adrian Peterson’s 2012 season has a running back won the MVP, yet McCaffrey is the beating heart of this Panthers team.
SO HE WINS THE MVP?
Not so fast, after Russell Wilson’s latest Monday Night football heroics. The Seattle Seahawks magician conjured another miracle to push his MVP claims, surviving the unbeaten San Francisco’s marauding defence and an overtime pick to advance his side to 8-2. Wilson entered the contest with a stunning 22-1 touchdown-to-intercept ratio, and despite that underthrown ball to his tight end for only his second INT this season, found a way to escape deep in overtime. It was a regular season epic, with Wilson and San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo a pair of overtime gunslingers unable to hit the target in overtime. Finally Wilson darted away from an impending sack to scurry up the field into enough space for Jason Myers’ winning kick in a 27-24 victory. If Jackson and McCaffrey are to win the MVP, they will still have to get past Wilson.
TEETERING TITLE CONTENDERS
Ten weeks into the season, few of the other contenders can claim anything resembling consistency. At Kansas City, QB Patrick Mahomes was back from a dislocated knee but even his three-touchdown game and a ridiculous leaping pass mid-contest weren’t enough against Tennessee. The Chiefs are 6-4 and just going. Drew Brees went touchdown-less in a rare misfire for the New Orleans Saints, his Saints are still 7-2 but dispirited after a humbling 26-9 loss at home to Atlanta. And after last year’s Super Bowl appearance the Los Angeles Rams look shot, at 5-4 with issues that go beyond quarterback Jared Goff’s strangely flat play this year. Todd Gurley has a single touchdown for the year after going into Beast Mode last year, another symptom of the Rams’ malaise.
SO WHO ARE THE TOP FIVE TEAMS AS THE WEATHER GETS NASTY AND THE CONTENDERS EMERGE?
1. They might only be 7-2 and potentially have to go through New England but it is impossible not to believe in Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens. 2. If backup kicker Chase McLaughlin’s overtime kick sails through, San Francisco are unbeaten and a Super Bowl favourite. Hard to discount them on that loss given all they have done so far with an 8-1 record. 3. New England Patriots. Their only loss was a road defeat to Baltimore and given their consistency who would bet against them taking the No.1 seed and playing two playoff encounters in Foxborough. 4. Seattle Seahawks. A superstar quarterback, an enlivened defence after the acquisition of Jadeveon Clowney and an 8-2 record that sets them up for the winter months. 5. Still believe in Patrick Mahomes but at Green Bay, Aaron Rogers has a Super Bowl ring, a spring in his step given the 8-2 record and a feature back in Aaron Jones with 14 rushing touchdowns. @RalphyHeraldSun
[button link=”/super-bowl-tickets/” color=”teal”] Click here to start your planning for Super Bowl 2020 in Miami[/button]