Up The Gut: Super Bowl 55

Tom Brady Buccaneers
Photo credit USA Today Images
By Shaun Morash

Cold Open    We sit on the cusp of the 55th Super Bowl and it should be acknowledged that the NFL has done what many thought was unthinkable. They have played every game, some delayed by a few days, but none of the playoff games delayed and none played in a bubble. This is an incredible feat in the midst of the pandemic, and the NFL gave every fan a real sense of normalcy and something to look forward to every single week. We should never forget this moving forward when the league surely will fumble around and mess up plenty. That being said, the end result: Tom Brady in another Super Bowl, yuck.  I laughed at the idea the Bucs would be a Super bowl contender when they signed Brady. Boy, was I wrong. It was smart of Brady to go sign in the NFC and not deal with the league's new biggest star in Patrick Mahomes before a Super Bowl. Brady will have played in 18% of Super Bowls ever. He has been doing this so long that in his first Super Bowl run Andrew Luck was in sixth grade. Luck has since gone to Stanford, got drafted 1st overall, lost to Brady in multiple playoff games, and been retired for two years as Brady makes yet another big game.   Is Brady close to finished? We have been asking this and/or predicting this for five years. I feel as if his postseason has been filled with signs of the end. Dead duck passes against New Orleans, picks galore in Green Bay, yet he survives like a cockroach after fumigation. The first quarterback to ever play a home Super Bowl game in his own building? Of course it is Brady. Everything glory that belongs to the quarterback position belongs to Tom Brady. I will stop complaining, shaking my head, pour myself a drink and settle in for one more Tom freaking Brady Super Bowl now. 

Five Quick Hits

1- Tony Romo has a job to do as the lead analyst for this Super Bowl, and hyping up the game appears to be part of it. However, saying that this will be the biggest game Patrick Mahomes ever plays because of the ring chase with Brady is ridiculous. Three years into being a starter, why should Mahomes care how many rings Brady has or be worried about that number? Sure, if he loses this game and finishes two titles shy of Brady, we can look back on this game, but let the next decade-plus play out first.

2-First impressions should not matter as much as they do, but let's face it: when it comes to head coaches, they do. People in Detroit are ready to run through a wall for Dan Campbell. We cannot say the same in Philadelphia for Nick Sirianni. His stumbling mess of a press conference in which he rambled about systems and his quarterbacks was eerily similar to Adam Gase's eyes darting all over the place for the Jets or Ben McAdoo's frumpy suit with the Giants. 

3-The Rams now will not have their first-round pick for four years. Being all-in at the most important position is understandable, but once you made the Jalen Ramsey trade, you have to know as a GM that in this league giving up first-round picks for half a decade in exchange for two players is something that is way more likely than not to backfire. We have no idea if Matt Stafford is good in the big game, and if this trade doesn't end in a Super Bowl ring, it is nothing short of a failure. 

4-The reports out of Houston are that the Stafford trade will not impact the value of Deshaun Watson. That may be true, as his cost was always even higher, but what it does do is set a floor if this stare-down goes deep into the summer. Now at least three first-round picks is mandatory, even if the Texans doesn't get defensive players as well like they reportedly are asking for. 

5-The QB carousel has already been fun and will continue to be fun this offseason. Kirk Cousins as a potential target in San Francisco would be hysterical. Sure Kyle Shanahan and Cousins seem like a fit, but in the beastly NFC West, who in the world would expect Kirk Cousins not to melt in big games?

My Pick


A 1-1 week has me at 32-25-2 on the season.

Bucs +3 vs Chiefs: Look, I feel gross about this, and it is only fitting that I will place money on a bet and actively root for my money to lose. That is how much I do not want to see Tom Brady win yet again. That being said, I have made the mistake of betting against the Bucs in recent weeks, and I just can't make it again. The Chiefs offensive line injuries fit right into the strength of the Bucs, which is their pass rush. The Bucs also have the benefit of staying home and treating this like it isn't really a Super Bowl with the hoopla around it. Bruce Arians loves to throw it down the field, but he is a smart enough coach to run the heck out of the Chiefs and keep Patrick Mahomes off the field. This will be the best defense the Chiefs see since they played Tampa Bay in November. Back in that game, the Bucs, not the Chiefs, showed that no lead is too big as well. I expect an excellent close game but the pass rush just proves to be too much for the Chiefs to handle.

Football Food of the Week

Pepperoni Pizza Chili. Wait, what? Everyone knows the classics on Super Bowl Sunday. Wings, pizzas, gigantic sub sandwiches, chips, dips, etc. But on a nice cold weekend, what is better than a bowl of chili, served of course which some Tostitos scoops? Could I come on this column and just give you chili? Sure. But who wants to end the season on that note? In researching this week's column, I wanted to find something different. This fabulous recipe is worth trying. The blend of sausage, pepperoni, beef, pizza sauce, combined with all of your chili favorites in a slow cooker seems too good to be true. Give it a try. The recipe is here.  

Thanks for reading all year long. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @MrazCBS.