We're pleased to welcome Matt Verderam, who was covering the Super Bowl for Fansided and also has Stacking the Box Podcast. So Matt, very often, I know this from attending a Super Bowl, what you see on TV is completely different than what happens inside the stadium. We now know that there were an average of 113 million people watching that spike during halftime, but we saw one version on TV. What stands out to you about being in the stadium and the atmosphere there?
I'll tell you the truth, I think really what stood out was just the shitty. I mean, you know, it's always funny if you've ever been lucky enough to be down there a Super Bowl week, whether you're a fan or you're part of the media. The early part of the week, it's a lot of people who are just kind of there for the week, whether or not it's Radio Row or it's people who want to kind of go down and experience the whole thing. And then as the weekend gets there, then you kind of get an idea of how the split's going to be in the stadium. And it was very much, it was pro-Philadelphia.
I mean, I would say probably two to one. It was a pretty raucous atmosphere going into the stadium pregame. But it's the way these things are, you know, when you have a game that it ends like the way it did. There was like a funeral walking out of there for Philadelphia fans to stream out, of course, waiting and soaking it all in. So it was like a funeral for 30 minutes. And then after they did the appropriate presentation, then, you know, cheese fans are coming out like it was a party.
So it's always an interesting dichotomy to see that. Yeah. Was it as loud as what it seemed like on TV or was it loud in the stadium when Dak Prescott was getting booed by the Eagles fans? It was loud enough. Yeah.
I mean, it's funny. Super Bowls always kind of get the, I guess, the moniker. You could say that they're very corporate and it's very cheese and white. I've only covered four Super Bowls in my short time covering the league.
I do not feel like it's like that at all. It's been very loud at all the Super Bowls that I've covered. And listen, cheese fans are a passionate group.
Philadelphia, not exactly known for being quiet. So it was, yeah, there was a lot of passion, both leading up to the game and during it. And definitely some humongous moments in the first half, specifically for the Eagles and the way they raced out to that 10 point lead. But then in the second half, I wouldn't say it was a complete reversal because the Eagles still had some moments that touchdown drive where they ended up with a two-point conversion to tie the game. That was really impressive. But as you think about the second half and as you've talked to people about the game, what changed coming out of halftime, Matt?
Yeah. I wrote my whole column actually about that 29 minutes. And I talked to Frank Clark. I talked to Chris Jones and Travis Kelce after the game. I asked them that and kind of, to a man, they really made mention of Mahomes.
They made mention of Kelce, not the Kelce, the other guys did, about, they basically challenged the rest of the team. And they challenged themselves. We need to play better. We need to find that fire. We need to be ourselves. We need to be a little less tight.
But I think, you know, that's all fine. And I believe that they felt that and they showed that in the second half. But I think really what happened in the game was Philadelphia, as that night wore on, they did not adjust defensively. And Andy Reid put on a masterclass for 30 minutes. I don't think Andy Reid's ever coached a better half of football in his life than he coached in second half.
I mean, they just took them apart with motions and all kinds of tendency breakers. If you don't watch the Chiefs every week, you may not pick this up for fans that they're listening, but there was a play. It was on the last drive of the game on third and one, and the Chiefs came out in a two-back set. And if you watch the Chiefs on short yardage this year, they do nothing but run between the guards on third and one. I don't know why that has been their tendency all year long. And this play, they lined up, but they were going to do it. And they ran a sweep to check out and he gained 15 yards, got a first down and ended up setting them up. So I thought Reid was great. And I thought the defense coordinator for the Eagles shot him again.
I thought really never adjusted. I think that was the story of the game. No one can ever say again that Andy Reid cannot manage the clock in late game situations because as anticlimactic as it was, they managed it perfectly in those late stages.
They did. Honestly, I thought Kansas City, when they got the ball back with five minutes or so left and it was 35-35, I was thinking, just kind of trying to play it forward, if the Chiefs score here and they leave any amount of time for Philly, a minute, minute and a half, even if they need a touchdown, I think they're going to get it. Because at that point, the Chiefs defense had not done much either. I mean, even in the second half, they only gave up all 11 points, but the Eagles only had the ball three times. So it wasn't like the Chiefs defense is going out there and throwing up a brick wall in second half.
They weren't. They only forced one punt. But I thought in that moment, the Chiefs were very smart about the way they managed the clock. Now, listen, they obviously got that controversial holding call that of course allowed them to bleed out the last minute and a half, minute 40.
But they did a good job of piecing that drive together. They stayed in bounds on some certain plays. They were able to run the ball on that last drive. They made a couple of key throws. They really, they did whatever they wanted to do in the second half of the game and that continued to that last drive. Matt Verteram is with us from Fansided, fresh off covering the Super Bowl in Glendale.
It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. What did you think of the offensive line in the second half? Because I felt like that was really a major difference maker for the Chiefs, especially considering what we knew about the Eagles ability to rush the quarterback with just their front four. Yeah, look, that was a huge storyline coming to the game, Amy, right? I mean, it was all about the Eagles have had 78 sacks this year, including the playoffs, and they needed five to break the all-time record.
And can they get it? And they really, not only did they not get a sack, they very seldomly even got close. A couple times, a couple times they got some pressure and forced them to move. But I thought in that game, the Chiefs did a really good job of chipping, helping on the edges, and they allowed the interior of their offensive line, which I wrote about earlier, and I think it was maybe the week leading up to the game. The one thing about the Chiefs that I thought was so underrated throughout the course of the preamble of the Super Bowl was they have the best interior line in the NFL. The Chiefs guard center combination is the best in football.
I mean, Tooney's an All-Pro, Humphries an All-Pro, and Trey Smith could easily be an All-Pro in supporting his career. They are phenomenal on the side, and they really neutralize Fletcher Cox and Jevon Hargrave and Donovan Sue. And if you can do that, you can always help your tackles.
It's a hell of a lot harder to help the guys inside. And to your point, in the second half of the game, I think there was also the added pressure on those guys. Our quarterback is hurt.
He cannot get hit. And they were great against the Bengals in the Jaguars earlier in the AFC playoffs when that came to be, and they were great against Philadelphia when they needed it most. I think another thing that really stands out is that you had three guys with the Chiefs who were first-year members of the organization, two rookies, and then Kadarius Tooney who scored touchdowns. I mean, that's also really impressive considering that they rebuilt a lot of that offensive receiving core. And then, of course, their secondary had a bunch of new guys too. So yeah, I don't think they're going away anytime soon, but I'm not going to ask you the dynasty question if you don't mind.
I hope we'll just leave that aside for now. Matt, let's talk a little bit about the Eagles just for a second. We know what they did to build the team that went 16-3 and came up just short in the Super Bowl. When you think about them moving forward, is this a team that needs to fill any holes, plug any holes, or are they good to go?
That is a great role. I mean, the question for Harry Rosen is going to be, how do you keep everybody happy? Because Hertz is going to be eligible for an extension now.
They lost the game. He was phenomenal. I mean, outside of fumbling the ball once, I mean, you couldn't have asked any more of Jalen Hertz. I think it's the best thing to play.
So he was excellent. He's going to get paid a fortune. How do you structure that? What do you do with guaranteed money? What do you do with the years?
How do you make it work for both sides? That's going to be the big looming question. But then you're also going to do, they have a lot of guys who are free agents. I mean, you're talking about Charles C. Gardner Johnson is going to get paid. James Bradbury is going to get paid. You'll look at Javon Hargrave, he's going to get paid. Those are three major guys on your defense.
And he was going to probably have to choose one of them. And Don Cantu, Linville Joseph, who are kind of rentals, they're going to go, what's going on with Jason Kelsey? He's going to come back.
So there are a lot of questions. But I think that roster is loaded for Bear. They should be really good for a while. Yeah, Howie Roseman getting essentially two different rosters, very different rosters, and different coaches being able to engineer rosters and locker rooms that could get to the Super Bowl. Lots of other news items around the NFL. Matt, we know that the Raiders are planning to release Derek Carr, not a big surprise. But before they have any more money committed to him, where do you see a good fit for Carr, especially since he has the no trade clause? You know, Carr really is going to be the most, I think, attractive free agent on the market. You look at free agency. Free agency is not good to share.
It is not a deep glass. There's some good safeties to be had. At quarterback in particular, you just want to look at that. There's Carr and then what? Baker Mayfield. Baker Mayfield, Carson Wentz, Sam Parnold. I mean, it is slim pickings. So Carr is going to have this market in a great spot for himself.
I think, look, you know what? The Jets, you talk to people in the league, I think the idea is that they're going to be all in on Aaron Rodgers. So if that ends up happening, you'll look around and go, okay, I think, look, any of these teams in Yancey South could use them. I think the Saints have obviously already made overtures. I think for the Panthers, it would make a lot of sense. The Buccaneers, I think the Buccaneers are going to kind of go on a little bit of a rebuild here, but there's a lot of teams.
I mean, any of those teams have division. Atlanta is interesting. I think Atlanta, if Lamar Jackson becomes available, I would watch Atlanta. I think Atlanta is the team there that would make a big push. But, you know, there's so many options. You know, would Tennessee, would they ditch Tannehill for Carr?
I don't think so, but I wouldn't rule it out. But Carr, my inclination would be the NFC would be the better fit for him. But I think there's a lot of different places that are going to be offering him serious money because he's a top 12-15 quarterback. He's not that old. He can play in this league. How many guys have hit free agency in the last 10 years who were as good as their card quarterback?
Not many. Agreed. When you mentioned the quarterbacks, you didn't mention Jimmy Garoppolo, and I'm not putting words in your mouth, but do you believe he's a viable option for teams as well, or no?
Yeah, I do. I don't think he's as attractive as Carr is, but I do think he is, and I think it's a good point because he's better than any of the guys we just rolled off. You know, I think Garoppolo is going to end up in Vegas.
I just do. He and McDaniels have a long-standing history. I just think it makes all the sense in the world that he goes there. They would have loved if they had Brady. That's not going to happen. And I think if you're the Raiders, okay, if you can get a Will Leathers in the draft, maybe you go that route. But otherwise, I think Garoppolo is the bridge for you. You might even draft the quarterback and sign Garoppolo, so I think that's the way to go. So then an educated guess about Aaron Rodgers is that he'll stay in Green Bay or that he wouldn't go to Las Vegas? I think for the Packers, you reach the point where Rodgers where you are trying to get him to the highest bidder. I just don't think the Packers are a viable contender at this juncture anymore. That roster is going to have a cap crunch to deal with. Uh, if you're Brian Gouda, because you got to find out what you have. I mean, this is your four of that contract, but it's time.
It makes sense. Rodgers is going to be 40 next season. I think if you're the Packers, you're going to just say, okay, we have the Jets, who you know is interested in the Raiders, who he would be a massive upgrade for. I think you try to play both of those teams against each other and see who can outbid the other one. Um, but you know, the Jets, I think the Jets are more desperate. And I think frankly, I mean, the Jets, I just think would go to a greater length, but that all being said, this is also the Raiders and the Jets. Like anything is possible with either one of those two franchises. But I do think that the Jets right now, I would give this slight edge to. Okay.
I'm sorry. It is so comical to think that he might end up going the same route or a similar route as Brett Favre. I mean, that just cracks me up to no end. I don't know why he wanted to be so different than Brett Favre, but very, like there are some incredible similarities and more and more, it looks like they could end up in two Super Bowls, each winning A-ring. Right. They've got, I know Rogers has the four MVP awards, but ultimately seeing the franchise move on to a guy that's been sitting for three years behind him and then potentially both ending up with the Jets.
It's like a Twilight Zone, Matt. You know, I never thought about that. That actually would be really funny if that happened.
You could just polish it off and go finish up with the Vikings afterwards. Um, and actually that actually might contractually line up. Um, but yeah, I look, if you're Rogers, I think you'd want out at this point. They're not, the Packers are to a stage where they're going to have to get rid of some guys off that team. They're not going to be able to play new guys. I just, if you're the Packers, like what is the point? And if you're Rogers, you know, you go play with the Jets, your buddy Nathaniel Hackett's over there and you know the offense and you've got a really good couple of young rookies on that team with Breece Hall and Kara Wilson and you've got a defense that can play. That's not the worst situation in the world if you're Rogers. Now, the downside of that is you got to go deal with the New York media, which that is, that is not green day where there's five writers there. You got to go to New York where if you have a bad game, they're not going to want to hear that you're taking a four-day darkness retreat.
Oh no, we actually like that in New York. It's pretty funny. We turn that into great comedic material. So before I let you go, Matt, one more non-quarterback storyline or topic that you believe is pretty weighty in this offseason?
I guess I would put it this way. I think it's going to be really interesting to watch free agency as we approach here in about a month and change because if you look at this class, this is about as weak a free agency class as you're going to ever see. There are no corners out there outside of Bradbury who I would talk about being a receiver. I'd argue the best free agent wide receiver is Julius Matruster. I mean, maybe it's going to be Keenan Allen if the Chargers move on from him.
Wow. But you look, there's no star tackles. I mean, you know, there's no star edge rushers, good safeties.
Teron Payne's an excellent D tackle, but this is a year where I think teams are, I think that might force some more trades and I think teams are going to be really hyper-focused on the draft. All right, good stuff. We're just getting started now that every team has officially hit the off season.
You can find Matt on Twitter at Matt Verderam, V-E-R-D-E-R-A-M-E and fresh off of the Super Bowl week, covering it as the national reporter for fans cited, the stacking the box podcast and company. Did I hear company behind you? Wherever are you home? I literally just walked in my door for the first time in nine days and my five-year-old daughter walked up. I'm sorry.
Well, we'll let you go be a dad. Thank you so much for a couple of minutes, Matt. No problem. Take care.
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