Super Bowl Trailer Frenzy; When NOT to Score a Touchdown

Super Bowl Sunday: along with the multimillion dollar commercials, Rihanna's halftime show, the endless pregame festivities and, oh yes, the actual game, there were some much anticipated trailers for big movies in between the action....

Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 3.James Gunn's goofy-yet-heartfelt trilogy set in the cosmic arena of the MCU is wrapping up, and it looks like he will leave no laser pistol unfired, bad joke unuttered or heartstring unpulled. The zero grav action scenes look like fun, but I'm really interested in Rocket's origin story, and what they're going to do with characters like the High Evolutionary and Adam Warlock.

Karen Gillan is in the trailer for two seconds, but she shoots off a dry, perfectly timed wisecrack as Nebula. Gotta love her. Vin Diesel adds one word to Groot's vocabulary and it speaks volumes.

This really is the last roundup. Gunn, Pratt and Bautista are moving on to better things. Bring tissues.

Speaking of James Gunn moving on to better things: as newly crowned king of the DCU, he's been hyping The Flash to the skies. And you know what? It looks pretty good! It seems to be the DC version of No Way Home, since it's bringing in characters from previous cycles of superhero movies into the new one. You have Michael Shannon as Zod from Snyder's Man of Steel, Ben Affleck (apparently as Bruce Wayne ONLY) from Justice League, and Michael Keaton, back in the rubber suit as Batman.

(But here's the question: is Keaton's Batman Bruce Wayne? Remember, in the Flashpoint comic book plotline, the Batman of this alternate universe was Bruce's father, Thomas.)

The only element of this trailer that doesn't excite me is Ezra Miller. In Justice League, he never struck me as the right fit for Barry Allen (too... squirrelly), and I haven't changed my mind. Still, the key plot point of this whole thing is Barry going back in time to save his mother from an untimely death. If Miller can't win my sympathy, even with a Dead Mom, there might be a problem.

Finally, we have Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (dumb title), James Mangold's next attempt to gracefully retire a cinematic icon (after "Logan"). To be honest, I'm not that pumped for a fifth Indy adventure (especially after the last one), but it does have two things going for it that #4 didn't: Phoebe Waller-Bridge and John Rhys-Davies. Waller-Bridge is a vivid personality and a great choice as sidekick/co-star, but bringing back Rhys-Davies as Sallah is the real masterstroke. I want to see these two great adventurers blow the doors off the place one more time before riding off into the 🌇...

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As for the game itself, I'll cover that in another post. I just want to point out one specific play:

American football is a weird, complex game. With 22 men running around the field at one time and an oblong ball designed to take strange bounces, all sorts of odd situations crop up, even ones that seem to be completely counter to the basic logic of the game. For instance: when is it WRONG to score a touchdown?

Follow me here....

In yesterday's game, there was a little less than two minutes left on the clock. Game was tied 35-35. Kansas City had the ball on the Philly 11 yard line. Eagles were out of time outs. (This is important.) Mahomes hands off to running back Jerick McKinnon, who sweeps around the left end and looks like he will go in for a touchdown untouched.

Instead, he slides to a stop on the one yard line.

If you don't know football, you might ask yourself; why would he DO such a thing? Isn't the whole point of the game to score them touchdowns?

But here's the situation: the Eagles wanted him to score. They weren't interested in stopping him. Yes, if McKinnon scores the touchdown, he does a happy dance in the end zone and the Chiefs lead by 7. But that leaves over 1:30 on the clock--more than enough time for Jalen Hurts and the Eagles to go down field for the tie. (Or, if they go for a two point conversion after the touchdown--for the win.) No, the smart play was exactly what McKinnon did: stop at the one, and keep the clock running. KC ran two more plays after that, and kicked the winning field goal with 8 seconds left. Philly had no time to answer.

As a professional athlete, it must have been McKinnon's dream to score a Super Bowl touchdown. That he sacrificed his moment of glory for the good of the team is a testament to his character.

And if you think my praise of McKinnon is purely academic, I've got some news for you: McKinnon's play literally cost me money. You see, if McKinnon scored that touchdown, KC probably would have won 42-35.

My wife had the numbers "2" and "5" on her Super Bowl betting grid. She would have won $300.

So, even though I'm out the Benjamins, I have to respect the man's integrity.

Super Bowl Ell-Vee-Aye-Aye: Chiefs 38, Eagles 35

First of all, Mahomes wouldn't be my pick for MVP. I would have given it to the entire Kansas City offensive line, because they were the dominant force in the game, opening up holes for Isaiah Pacheco, and keeping Mahomes upright, bad ankle and all. Facing the best pass rush in the NFL, Mahomes did not have a single negative play. Not one.

You COULD point to Jalen Hurts' "fumble six" as another key to the Chiefs' ultimate victory; but as the game wore on, you got the feeling that KC would have eventually come back if they were down by 7, 10 or 17. Andy Reid and his staff were brilliant in disguising pass routes, and twice(!) bamboozled the Eagles secondary into leaving a receiver alone in the flat for an easy touchdown.

As one of only three active coaches to win two Super Bowls, Reid cements his legacy as one of the greats.

Extra Points:

* You kind of wish the holding call against Bradberry didn't have such a huge influence on the outcome. But think about what might have happened if it WASN'T called. If the Eagles drove down for the winning touchdown, Kansas City would have been screaming about it for years. The refs couldn't win here.

* Giant fans have to look at Kadarius Toney's spectacular punt return and sigh, "What If?" Toney could be a force when he was healthy and in the lineup. But with the Giants, he was never healthy--that's why the Giants reluctantly gave up and made the trade. The Giants are still struggling to find wide receivers; Toney has a championship ring.

* I don't mean to say Mahomes had a bad game. Hardly. He took what the Eagle defense gave him, hit his receivers quickly and efficiently and played mistake-free football. Technically, Jalen Hurts had a better night; but that one big mistake took a lot of shine off those gaudy statistics.

* I ❤ Rihanna. I loved the halftime show. I will hear no criticism.