Author: Dave Long

The 55th Super Bowl comes your way on Sunday to conclude a season marked by disruptions, limited fans in the stands, and other craziness of the pandemic season. I’m among the dwindling group who’s seen all 55 and given the QB match-up it’s one of my more highly anticipated when I haven’t got a dog in the hunt. Yeah, I know, you-know-who is back for his incredible 10th SB, this time with Tampa Bay. But that’s an “I want him to do well, I don’t want him to win” rooting toss-up. Plus I love watching how the KC Chiefs play.

Starting with “Will KC’s 27-24 win over TB in Week 12 matter?” here are some of the questions I’ll be looking to have answered as the opening kickoff goes airborne at 6:35 p.m. Sunday on CBS.

Is KC As Good As They Seem? I know Pat Mahomes is. Ditto for Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce, and their defense is better than most think. But with Sammy Watkins and their two top running backs sidelined they’ve relied on Hill and Kelce an awful lot. Though it didn’t hurt in the 38-14 win over Buffalo to get here. To win, Bill Belichick always looks to shut down the No. 1 option. But who’s the number option? The more dangerous Hill, or first-down machine Kelce? Watkins is questionable, but it looks like Clyde Edwards-Helaire will play and that should help. Not unbeatable, but really dangerous.

How Good Is TB’s Defense? Their linebackers are fast to the ball. Especially Devin White, who’s had a great playoffs so far. And while they don’t have a huge sack guy, in Jason Pierre Paul (9.5), White (9.0), Shaquil Barrett (8.5) and Ndamukong Suh (6.0) they have an array of guys who create pressure from different directions. So it can create problems.

Will Having Home Field Matter for TB? No team has ever played a Super Bowl in their own stadium as Tampa Bay will Sunday, though the Rams basically were home at the Rose Bowl in nearby Pasadena when they lost 31-19 to Pittsburgh in SB14, and five years later the 49ers walloped Miami 38-16 in nearby Palo Alto at Stanford. But with that a split they’re no help. It also won’t be a “hometown crowd” as the majority are out-of-town neutrals, made an even smaller factor with the pandemic-induced 25 percent max capacity. So the biggest difference could be without the usual who-ha festival environment factor seeming more like just a “regular game.” Normally home field gives home teams a three-point edge. I’ll give it just a one-point bump and only because having it can’t hurt.

At What Point is Tom Brady’s Overall SB Record a Consideration? It irritates me that evaluating quarterbacks comes down to just counting their rings. Like they’re the only ones who had anything to do with the wins. Pardon me for thinking Tedy Bruschi, Richard Seymour, Julian Edelman and Malcolm Butler and many othershad something to do with Brady’s six. The point is you need a team to get there. Then there’s Joe Montana, never lost in four tries. Ditto for Terry Bradshaw, and Troy Aikman was 3-0 in the ’90s. And while Brady was 3-0 before (gulp) losing the undefeated season to the G-Men in SB42, if Tampa loses Sunday Brady will tie Jim Kelly for most losses with four. If he gets credit for the wins, shouldn’t his record losses be taken into account in the “greatest ever” discussion? As should the team you played for? Because if Kelly had Adam V instead of Scott Norwood, he’d be 1-3 at least, not 0-4. So which number is most significant for TB, 6, 4, 6-4 or 10?

Friends, Romans, Countrymen: Using Roman numerals was quaint through the first 10 years. But now at 55 it’s nuts, because no one younger than, say 1,982 years old has a clue what L, V or X means. For instance, I look at the list of all the games on Wikipedia and see the aforementioned 2007 game is SBXLII and go, “What? Does X = 30 and L = 10 to make it 42? Or does it mean X = 50 and L is -10?” Confusing it even further is that the game for the 2007 title was played in 2008. And if Roman numerals are so great, why is the 50th game called Super Bowl 50? That’s stupidest of all, when you see it in a list with all the others with X’s, L’s and V’s. For the love of god just give us real numbers and leave chariot races, Julius Caesar and those dang numerals to the Romans.

Key to KC Win: We all know how to beat Brady: with pressure up the middle. It prevents him from stepping up into the pocket, makes him hurry throws and is tough to throw over. If I’m KC my defensive game plan is built around that.

Key to TB Win: They have to put Mahomes on the ground, which should be a little easier with left tackle Eric Fisher now lost to a torn Achilles tendon. The problem is you can’t miss him, because he’s deadly outside the pocket where he’s great throwing on the run and has a knack for getting to the sticks for first downs on third and long.

Will There Be An X-Factor? For TB it was Scott Miller somehow getting behind the Green Bay defense for a game-altering TD with one second left in the first half of the NFC Conference game. This week I’ll go KC’s Mecole Hardman, whose dazzling speed produces a special teams TD or big plays from scrimmage like that 50-yard run off a Jets sweep vs. Buffalo.

Who Wins: Take the (gulp) under (57.5) in a 31-24 KC win.

Well, who can be surprised Tom Brady did it again? Despite a very shaky second half, he’s headed to his 10th Super Bowl after doing what he needed to do against Green Bay to get there as usual. Though I suspect a three-pick second half vs. KC will croak him. Jimmy Garoppolo got roasted for a lot less than that when the 49ers didn’t hold their fourth-quarter lead against them in the SB a year ago. So Tom had better be careful.

That aside, the Bucs earned their trip to the big game with a 31-26 win over Green Bay, where defending champion Kansas City is waiting following a 38-24 manhandling of Buffalo. It was a fun day of football that reinforced my belief that NFL conference championship Sunday is the best sports viewing day of the year. Some of it had nothing to do with the local football team, and with Brady in the mix some of it seemed to me all about Patriots decisions, what might have been and what they need to do to get back to playing on the second to last Sunday of the NFL year.

Here are some more observations on all that.

If you’re interested, losing Green Bay had a 34:27–25:23 edge in time of possession in Game 1, while despite KC’s runaway win they had only a slight 31:09–28:51 edge over Buffalo. That’s why I don’t think it usually tells you much.

Don’t get why Matt LaFleur went for the FG with 2:37 left and Green Bay down 31-23. Isn’t getting one play from a Hall of Fame QB to win it on fourth down better odds than needing four from his defense and still needing a TD to win from much farther away?

Having said that, despite the success, I never do escape the feeling watching Aaron Rodgers in big games that there’s something missing. Can’t quite put my finger on why, but it was there again Sunday. Maybe that’s why he’s lost four of the five NFC title games he’s been in.

This weekend showed how far off the Pats are. Forget quarterback for a second. The most glaring deficiency is team speed on offense and defense. KC has blinding speed. Buffalo and Green Bay have it on the outside and while besides Antonio Brown I’m not quite sure how fast Tampa Bay receivers are, they seem to get open down the field a lot and their linebackers can run.

Attention, Bill Belichick. Josh Allen went from 20 TD passes to 40 after Buffalo traded for Stefon Diggs. It wasn’t all because of Diggs, but their pedestrian 2019 offense transformed into the league’s second-ranked O as their prized acquisition led the NFL in catches and receiving yards. I also recall something similar happening after Randy Moss arrived in 2007. That’s also why Brady went from 24 TD passes last year to a second best in his career 40 with Tampa Bay. Speed on the outside makes a big difference.

While we’re on that subject, how is it that with good old Rob Gronkowski, Cameron Brate and the out for the year O. J. Howard, Tampa Bay has three tight ends better than any TE the Patriots have?

Don’t buy the narrative being pushed by the Boston media Coach B didn’t have a plan for when Brady left town or retired. He did have one until Brady went up the back staircase to whine about it to the owner, who then made BB trade Garoppolo after he’d already traded Jacoby Brissett, which he wouldn’t have done if he were planning to trade Jimmy G. Then a short time after deep sixing the plan, Brady split to leave Coach B holding the bag. Basically he outmaneuvered Belichick in an act of self-preservation, so don’t make Brady out to be anything but a contributor to their QB dilemma.

But through either a strange coincidence or karma, it’s interesting that we’ll have gotten to see how the Pats QB drama played out in back-to-back Super Bowls against the rampaging Chiefs. So let’s see what Brady does next weekend vs. what Jimmy G did against them.

When Bullet Bob Hayes was called the world’s fastest human after winning gold in the 100-yard dash at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, he brought blinding straight-ahead speed to scare the bejeebers out of Dallas Cowboys opponents all through the 1960’s. And through the years people from Billy White Shoes Johnson to Wes Welker have had the short-space quickness to find daylight to get free inside a refrigerator box. But Tyreek Hill has the best combination of both I’ve ever seen. He can score on any down from any distance on any type of play from go routes to wideout screens to Jets sweeps and everything else. He must terrify game planners about to face the Chiefs.

Speaking of blinding speed: The closest approximation of Hill is teammate Mecole Hardman, whose fumbled punt on Sunday handed Buffalo its first TD. He made up for it by taking a shuffle pass up the gut for KC’s first score and with a dazzling 50-yard run on a Jets sweep to put them in position for their second TD. Those impressed by that in Patriots Nation won’t love hearing the wideout/Pro Bowl returner went 24 picks behind N’Keal Harry in the 2019 draft

After watching him average 102 catches the last three seasons and tear up the Browns and Bills the last two weeks for 23 catches, 227 yards and three touchdowns, I’m starting to think Travis Kelce may be a better intermediate-range receiver than Gronk in his prime. The big fella is still a much better blocker and used to be a better deep threat, but Kelce is good and clutch.

If you think Buffalo was a fluke, guess again. They have a good young coach and a really good young QB. Sound familiar? The Pats now have to catch up to them.

News Item: Inmates Running The Asylum

Doug Pederson loses a showdown with his owner because he wanted rookie Jalen Hurts to be Eagles QB going forward while owner Jeffrey Lurie wanted crybaby demoted starter Carson Wentz. So Pederson is out as head coach in the city that isn’t happy unless it’s unhappy three years after winning a Super Bowl without Wentz because the owner wants him despite reports he’s selfish and totally un-coachable. In Houston QB Deshaun Watson wants out over not being involved in selecting the Texans’ new head coach. Which might make normal people ask, who would be the boss, Watson or the head coach? Again in Houston, where there must be something in the water, overweight and out of shape James Harden just forced his way out of town because the team “wasn’t good enough,” to join the Nets for a ridiculous cost to the new franchise. And the team he joins in Brooklyn is dealing with Kyrie Irving missing five games because he didn’t feel like playing after the attack on the U.S. Capitol. That Irving didn’t have the courtesy to let new coach Steve Nash know he’d miss the first one until just before game time is par for the course of his beyond belief sense of entitlement. Which comes on the heels of trying to derail the NBA restart last spring over bubble issues, which actually was a players power play under the guise of a Black Lives Matters protest. That he’s still somehow being paid $400,000 per missed game is the capper to an incredible week of the inmates running the asylum.

News Item: NFL Playoffs Trudge On

The matchups are set for who’ll compete for a Super Bowl berth next weekend. In the AFC it will be Buffalo in their return to the top of the NFL heap after a nearly 25-year absence, vs. Kansas City, who’ll spend the week worrying about whether concussion protocols will keep Pat Mahomes sidelined after he got knocked loopy in the fourth quarter of their 22-17 win over Cleveland. The NFC features old-guard QB’s still playing at the top of their historic level when Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay face Tampa Bay and you know who. And speaking of great old-guard OB’s, we likely saw the final game of Drew Brees’ great career in the Saints’ 30-20 loss to TB. With a three-pick day he didn’t go out in style, but he retires as the all-time NFL leader in passing yards and completions and is second to Tom Brady in TD passes.

News Item: NFL Rule Change Ahead?

A cautionary tale to those who dive to reach for the pylon with the ball exposed in one hand as they are about to be hit came on Sunday in KC. And given the 22-17 final it was a game-changer when just before halftime Cleveland’s Rashard Higgins did it as he approached his goal line as he got drilled by DB Daniel Sorensen to knock the ball loose. Since it flew into the end zone before rolling out of bounds, by rule it was a touchback and went over to KC to prevent on-the-doorstep Cleveland’s chance to score. Aside from missing the obvious helmet-to-helmet contact by Sorenson which should’ve been a penalty negating the fumble, it was the right call of a bad rule that’s likely to spark a lively rules committee debate on whether offenses should retain possession at the point of the fumble since the defense neither recovered nor even touched the ball before it rolled out of bounds.

News Item: New Hall of Famers To Be Announced

The baseball Hall of Fame will announce its next set of inductees on Tuesday with the steroid issue still weighing down the candidacy of otherwise shoo-ins Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and others. That should help Curt Schilling in his next to last chance to be elected by the writers despite his whining that he’s losing votes over his constant yacking on unpopular political positions. The truth is with just 216 wins and a late starting career he’s a borderline choice that clears the bar due to his postseason excellence. As for the steroid issue, yes, it was cheating. But if the commissioner who presided over the entire era and purposely did nothing about it for baseball’s financial gain until Congress held his feet to the fire sailed in on his first try, how can you keep Bonds, Clemens and the others out? Just have the stat geeks finally do something useful by developing a steroid-era statistical index to level the playing field with previous eras and then vote.

News Item: Jacksonville Goes Urban in 2021

Urban Meyer knows the list of college coaches who tried and failed to conquer the NFL is a very, very long list, one that includes big-time guys who won national titles like Bud Wilkinson (author of Oklahoma’s 56-game winning streak), Lou Holtz (1980s), Steve Spurrier (1990s) and six-time national champion Nick Saban. Not to mention local lad Chip Kelly in Philly and during one disastrous season in San Francisco. A few like Bobby Ross, who spent nine years as a head coach with San Diego and Detroit in the ’90s, did OK, but the only pure college coach to win a Super Bowl (’93 and ’94) after leaving college behind was Jimmy Johnson in Dallas. Yes, Pete Carroll did in Seattle, but he’d already been headman for the Jets and Patriots before his exile to USC. So I like that Meyer is attempting to defeat what history says about college coaches moving to the NFL by taking over in Jacksonville. And what makes it more interesting is his transition is more pronounced than current ex-college guys Kliff Kingsbury in Phoenix and Matt Rhule in Carolina because he didn’t use an in-vogue NFL-ready passing game like they did at Texas Tech and Baylor before coming to the NFL.

Time to go to the mailbag.

Dear Dave: What are your biggest takeaways from NFL playoffs Week 1?Fred D. Mercury, Morristown, Florida

Dear Fred D: The reminder that being hot at the right time is more important than having the best record. The Steelers had the ’72 Dolphins nervous by flirting with an undefeated season into late November. But they suddenly somehow lost five of their last six to get badly run out on Sunday by Cleveland 48-37.

Dear Dave: How much do you think the Patriots will be harmed by Bill Belichick’s right-hand man in the personnel department, Nick Caserio, leaving to become the GM of the Texans? Randolph Scott, Peoli, Georgia.

Dear Randy: Can I call you Randy over the more stuffy Randolph? Don’t mean to pick on Saint Nick, but not much. Have you seen the Patriots’ drafts through most of the last decade? Now Bill may have been pulling the strings for all the ridiculous moves around the board on draft day, but to say the least the last five have not been very helpful. And even with some useful recent picks like Damien Harris and punter Jake Bailey in 2019, they’ve gotten no dominant players, partly because they’d had a number of big misses in high rounds like N’Keal Harry (1), Dominique Easley (1), Duke Dawson (2), Derek Rivers (3) and Cyrus Jones (2), where those players type generally come from. And even though he wasn’t a miss per se, perhaps most galling of all was using a 2017 No. 1 pick on the wrong roommate when they took oft-injured Sony Michel over Cleveland’s Nick Chubb five spots later, where he’s become one of the best and most durable runners in the NFL. So it’s the same thing I said when people were fretting over Matt Patricia leaving in 2017 as defensive coordinator: Thanks for the memories, but he’s not as good as you think and it’s time for new blood in the personnel department.

Dear Dave: The rumor mill says Deshaun Watson wants out of Houston. If so, what are the chances of the Patriots trading for him?Art Thom, Bradyville, Florida.

Dear Art: Washington gave up three first-round picks and a second for RG III in 2013 because they hoped he’d turn out as good as Watson actually has. So with that uncertainty eliminated any trade starts with the RG III price. I have a hard time seeing Bill giving up that much. However, if Watson’s his QB in 2020, he knows they probably beat Denver, Buffalo the first time and Houston (since he killed them in that one) and maybe Miami the second time. Possibly even KC, as that was a close, winnable game until they were undone by terrible QB mistakes. So if he’s the difference between seven wins and 11 or even 12 in 2020, he’s probably worth all those picks. Especially if you have a lot of money to spend in free agency to get him some weapons. Though his $40 million per cuts into their free agent cash. Unfortunately, Miami for one can offer more immediate help via their own top two picks, having Houston’s top two 2020 picks from a previous trade, to go along with any of their three 2019 first-round picks, including a young QB in Tua Tagovailoa to build around. So while I’d do it, they’ll get outbid.

Dear Dave: I saw Celtics rookie Payton Pritchard play out here while in college and I’m curious what your thoughts are about him. Alex P. Keyton, Pointgard, Oregon.

Dear Alex P: While I’m not reserving Payton’s place in the Hall just yet, I do like his court awareness, hustle and ways he can score – on the break, from deep and off penetration. But what coaches want most is night in and night out consistency. But if he’s consistently still doing all that 50 games in, with Payton manning the second unit, it will be better than expected.

Dear Dave: I’m very worried about the Red Sox. So, to paraphrase Vince Lombardi, what the heck is going on down there?Theo Hiumm, Bloom Is Off The Rose, Texas.

Dear Theo: Well, given the various bargain-hunting, hope-to-catch-lightning-in-a-bottle and stat-geek-directed non-moves from the first-time GM the sickening feeling it’s going to be a five year re-build is starting to creep in. So, since you like paraphrasing, I’ll do one from Bill Clinton: I feel your pain.

Dear Dave: How about the way Tacko Fall played on Friday vs. Washington in his first real NBA minutes? Manderin Maknewt, Bol, Connecticut.

Dear Manderin: I love Tacko’s story and thought from the beginning he could be a 15-minute guy you stick in a zone to take away shots around the rim. I said that after watching him run and from when Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett get anything inside eight feet in the NCAA Tournament. So I knew he was athletic enough and, getting a computer science degree in three years while navigating a second language, smart. What he needs is playing time, which given the logjam of bigs ahead of him will be tough.

By the way, do you pronounce the K, as in Ka-Nute Rockne, or is it silent? I’m going to go with silent K, as in Ma-Noot, until I hear differently.

Dear Dave: What do you make of Bill Belichick being awarded the medal of freedom on Thursday? Robert Abraham, Lincoln, Nebraska.

Dear Bob: Well, since Coach B was friends with Mr. Trump before he became president I understand him wanting to receive that great honor from him. But the timing is bad. I mean, enough people don’t like him already. If this were a month ago, go for it. But after what happened last Wednesday at the Capitol, it will likely come off as a well-earned but sadly tainted tribute.

It’s Jan. 7 and the Patriots are already on vacation. But that’s a problem to discuss another day. Instead we’ll concern ourselves today with some of the more interesting stats, questions and happenings of the regular season just concluded and a look into the NFL playoffs as they get underway this weekend. We’ll start with this: Can someone with an MIT degree in mathematics explain how a guy with league bests in TD passes (48), completion average (70.7 percent) and fewest interceptions thrown (a miniscule five) can be just the seventh-ranked NFL passer, as Aaron Rodgers was?

Stat of the Year: With strong competition from Tennessee freight train and my new favorite player Derrick Henry for having three 200-plus-yard rushing games and gaining 2,027 overall, it goes to Tom Brady. His second best in the NFL 40 TD passes were the second most in his career. How do you do that at 43? The only age-related thing that compares is 13-time 20-game winner Warren Spahn hitting his career high 23 at 42 in 1963.

NFL 101: This may be a little too easy, as if you’ve read about Henry’s exploits the other seven players to rush for 2,000 yards in a season were likely mentioned. But if not, name the other seven to do it.

Much has been made of Miami yanking veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick in favor of rookie Tua Tagovailoa at their bye week. But while Fitz did rescue them in relief vs. Oakland, er, Las Vegas two weeks ago he was 4-3 as the starting QB, while it was 6-3 with Tua. I’d call that a win for his experience going forward.

Not that I’ll be alone on this, but my vote for best game of the year was the one with the absolutely crazy fourth quarter on Monday Night Football a few weeks ago won by Baltimore 42-38 over Cleveland that saw TDs scored on the last three possessions.

But the absolute craziest final play in a major win was seeing Tennessee win the AFC South title with a 41-38 win over Houston as Covid-19-stricken Steve Gostkowski’s desperation replacement Sam Sloman’s about-to-choke 37-yard FG went doink off the upright and over the crossbar for the win. How the Texans allowed A.J. Brown to get the 52-yard reception to put them in position to win after tying the game with just 18 seconds left probably explains how they could finish 4-12 despite having a great QB in Deshaun Watson.

In case you’re wondering: Brown, who had 10 catches for 151 yards and a TD on Sunday, was still on the board when Coach B took N’Keal Harry 32^nd overall pick in the 2019 draft. He had 70 catches for 1,075 yards and 11 TDs in 2020 while for Harry it was 33, 309 and two TDs. Patriots Nation doesn’t want to know the two-year totals. Bill also took JoeJuan Williams, who barely played this year, before Brown went 51^st overall, and 30-catches-for-five-TDs-in-2020 Minnesota tight end Irv Smith Jr. went at 50.

Incidentally, if they expect to go anywhere, the Titans had better fix their D. It’s given up 38 or more points in three of its last five games and the other two were against Jacksonville (10) and Detroit (25).

The biggest blame-it-on-anyone-else crybaby outside of Washington, D.C., this fall was benched Philly QB Carson (wah) Wentz. Word is that he wants to be traded because the relationship between him and the coach who helped him get his mammoth contract is broken. Here’s a novel idea: If you want to play, stop being the worst player on the field.

Speaking of ingratitude, after he was cracking on the Pats’ loss to Miami a few weeks back someone should remind Kyle Van Noy that Bill and the defensive coaches saved his career after he was a second-round bust with Detroit, which directly led to last winter’s big payday.

Ditto for the ever barking Asante Samuel. I might listen to him if he hadn’t dropped that sure pick on the final drive to blow the 2007 SB vs. the Giants and the undefeated season. And they still give Bill Buckner grief.

The biggest nitwit was ex-Washington QB Dwayne Haskins, whose unmasked strip club jaunt got him cut to cost him about $2.5 million in guaranteed money. Hope the trip was worth it.

Tough call picking the MVP. My top three are Pat Mahomes, Josh Allen and Rodgers. But, in throwing for those 48 TDs, I pick the old guy because in leading the Pack to 13 wins he did more with less.

Easy call: Baker Mayfield repeatedly going through the Cleveland stadium metal detectors after leaving something in the locker room as the year’s best commercial. He also gets best player/actor in any NFL commercial since Peyton Manning.

NFL 101 Answer: Members of the 2,000 rushing yards in a season club, from when it was first accomplished to most recently, are OJ Simpson (2,003 in 1973), Eric Dickerson (2,105 in 1984), Barry Sanders (2,053 in 1997), Terrell Davis (2,008 in 1998), Jamal Lewis (2,066 in 2003), Chris Johnson (2,006 in 2009) and Adrian Peterson (2,097 in 2012). Simpson is the only one to do it in a 14-game season and it also should be noted that if Jim Brown had hit his 133 yards per game from his 1,863 in a 14-game season over 16 games, he’d have run for a best-ever 2,129.

Predictions for this Week: NFC – New Orleans over Chicago, Tampa Bay downs Washington, Seattle beats L.A. AFC – Buffalo over Indy, Browns beat Pittsburgh. Even though I’m rooting for Henry, Mike Vrabel and Malcolm Butler – Baltimore over Tennessee in the best game of Round 1.

Finally, nice job by the Dodger and the brass for beating the odds to pull the season off in a high-contact sport with nothing seriously bad happening. Well done.

With the year coming to a close, it’s time for the Hippo Sports unorthodox awards that annually focus on things big and small that no one else does.

Beat the Expectations: Tom Brady. I was not one of the many who thought he’d take the magic with him to Tampa Bay without missing a beat, as I’ve never seen a guy who looked old at 42 get better at 43. At least until now, because after initial acclimation issues, TB has already thrown for the third-most TD passes of his career and his team is playoff-bound with the offense hitting its stride. My one caveat to predicting another year of decline was saying it’s probably dumb to bet against TB-12. And it was.

Comeback Player: You could see Brady here for just-mentioned reasons, Ditto for LeBron after winning the title in Year 2 after his first year in L.A. was a disaster. However, both pale to what Alex Smith did by getting back on the field to play solidly after nearly losing his leg to a gruesome break 18 months earlier. But he’s just my runner-up to one-time Sox reliever Daniel Bard for making it back to the majors for the first time since 2014, when after finally solving his baffling control issues he struck out 27 in 24.1 innings while compiling a 3.67 ERA.

Didn’t Live Up To Expectations: L.A. Clippers. With their blockbuster trade for Paul George that helped reel in free agent Kawhi Leonard, expectations were through the roof. That they didn’t win was a fan letdown, but they earn the award for gagging away a 3-1 lead to Denver to prevent what every NBA fan wanted to see — a battle for L.A. Western Conference Final.

Dumbest Set of Expectations: While every person on local sports talk radio and the Football Night in America and Monday Night Football brass are in the conversation, it goes to Patriots Nation for its sense of entitlement assuming the Pats would be in the playoffs because they’re the Pats, despite losing seven key defensive players and their all-world QB. Particularly galling was how little appreciation was shown by the “what have you done for me lately” crowd during their first bad year after two decades of astonishing success.

Biggest Mistake – Player: Technically it was 2019, but since the suspension continued into this year, it goes to Cleveland DE Myles Garrett. He gets itfor being the first NFL player to conk someone on their head with their helmet since Raiders linebacker Matt Millen did it to Pats GM Pat Sullivan after New England upset Oakland in the 1985 playoffs. In this case the victim was Pittsburgh QB Mason Rudolph and it got Myles suspended until his 2020 reprieve.

Biggest Mistake – Coaching: This one wasn’t just the 2020 winner, it’s in the top three of all time along with Seattle passing instead of giving it to Marshawn Lynch from the one in SB 49, and Grady Little sticking with Pedro after the Jeter and Matsui doubles in 2003. It’s Kevin Cash yanking Blake Snell in the sixth despite his having allowed one measly hit and striking out 10 hapless Dodgers batters because the analytics said to. All that did was blow the World Series by opening the door to L.A.’s three-run rally and its 3-1 Game 6 win.

The New Boston Award: After winning NBA and MLB titles within days and in position to repeat, while having a pretty good football team playing in the planet’s sports mecca, it’s looking like Los Angeles this year will wrest away the title that has resided in Boston since 2001.

Biggest Name On The Hot Seat: With the Sox brass having fired GM’s twice within two years of winning a World Series since 2015, you’d think after last year’s unmitigated disaster it would be Chaim Bloom. But that was Year 1 and he got a pass. So after seeing him do what all in-trouble football coaches do, I’ll take Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh. That would be scapegoating someone else to bring the heat down on him, as he just did by firing one-time Plymouth State Coach Don Brown as Defensive Coordinator.

Sports Executive of the Year: Andrew Friedman basically had the same job Bloom has in Boston now when he arrived in L.A.: extract the Dodgers from the payroll mess caused by taking on three giant contracts from Boston in 2012. Then build a farm system to regularly produce high-end talent to have enough surplus talent available and the payroll low enough to pounce when a difference-making talent like Mookie Betts came on the market. Mission accomplished. All done while winning seven straight division titles, going to three series and being in position to keep doing the same.

Toughest Thing To See: The Mookie Betts trade. History eventually may show it was the right thing to do, but it was tough seeing my favorite Red Sox player ever lead L.A. to win the World Series immediately after being traded away from Fenway.

Best Thing To See – Misery Upon Others Department: Seeing Cash and Tampa Bay demonstrate to the baseball world in the worst and most painful possible way that analytics are simply a tool to be used in decision-making and not the gospel so many self-important stat geeks make them out to be.

Most Valuable Player: LeBron James, and not just by, as Brady did it, showing he’s still the best while leading the Lakers to Title No. 17 with a performance that kept Father Time on the sidelines, but also for his executive-of-the-year level move to (unethically) maneuver around tampering rules to be the catalyst behind Anthony Davis wanting out in New Orlean, which led to his trade to benefit LBJ in L.A.

Biggest Hope For The New Year: That things will get back to normal sooner than later.

Happy and safe new year to all.