Conor and Jenny go beyond the obvious Super Bowl LV headline and discuss the Chiefs' vulnerabilities, huge QB shifts, recap the NFC and AFC championship games, and much more.
The Super Bowl LV matchup is set, and if you are already tired of the Old Goat–Baby Goat story line, Conor is here for you. This week on The Weak-Side Podcast, Conor and Jenny also discussed ...
- The potential ramifications of Matt LaFleur's decision to kick the FG instead of giving Aaron Rodgers another chance to score a TD.
- Why opponents must be aggressive to beat the Chiefs, and whether the Bucs are up to the task.
- Other Super Bowl story lines to satisfy those who are already over hearing about Brady vs Mahomes.
- What could be an unprecedented offseason of quarterbacks on the move, with Matthew Stafford, Deshaun Watson and Aaron Rodgers all potentially playing in different uniforms next season, and if this is a new era of NFL player empowerment.
- Why the NFL needs to change its rules this offseason to delay the head coach hiring season for all teams until after the Super Bowl.
The following transcript is an excerpt from The Weak-Side Podcast. Listen to the full episode on podcast players everywhere or on SI.com.
Jenny Vrentas: Topic No. 3, this brings us to the game itself. Tampa Bay versus the Chiefs. Red team versus red team, old coach versus old coach, one quarterback on the tail end of his legacy versus his baby-faced replacement. To be honest, there were about 30 Super Bowls you'd rather see, but here we are. What say you about this?
Conor Orr: I don't know, there's probably clips of me saying this every year for the last three years. I'm not excited about this Super Bowl. I'm just not.
JV: Conor!
CO: I can't get swept up in the bad ... "Oh, it's Tom Brady passing the torch" or whatever, you know? And that's what it's going to be. I don't want to see him win, and I don't want to see the Chiefs win. I'm kind of rooting for like this endless tie thing. It's just not exciting. The Chiefs are a very exciting brand of football. The Buccaneers look kind of like the Patriots. It's not as exciting of a brand of football. I wanted a different team. I wanted a Bills-Packers Super Bowl. I'm not going to lie to you.
JV: Bills-Packers would have been [very] intriguing. Conor, if there were ever a Super Bowl that would be an endless loop, yielding no conclusion, then I would say this would be the year for it. 2020 has seemed like an endless loop, no conclusion, don't really seem to be getting closer to anything. I will say, I think it is interesting to juxtapose the two quarterbacks on this stage, and I think there will be a longevity to what this Super Bowl represents that could be pretty special. But, for those who do not like that narrative (Conor among them), Gary Gramling on the Monday-morning podcast offered a different lead narrative. He said the biggest story line of this game will be the Chiefs being without Mitchell Schwartz and Eric Fisher, who had an Achilles injury, and how that Chiefs' line holds up against the Bucs’ pass rush. And Gary likened it to the Brady versus the Giants front matchups, just reversed. Interesting comparison.
CO: That's a very Gary, esoteric sort of way of looking at the Super Bowl. And I wish we could all look at the Super Bowl that way.
JV: Yeah, well maybe you can, Conor. This is your opportunity for those who don't want to listen to only the Brady-Mahomes story lines. You have the option. You can focus on the offensive line, the game within the game, in the trenches. That's your focal point.
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