Super Bowl LIV

Five Reasons Super Bowl LIV Mashup

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The Five Reasons Super Bowl LIV mashup brings you news and notes from all angles of the big game.

Super Bowl LIV in Miami was another huge win for the Magic City.

The eleventh Super Bowl played in Miami was one for the ages when the dust settled.

Perfect weather greeted fans at a Hard Rock Stadium venue equipped to the nines for the event.

A showcase of all that is good in Miami and the surrounding areas.

The action on the field was supplemented by a lot of interesting content off it.

Kansas City and San Francisco gave the 100th NFL season a worthy ending.

Fox broadcasted the game with  Joe Buck on commentary and Troy Aikman with analysis.

They went with a new graphics package for the broadcast which was underwhelming.

 

Erin Andrews covered the 49ers sideline with Chris Myers on the Kansas City side.

Fox had a nice pre-game show sponsored by YouTube, with Devi Lovato singing a powerful national anthem.

 

World War II veterans, each at least 100 years old, were on the field for the coin toss adding a nice patriotic element.

San Francisco won the toss and deferred to the second half.

A bold vote of confidence for their defense giving Patrick Mahomes first opportunity to make an impact.

It paid off as Mahomes threw two incompletions and the Chiefs went three-and-out.

San Francisco’s offense rewarded their defense as they quickly flipped field position thanks to the dynamic Deebo Samuel.

 

Kansas City’s defense tightened up when the 49ers hit the red zone, holding them to a field goal.

Robbie Gould opened the scoring to make it 3-0 with 7:57 left in the first quarter.

Joe and Troy are old reliable, if you have watched a NFC game on Fox they kind of just blend in.

Matriculating the broadcast along if you will.

Fox does a good job of keeping things moving with a lot of statistical nuggets in between plays.

Commercial Controversy

The first cringe moment of the broadcast came with a polarizing commercial, care of the Commander in Chief.

 

I’ll just leave that alone for now.

The spot for Marvel’s Black Widow though.

 

A tentative first quarter culminated with a Kansas City touchdown drive for a 7-3 Chiefs lead.

 

Mahomes settled down after a shaky opening stanza with a nice drive, feeding Travis Kelce along the way.

He took a big hit and that seemed to wake up his teammates on offense.

Any joy that was experienced by a Dolphins fan watching the action heat up quickly turned to nausea during the next commercial break.

 

The Hard Rock Hotel went all out in their second quarter ad.

 

Back on the field the play heated up as San Francisco put together their best drive of the game to that point.

 

Jimmy Garoppolo would respond after an interception on the previous drive to lead San Francisco to tie it up at 10 apiece.

 

Both teams found their rhythm offensively in a quickly moving second quarter. Few penalties were called overall in the first half and the game settled into a nice groove in the second 15 minutes.

At the two minute warning, things got a little emotional during the commercial break.

 

A game which many thought would be close was exactly that as the score would remain tied going into halftime.

#PepsiHalftime

 

 

Well folks, we have our meme from Super Bowl LIV.

 

Whether you are a fan of Shakira or Jennifer Lopez, they definitely brought the energy for Pepsi Halftime.

 

JJ liked it.

 

If you came here for in depth analysis of the Pepsi Halftime Show, you came to the right place.

 

 

 

49ers Seize Second Half

Deebo Samuel was the star of the first half for San Francisco and he picked up right where he left off after halftime.

The 49ers would take the second half kickoff and drive right into Kansas City territory, adding a field goal for a 13-10 lead.

 

San Francisco would seize momentum with authority in the third quarter, completely shutting down the Chiefs offense.

Patrick Mahomes looked rattled for much of the game and threw his second pick with the 49ers leading 20-10 halfway through the fourth.

It started to seem like San Francisco was on their way to their sixth Lombardi Trophy.

 

The 49ers defense seemed to have an answer every time the Chiefs would get any kind of momentum on offense.

Jimmy Garoppolo was outplaying Patrick Mahomes.

Read that again.

It was an unconventional game at times, and not the best played in terms of execution.

Mahomes Fights Back

Mahomes picked a bad time to have a lackluster game by his standards.

Yet he, nor his team, did not quit.

Mahomes finally picked it up as the fourth quarter rolled on.

First a 44-yard completion to Tyreek Hill for the longest play of the game.

 

Then Mahomes hit Travis Kelce for a touchdown and Kansas City trailed 20-17 with just over six minutes left.

The Chiefs defense would force their first three-and-out of the game to give Mahomes the ball back with a chance to tie it up.

Or perhaps win it.

 

Damian Williams got to score a meaningful touchdown in Miami.

(He wasn’t done).

Kansas took a 24-20 lead as Mahomes went 5-of-5 for 60 yards and that score on the drive.

Mahomes completely flipped the narrative on his performance in one possession.

Jimmy G would get a chance to lead the 49ers back, and just missed Emanuel Sanders on a third down bomb.

Kansas City’s defense would bring heavy pressure on fourth down and Frank Clark would sack Garoppolo.

With all three timeouts and over a minute left, there was still hope for the 49ers.

Until it was dashed.

 

The final score was 31-20 Kansas City, with the Chiefs scoring 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

Super Bowl LIV was an unbelievably exciting end to the NFL season, a showcase of two tremendously talented teams.

By all accounts, Hard Rock Stadium and the Miami area hit this one out of the park.

Stephen Ross and the Dolphins organization deserve tremendous credit.

Hopefully the 12th Super Bowl for Miami in the not-too-distant future will live up to this LIV.

 

Best highlights from first half of Super Bowl LIV: 10-10

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With the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers tied during the Super Bowl, our own Chris Kouffman was there to take it all in and help us break down the action. With so much going on, It was hard to pick his best tweets. Here are some of his more notable ones in what should be a fun rest of the evening.

 

Five Reasons Sports Super Bowl LIV Predictions

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We know everything.

But we know nothing.

Here are some of the predictions from the Five Reasons Sports Network team, for Super Bowl LIV between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs at Hard Rock Stadium.

Most of us like the Chiefs, and Andy Reid.

Want to bet against us?

Go to BetDSI.com and use the promo code FIVE101

(Follow @EthanJSkolnick, @CraigDavisRuns, @CKParrot and @5ReasonsSports for coverage from the scene).

….

David Friedman SF 30 KC 23

Jake Elman KC 27 SF 17

Ethan Skolnick KC 34 SF 24

Austin Robilliard KC 30 SF 23

David Hondal KC 31 SF 21

Josh Houtz KC 31 SF 27

David Eversole KC 28 SF 24

Luis Sung KC 34 SF 20

Eddie Santana SF 24 KC 14

Alfredo Arteaga KC 27 SF 24

Paul Austria KC 31 SF 23

Michael Sonbeek KC 41 SF 38

Craig Davis SF 34 KC 27

Danny Jaillet SF 31 KC 24

Chris Kouffman KC 28 SF 25

Jazz Santana KC 34 SF 29…

Miami Hurricanes

Miami Hurricanes: Program expected to name Rob Likens as WR coach

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The Miami Hurricanes are going to get a new wide receivers coach. Rob Likens is expected to be named the new wide receivers coach.

The past two seasons, he has been the offensive coordinator at Arizona State. The role of wide receivers coach is not something new for him. He has also served the role at Arizona State and Temple. Arizona State was second in the entire PAC-12 in points last year. The program was also second in first down conversions with 233. Tied with three other teams, Arizona State had a 91% red zone conversion percentage.

Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels ranked fifth in the conference with 245.3 yards per game. Running back  Eno Benjamin also performed well last year. Rushing for 90.3 yards per contest, that ranked him third overall in the conference.

Likens brings experience to Miami Hurricanes

Likens certainly brings with him a bevy of experience to Miami. The Pac-12 as a conference is very fast-paced.  Miami could definitely use that type of offense. The conversion numbers and the amount of points scored by Arizona State is also a positive trend for Likens. Although he will be dealing with entirely different personnel, it bodes well for a Miami Hurricanes team that has reloaded this offseason.

It will be interesting to see if the Miami Hurricanes offense will have a Pac-12 feel to it. They certainly need to improve in many areas. They are taking steps to improve and are heading in the right direction. Just a look at the fact that the D’Eriq King is coming to the program. That says something right there.

The program has been rebuilt in what feels like a matter of weeks. The turnaround has been quite impressive. Now, we’ll have to see if all the pieces are able to form a fluid, cohesive unit on the field next season.

Panthers Lose Ugly Game, Barkov to Start Second Half

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The Florida Panthers managed to lose ugly to start the second half, 4-0 Saturday at Montreal.

It was the first time this season the Panthers have been shut out.

A poor start by Florida got worse quickly with an injury to Sasha Barkov.

 

 

Early prognosis on Barkov’s apparent lower body injury is positive

Momentum from the first half of the year quickly disintegrated as Florida fell behind just over five minutes in.

Montreal would never look back.

 

The dynamic Panther power play was shut out in six attempts, despite 14 shots on goal with the man advantage.

Florida lacked energy and focus earlier as Montreal did all the little things right, winning battles on the boards and in front of both goals.

Jeff Petry had an assist on all four tallies for the Canadiens and Montreal won the face off battle 37-20, a huge disparity leading to puck possession.

Montreal goalie Carey Price stopped all 29 shots for his 47th career shutout, third in Canadiens history.

Sergei Bobrovsky was not the problem despite allowing four goals, he stood on his head to keep Florida in it early.

Bobrovsky stopped 31 shots overall, including 15 of 16 sent his way in a rough first period for the team.

His play in net kept the Panthers within range for the first half of the game until it got away in the second period.

Montreal was able to convert on 1-of-2 power plays and controlled the game from the onset.

Florida now sits at 28-17-5 and are tied with Toronto with 61 points.

The two meet Monday in a pivotal Atlantic Division game as both fight for playoff position.

 

 

Yung Mayo

Miami Dolphins: Zach Thomas snubbed for Hall of Fame

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The Miami Dolphins great will have to wait another year.

The big day arrived for former Miami Dolphins great Zach Thomas. Saturday was the day that he would find out if he would be selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The anticipation was building, with many legends chiming in and making the case for Thomas to be selected.

He certainly has an impressive resume. A seven-time Pro Bowl selection, AFC Defensive Rookie of the Year honors and five first-team All-Pro selections are just some of the things he can hang his helmet on. In addition, he made the NFL 2000’s All-Decade team.

Unfortunately, Thomas did not make it. failing to be selected. Now, the hope is that he will have a shot in 2021. But it will only get tougher…

Among the first year candidates next season:

Automatic selections Peyton Manning, Charles Woodson and Calvin Johnson.

 

The Miami Dolphoins legend should be part of class

This is extremely unfortunate that Thomas is not going to be a part of the 2020 class. He gets very little credit nationally. Unfortunately, I think it’s partly due to the fact that he played for the Miami Dolphins. The Miami Dolphins have not really been in the national media spotlight over the last decade or so.

Thomas was an extremely consistent player throughout his entire career. He played in 184 total games, starting 182 of them. He played in all 16 games five times in his career. Especially for the way he played, that is certainly impressive due to his physicality.

The Texas Tech product was also a player that could do more than just tackling and sacking the quarterback. He recorded 17 interceptions throughout his career. Nowadays, that number is difficult for a linebacker to obtain.

Brian  Urlacher has comparable statistics, and he was able to earn a spot in Canton. Thomas should have been there as well.

It’s disappointing that he was not a part of this year’s Pro football Hall of Fame class. Hopefully next year will be the year that Thomas makes it. He certainly deserves the honor.

Ryan Tannehill came back from…. Adam Gase?

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This is somewhat confusing.

It’s never been entirely clear what a Comeback Player of the Year is in major sports. Come back from what? Drugs? Tragedy? Incompetence of a team’s management?

This is one reason why the NBA changed the award to Most Improved Player a few years back.

So it’s tough to know what to make of now-Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill winning the award at NFL Honors on Saturday in Miami, during Super Bowl LIV week.

Tannehill, after all, was never terrible.

He hasn’t endured a tragedy.

He has had two significant injuries, yes, but nothing that was considered career-threatening.

So can we say that what he came back from was…. playing for the Miami Dolphins under Joe Philbin and Adam Gase?

Either way, Tannehill did have a solid season. Better than solid. Aided by an elite offensive line and bruising runner (Derrick Henry), a combination he never really had in Miami — 2016 with Jay Ayaji was closest — Tannehill did more than game manage. He led the league in some categories after taking over from Marcus Mariota. And he didn’t mess up as Henry carried the load and the Titans to the AFC Championship Game before they were exposed against Kansas City.

Still, Comeback Player of the Year?

Seems a stretch — just as it’s a stretch to expect Tannehill to be a top-5 quarterback next season.

Florida Panthers Look to Carry Momentum Into Second Half

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The Florida Panthers hope to keep the momentum going into the second half of the season.

Florida has five games in seven nights to open the second half, with three on the road to start.

With six straight wins entering the NHL All-Star break, the Panthers are the hottest team in the NHL along with Columbus.

Sergei Bobrovsky has three of those victories and for him at least the layoff was a good thing in terms of health.

Now as an important stretch approaches, the Panthers travel to the hockey mecca in Montreal to kick off the second half.

From Have Nots to Habs Again?

Montreal on the other hand has been on a roller coaster ride since late December as they lost eight straight going into the new year.

The Habs turned it around a bit before the break with wins in four of six following that losing skid.

Ageless Cary Price (21-17-0, 2.80 GAA, .909 SV %) still mans the net in Montreal. Price has won four out of his last five starts.

Left winger Tomas Tatar leads Montreal with 46 points (18 goals, 28 assists) and the Canadiens get solid scoring across multiple lines.

Montreal has seven players with at least 11 goals, including the dangerous Shea Weber from the blue line. Weber has the hardest slap shot in the NHL from the point, Florida must be aware of him especially on the power play.

The Canadiens are a middle of the pack team that doesn’t stand out in one particular phase, Florida has the better talent overall but cannot overlook anyone.

Florida’s key advantage is their 5th ranked power play versus the 23rd ranked penalty kill of Montreal. If the Cats get the man advantage they need to capitalize.

Playing in Montreal is always tough, Head Coach Joel Quenneville will certainly have the team motivated out of the break.

 

Excitement is building around the Panthers as they surged to end the first half. After starting many seasons past slowly, those early points will certainly help their playoff push.

Bobrovsky should be energized after the hiatus, if the defense can take the next step it will give the Panthers the balance they need to contend with the upper echelon of the NHL.

After Montreal the Cats will travel to face the high flying Columbus Blue Jackets on Super Bowl Sunday.

Miami Heat: Tyler Herro, Kendrick Nunn selected for Rising Stars Game

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Two more members of the Miami Heat are set to take part in All-Star weekend. Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn will be participating in the NBA Rising Stars Game.

Both Herro and Nunn will be on the USA team. Herro is averaging 13.1 points per game to go along with two assists and 4.2 rebounds. Nunn has recorded 16.2 points per game, 3.5 assists, and 2.8 rebounds.

Both players have been a huge part of the young foundation the Miami Heat are trying to build. Together they have shown promise as the season has progressed, and it will be imperative that they build off their progress in the second half.

For the Miami Heat, this will be a star-studded affair. The addition of Herro and Nunn now makes it four representatives for the Miami Heat in Chicago. This will give people a chance to see exactly what has made the Miami Heat so effective during the first half of the season.

Nunn was extremely excited about being selected to the game, posting his feelings on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7_qvfnARe3/

Miami Heat have been here before.

This is the first time a Heat player has been selected to this game since Norris Cole in 2012. Cole recorded 18 points on seven-of-15 shooting in the event and 4-11 from beyond the arc. He also made plays for others, recording six assists and four steals.

Both Nunn and Herro will be heavily relied upon in the second half of the season as the Heat look to make a playoff run. Given the track record of most first-year players, it will be interesting to see if they hit the “rookie wall.” Alternatively, both are talented enough for sustained production the rest of the way. The Heat are going to need them to continue to play at a high level.

Super Bowl party and event schedule

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