Debate where they stand in the pantheon of football excellence.
Is Patrick Mahomes the best quarterback the game has ever seen?
And yet, the Super Bowl is a perennial letdown.
Patrick Mahomes celebrating the Chiefs' victory over the 49ers in last year’s Super Bowl.Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images
Especially where dynasties are concerned.
Lets go back to the 1980s.
Youre me Jeffrey Pearlman, spending your early teens at 8 Emerald Lane in Mahopac, New York.
So you order a 48-inch hoagie from Rodaks Deli.
You pick out six or seven two-liter bottles of that (normally) forbidden liquid, soda.
Then the game starts, and your pals leave midway through the third quarter.
Because, once again, it blows.
It felt like we were witnessing a run that sports history would never forget.
These were epic figures having their legends cast in bronze before us.
The 49ers dynasty led to the Cowboys dynasty.
The Cowboys dynasty led to the Patriots dynasty.
Yet what was once novel and football-redeeming has turned dull and unimaginative.
At the start of the playoffs, we were presented with a string of enticing, never-before-witnessed potential matchups.
This isnt the 1980s, where a small handful of franchises dominated, and the rest were liquid crap.
The 2024 Lions won a league-high 15 games.
The Vikings won 14, the Bills 13.
These are elite clubs with dazzling stars and fan bases that travel.
That would have gifted us with a wonderfully fresh and enticing Super Bowl combatant.
Instead, we again have the Chiefs.
There will be trips to Disney World (thats still a thing, right?)
