Everyone’s most anticipated matchup is here!

Well, it’s here. The moment we’ve all been waiting for. The culmination of months of football action, the biggest sporting event of the year in the United States of America, a game so big that it almost feels like a national holiday at this point. Super Bowl LIX is upon us and…of course it’s the Chiefs and the Eagles.

My own personal least anticipated matchup at the beginning of the postseason has come to fruition and while I am unsurprised, I’m not enthralled either. Speaking both with people in real life and seeing the reactions of others in the online sphere, it seems I’m not alone in this feeling.

The Chiefs-fatigue set in heavily this year for many. Claims of referee favoritism reached an all-time high, so much so that even announcers during games felt the need to address it on air, and while I myself fail to see what could really be gained by “rigging” the Chiefs to win (a clearly unpopular move to the public) I will note that Kansas City has benefited greatly from 5050 calls going their way in important moments during their campaign for a third straight Super Bowl. Perhaps I had my Bills-empathy goggles on two weekends ago, but boy did it sure look like Josh Allen reached that first down marker.

But as potentially frustrating as those calls can be to an ever growing group of Chiefs-haters, they don’t bother nearly as much as just watching the rest of a Kansas City game. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a 152 team that was more…boring to watch. The explosiveness of prior offenses helmed by Patrick Mahomes was largely absent this season, with middling offensive performances placing the Chiefs squarely in the middle of the league in total yards and points scored. While the Kansas City quarterback would occasionally make some of the draw dropping plays he’s become well known for, they felt far and few between this season, and in many games he often felt like he held the dreaded title of “game manager” rather than “playmaker.” A solid defense made up for a slower offense, but the Chiefs were also in the middle of the pack when it comes to the most exciting part of defense, takeaways, so even on their more dominant side of the ball, Kansas City often failed to fill up the highlight reel.

Still, you can’t deny that the Chiefs know how to win. Somehow, some way, they find a way to do it and I think it is that feeling of inevitability to their games this season that sucked out the last bit of enjoyment I could really glean from watching. I’m definitely one who likes seeing the underdog succeed, but I try to not let that cloud my judgement…however, in this case, I think the overall product on the field just cannot outweigh the feeling of “ehhhhh” I get when thinking about this team potentially going for a three-peat.

As for Philadelphia…well, the Eagles are an interesting team. After a dominant season two years ago, they completely imploded in the second half of last season. Then, suddenly, they returned as one of the best teams in the league this year. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio completely turned around the team on his side of the ball and seemingly is a big reason as to why the Eagles are back in the Super Bowl.

That being said, there’s just something about Philadelphia that is generally unwelcoming for fans of other teams to root for them; maybe it’s the shade of green, maybe it’s their fanbase, but whatever it is, nobody really seemed to want them here either. And while the Eagles have been more interesting to watch this year than Kansas City, I’d say they were my least anticipated team to come out of the NFC.

All that being said, seeing what Saquon Barkley could do when put on an actually competent football team has been one of the more exciting aspects of this season. Honestly, watching to see what he does in the biggest game of his career may be my only reason for really tuning in this year, another opinion that seems held by a good portion of the general public.

I don’t know, maybe I’m just getting old and jaded, but I feel like the whole event has begun to lose some of its allure. Things seemed more exciting when Santonio Holmes was catching touchdowns in the back of the end zone in 2009 or Malcolm Butler was picking off Russel Wilson on what might be one of the worst play calls in Super Bowl history. Maybe the commercials were always shoulder-shrug worthy, maybe the halftime shows were always just fine, not spectacular, and the novelty of the whole thing to me was elevating them.

Or maybe I’m just sick of Kansas City being there every year…that could have something to do with it as well. Who knows? Either way, I don’t feel particularly beholden to watch this year, and if I were to ever skip a Super Bowl, maybe this would be the one.

A C ERTAIN POINT OF V IEW

BY

NATHANIEL U NDERWOOD REPORTER