Inside The Hashes Football Q & A with Kris Thomas: Superbowl Eve Edition
Inside The Hashes Football Q & A with Kris Thomas: Superbowl Eve Edition
Are people underestimating the 49er’s Defense?
In a way, yes. The 49ers are legit with a terrorizing front four that doesn’t need to blitz, good linebackers and Richard Sherman leading the charge in the secondary and has continued to add to his amazing postseason resume with back-to-back interceptions against the Vikings and Packers. However, we have seen in battles against Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray and even a lesser extent Lamar Jackson that the 49ers have struggled against young mobile QBs with the ability to play off-script. There’s no better off script QB in the game than Patrick Mahomes and he has a track team at the wide receiver position. The 49ers in 18 games have only allowed over 30 points twice all season but this once this Chiefs offense gets going it's almost impossible to stop. No defense has been able to slow it down the last two years but the Niners have the best chance to do that.
Phillip Rivers era is over for the Chargers. What’s Next?
The Chargers have built a reputation of being cheap when it comes to Free Agency and just to paying players in general. The most likely route they’ll take is drafting QB Justin Herbert from Oregon with their 1st round pick and go from there. That way they can allocate money to sign Joey Bosa, Hunter Henry, Derwin James( a year from now) and either Melvin Gordon or Austin Eckler around. The Chargers have a good roster, but the game shifting over to the younger QBs, it’s time to pull the plug on Rivers and build around the kid from Oregon. Herbert is 6’5 good arm to make throws on all levels and is mobile for his size which is now a needed trait to play the position now. I doubt the Chargers would spend too much of their 51 million in cap space on a position that it makes too much sense to fix in the draft.
Thoughts on Bill O’Brien’s promotion?
If I had it my way, he would have been fired after the 24 points blown lead against Kansas City. I’ve never been a fan of him as a coach and especially now as the man in charge of personnel. The only bright side of all this, is that as a coach you can see firsthand the holes and issues with this team and fix them. With 55 million in cap space and no 1st rounders for the next two years, they need to get creative with fixing an offensive line that still isn’t anything to write home about him and a bad defense. The AFC South and the AFC, in general, will be improved next season and you can’t just keep hanging your hands on Deshaun Watson heroics every week. I don’t think Bill O’Brien is the guy to figure it out but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Any trade Ups you see in the upcoming draft?
If Washington goes Andrew Thomas with the 2nd overall pick, I can Oakland moving up to the 3rd slot to get Chase Young. Right now their at the 7th pick and projected to get one of the top wideouts in the draft, but considering how stacked this draft at the receiver position, they could definitely make a move to get the dominant defensive linemen from Ohio State. They have two first-round picks and Gruden has been fixated on building his team on young talent to mold. Continuing that trend by trading up to get Young makes sense, although I doubt he’ll make it past Washington. Let alone the Lions with a new defensive coordinator passing up on a defensive cornerstone to fix their bad defense.
Time to make your pick! Chiefs or 49ers in Super Bowl 54?
It makes too much sense to pick the 49ers. They’re the most complete team in football. Good on both sides of the trenches, excellent running game and one of the best play-callers in the game in Kyle Shannahan. However, I feel like it's time. Andy Reid will get the long-awaited ring that has eluded him over his 20-year coaching tenure. Mahomes is the best QB he has ever coached, they have speed all over the board, a great tight end and versatile running back group. Their defense isn’t great but is very much improved under the tutelage of Steve Spagnolo. Once the Chiefs offense gets it going it’ll be hard to stop. Even if the Niners get off to a 14-0 start, the Chiefs offense can change the game with 1 or 2 plays. If the Niners lose, it’ll be rough but their core will be back and they’ll make another legitimate run next year. For the Chiefs, this is it for Andy. Next year Mahomes will become the highest-paid QB in NFL history and it’ll become harder to field a great team with one player taking a massive amount of your cap space. The Stars aligned perfectly for the Chiefs this year so I’m taking them in a close one. Going to be a great game.
-By: Kris Thomas
Writer/Interviewer