We’ve finally made it to the end of the 2020 NFL road. This season, as much as any I can remember, was filled with wild story lines, crazy outcomes and good football.

Ex-Steelers, Raiders and Patriots wide receiver Antonio Brown has played for more teams in the last year than Tom Brady has in his entire career! Brown’s repeated absurdities, while sometimes entertaining from afar, are actually troubling.

The NFL has a mental health problem on its hands, whether fair or not, and veteran players seemingly losing control of their faculties in real time, while on active NFL rosters, is not a great image for the league.

The league has come a long way on other fronts. Four of the final eight quarterbacks playing this season were African Americans. Just 20 short years ago that statistical nugget was a complete fantasy. Being a black quarterback is no longer seen as out of the ordinary. That’s progress. NFL coaching staffs should take note.

The NFL is a quarterback-driven league and football fans should be thrilled that so many young passers have stepped to the forefront of the league’s marketing machine.

Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers can’t play forever after all. With young stars like Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Deshaun Watson joining established players like Russell Wilson and Mitchell Trubisky, the league is in wonderful shape.

That was a joke. Trubisky is actually awful and the Bears are doomed.

49ers vs CHIEFS -1.5

What an exciting matchup for this year’s Super Bowl. The 49ers had the best defense in the NFL all season long. Frisco’s pass rush, led by Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead, and DeForest Buckner, has terrified opposing QBs for over 16 weeks.

Ex-Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, one of my all-time favorite players, has led a strong 49ers secondary. This San Francisco defense is legitimately terrifying.

The Niners offense does their share of the work as well. Quaterback Jimmy Garappolo is wildly overrated but he’s made to look adequate by a strong supporting cast.

Without doing much research, I feel confident in saying this game is a top three tight end matchup in Super Bowl history. The 49ers’ George Kittle is a beast! It will be interesting to see if Kansas City’s Travis Kelce can match or exceed Kittle’s production.

Speaking of Kansas City. One name to remember, in case it was possible to forget, Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes is next level.

He’s like the old John Elway Tecmo Bowl video game where you could just run go routes and bomb away with Elway for touchdowns every single play.

Mahomes is like a video game and his favorite target is the 99-speed rated Tyreek Hill. It’s not fair. The Chiefs have absolute burners all over the field and if there is one thing that gives the great Richard Sherman trouble, it’s speed guys.

It’s a tough game to pick. I think the 49ers have the better overall team, they were the best team, in the best division, within the best conference all season. That counts for something, but it just feels like the NFL torch is getting passed from the Brady and Brees to Patrick Mahomes. It’s Mahomes league now. Chiefs win 35-31

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By NOLAN ROSE

For the Clarion

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