Super Bowl Debrief: The year belonged to Cooper Kupp – Yahoo Sports

More than any other major sport, the NFL has its legacies defined by championships. So when a Super Bowl is finished, we immediately shift into the legacy mode. Eventually, well need to discuss what the Los Angeles Rams title means for Sean McVay, or Matthew Stafford, or Aaron Donald.

With due respect to those interesting conversations, theyll wait for another day.

This moment, on my clipboard anyway, belongs to Cooper Kupp.

Kupp was the MVP of Super Bowl LVI, catching the go-ahead touchdown with 1:29 left. His fourth-down rush earlier on the drive saved LAs season. Kupp finished the day with eight catches, 92 yards, two scores and that seven-yard run.

Kupps Super Bowl MVP came a few days after his Offensive Player of the Year Award. And if the leagues MVP trophy was more about Most Outstanding Player instead of a treatise on what the word valuable means, Kupp probably wins that too. Kupp bagged the wide receiver triple crown, throwing an absurd 145-1,947-16 line at the league.

Kupps playoff run matches with the best in history. He had 33 catches in the four playoff games, one better than Larry Fitzgeralds run after the 2008 season. Kupps 478 yards only trail the 546 yards Fitzy posted in 2008. The six receiving touchdowns are also one shy of Fitzgerald.

Fitzgeralds 2008 regular season wasnt quite as dominant as Kupps 2021, though Fitzgerald was the WR1 in fantasy that year. He led the league in touchdown catches, finished fourth in catches, ranked second in yards. Its on the shortlist of the greatest wide receiver seasons ever, along with a handful of Jerry Rice seasons.

I know we want to be careful with recency bias as we analyze anything. And Rice isnt just the best receiver Ive ever seen, hes the best football player Ive ever seen.

But Cooper Kupp just had the best season regular-season and playoff performance both considered of all time.

For fantasy, of course, we need to look forward. To follow the Wayne Gretzky maxim, we skate to where the puck is headed, not where its been. Obviously, Kupp has to be projected for some regression in 2022, perhaps a big chunk of it. Hes also a little older than you might realize he turns 29 in June.

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That said, Stafford is still in LA, and I assume McVay is coming back, and the support pieces should be strong. If you want to pick Kupp first overall in your next draft, I wont tell you its wrong. Jonathan Taylor also merits consideration for that spot. Theres no one else Id consider at the top right now. Of course, we have months to change our minds and debate this thing out.

We watched all year and wondered how Kupp could consistently get so wide open. A lot of it speaks to McVays scheming, a lot of it ties to Kupps chemistry with Stafford. And we also have to nod to Kupps route-running skill, improvisation, understanding of space and leverage. And hes also dynamic after the catch, turning short and intermediate gains into game-breaking plays and end-zone visits on a regular basis.

Cooper Kupp showed off his elite talents in the Super Bowl. (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

If the league had a way to solve Kupp, it would have shown up at some point in the last five months. No one found an answer key. Good luck in 2022, defensive coordinators and defensive backs.

Well go speed round with the rest of my Super Bowl quick-hitters and observations:

It was frustrating to see so much referee interference in the final two minutes of Sundays game, after three hours of appreciated hands-off officiating. Not that the Rams winning feels like an artificial result, of course. And you can argue that Tee Higgins got away with multiple fouls on his second touchdown, the long score that opened the second half.

You have to feel for Odell Beckham Jr., who suffered the dreaded non-contact injury in the middle of the second quarter. He already had a touchdown in the bag and perhaps he was headed for the days MVP (he also was likely to smash all of his primary Super Bowl props). Beckhams injury is feared to be a torn ACL; lousy timing entering free agency. Heres hoping he lands on another fun offense (or stays with the Rams, if thats even possible). This tank is far from empty.

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Cam Akers looked sluggish for most of the playoffs, but merely returning to football was a win for the second-year back, given that he tore his Achilles tendon in the summer. Expectations were probably too high for Akers in the playoff season, but as a result, they might be too low when the 2022 draft session opens. The Rams still view him as a featured back, perhaps a true bell cow.

Maybe I missed an injury to Joe Mixon, but I didnt understand why the Bengals looked to Samaje Perine with so many of their critical touches. Let your best players be your best players.

Joe Burrow absorbed nine sacks in the win at Tennessee, and seven more in the Super Bowl, but youd never know by the expression on his face. Hes as unflappable as it gets. The Bengals have the cap resources to fix their offensive line in the offseason, and thats the only thing this offense is missing. Burrows arrow is clearly pointed up; he finished QB8 in his second season, but Ill rank him higher than that next year.

JaMarr Chase had seven rushing attempts in the regular season, then six more in the playoffs. A few of those, of course, were horizontal passes. Id like to see the Bengals get more creative with Chases touches next year; if he doesnt have at least 125 rushing yards in the regular season, somethings gone wrong. Open up the playbook.

Tee Higgins is probably destined to be Robin to Chases Batman for the foreseeable future, but he likely was Sundays MVP had the Bengals won the game. Higgins is still just 23, celebrating a birthday in January. Its unfair to have this kind of WR talent in your No. 2 chair.

If healthy, I could see C.J. Uzomah stepping into the top 12 at tight end next year. Hes got enough receiving and YAC chops to threaten a 680-yard, seven-touchdown kind of season. And Burrow loves throwing quickly and between the numbers on plays when the pass blocking falls apart quickly.

Yes, Id keep kickers in fantasy football. Because its really fun when you stumble onto an Adam Vinatieri, or a Justin Tucker, or an Evan McPherson. Some guys have range out to the parking lot.

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Super Bowl Debrief: The year belonged to Cooper Kupp - Yahoo Sports