Jets' Sauce Reveals Personal Super Bowl MVP
Last Sunday the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers to win their third Super Bowl in five years. In doing so, quarterback Patrick Mahomes was voted Super Bowl MVP, likewise for the third time.
Mahomes is the generation’s best quarterback and the defining player of the league’s ongoing dynasty. But when quarterbacks win the award so frequently, it can leave other players unrecognized, despite impactful performances.
New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner took notice, though, taking to social media to reveal who he thought should have won the game’s MVP.
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“This might be a hot take,” Gardner said. “But I think Trent McDuffie should’ve been the Super Bowl MVP. I could be bias because he’s a DB, but that’s my opinion.”
To McDuffie’s credit, he had an incredible game. In coverage, he was targeted seven times, giving up just two catches for nine yards. San Francisco’s best man-coverage-beating receiver, Brandon Aiyuk, was held to three catches and 49 yards. He wasn’t targeted on McDuffie’s watch.
49ers receiver Deebo Samuel – who saw a lot of McDuffie – had a similar lack of success. While covered by McDuffie, Samuel was targeted six times for one nine-yard catch.
The San Francisco offense was the best in the sport for virtually the entire season. Against Kansas City’s defense, it managed its fewest points since Week 8. The 49ers scored a single touchdown in the second half and just a field goal in overtime, collapsing under the weight of an incredible Chiefs defense and the pressures of facing Mahomes.
Frankly, Mahomes was always going to win with his second-half performance – 333 passing yards, 66 rushing yards, two scores, and an interception – and the role he played in leading a comeback and keeping composure in the game’s most intense moments.
Quarterbacks have won 11 Super Bowl MVPs since 2010, while a defensive back hasn’t won it since 2003. Gardner is right, McDuffie played well. He would have been a deserving candidate if it hadn’t been for a generational talent.
If Gardner wants to make sure a cornerback wins the award, he may just have to do it himself.
