1. Who Won Super Bowl Mvp In 2020
2. Super Bowl Mvp Results 2019
3. Super Bowl Mvp Voting Results 2021

The home of NFL Super Bowl news, ticket, apparel & event info. Get Super Bowl Sunday info about the National Football League's annual championship game. Collins had a passer rating for the game of only 7.1, the second worst in Super Bowl history, threw four interceptions (tying a Super Bowl record that has since been surpassed by Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon's five INTs in Super Bowl XXXVII) and completed only 15 of 39 passes for 112 yards. Barber was the Giants' leading rusher with 49 yards. The Super Bowl MVP award went to Tom Brady. It was well deserved, as he tallied 201 yards.

Super Bowl history is filled with unsung heroes who become household names on the sport’s biggest stage. In the buildup to the big game, attention is paid to the superstars, but when the game kicks off, underrated players fill big roles and change the course of football history.

Earlier this week I highlighted six players who could fill that role, diving into the potential secret superstars of Super Bowl LV. But I wanted to take that a bit deeper. Because of the weapons on both offenses in this game, there is potential for two different receivers to have a huge night, and decide who wins this contest.

Here is how Mecole Hardman wins Super Bowl MVP.

Put yourself in the mind of Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles for a moment. You have spent the better part of the past two weeks consumed with how to pressure Patrick Mahomes, and how to slow down Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill. If one of those players goes out and beats you Sunday night, you are going to be kicking yourself come Monday morning.

It is the old Bill Belichick line: “Take away what they do best, and make them fight left-handed.” That is a lot to take away from an offense, but if you accomplish that task, you should be in good shape.

But that leaves Hardman, and Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and Byron Pringle, and the rest of the Kansas City Chiefs weapons on offense.

Here is how Hardman could emerge as the player to change the course of this game, and secure MVP honors.

We have seen before how Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy use Hardman, often as more of an “offensive weapon” than a pure wide receiver. It was Hardman who scored Kansas City’s first points of the AFC Championship game, on this screen play near the goal line with Kelce and Pringle blocking for him:

Hardman also had one of the biggest plays in the entire AFC Championship game, on this 50-yard gain that put the Chiefs in position to take the lead for the first time:

Reid and Bieniemy are so good at outflanking defenses, and this end-around is a prime example. Both quarterback and running back use counter technique here, as Mahomes employs a reverse-pivot from center and running back Darrel Willams uses counter footwork. The impact of that is to hold the linebackers as they work through their keys, allowing the trio of Kelce, left tackle Eric Fisher and center Austin Reiter to get downfield and in position to pave the road for Hardman. To those elements, the receiver adds speed, and it results in a huge gain for the Chiefs.

Kansas City did something similar in their blowout win over the New York Jets back in Week 8. On this play they implement a bit of a fly sweep, with Mahomes simply flipping the ball forward to Hardman. Once again the receiver picks up blocks from players downfield – including a great cut-block in space from Fisher – and then Hardman uses his change-of-direction skills to get into the end zone:

Yet on Sunday night there is also an opportunity for Hardman to be a factor in the downfield passing game, and it is a by-product of all the attention that might be paid to his teammates Kelce and Hill. The other night I was reading a defensive playbook – as I do in my spare time because I am aa completely normal and well-adjusted human being – and I came across how one defensive coordinator teaches his defenders how offensive passing plays are structured. As this coach terms it, many passing plays have three different elements: The “decoy,” the “bait,” and the “live” route.

It might look something like this:

Who Won Super Bowl Mvp In 2020

Super Bowl Mvp Results 2019

The post route, illustrated with the black arrow, is the “decoy” route. It is designed to stress the safeties and pull them downfield. Then the “bait” is the route underneath, highlighted in white. That is designed to draw the attention of the linebackers, baiting them to drive downhill. If that works, then the middle of the field will be open for the intermediate in-breaking route, highlighted in red.

Super Bowl Mvp Voting Results 2021

This play is not a hypothetical exercise, but a play the Chiefs ran against the Los Angeles Chargers earlier this season. Hill runs the deep route, drawing the attention of the Cover-4 deep defenders. Kelce aligns in the backfield and runs the sit route over the football, and the linebacker take the bait. It opens up the middle of the field for the live route, which is as you probably get by now is run by Hardman:

In Super Bowl LV, Todd Bowles is going to be occupied with slowing down Kelce and Hill. That might lead to moments when those two players are perhaps the bait and the decoy, opening up opportunities for other Chiefs offensive players, like we see with Hardman on this play.

And that is how Mecole Hardman wins Super Bowl MVP.