It’s hard to let go.

This is the first weekend without NFL football until August, and yes, while we will have the XFL to distract us beginning this weekend, it likely won’t fill the bill.

Either way, we have a few thoughts on the season that was and the off-season that will be:

Illness prevented a Super Bowl pick here, but it certainly looked like the Chiefs were going to get the nod. And the reason Kansas City won the Super Bowl and even got there was simple: It was the Chiefs’ time. Pat Mahomes is a championship quarterback, and who knows whether he’ll win another one. His Chiefs didn’t make it last year because their defense wasn’t nearl good enough; they made it and won it this year because it was just good enough. That, plus the good health he had the final half of the season, put Mahomes and the Chiefs over the top. Will they stay there? Way too soon to tell.

—–What happened to the Patriots? A simple combination of no recent impact players via the draft, no playmakers on offense, injuries that depleted the blocking in the run game and a lack of speed as the team got older. In the NFL, it’s never one thing, it’s always a combination of things.

But to really narrow it down, they got older and slower. It happens.

— What to expect from the XFL this weekend? There will be a lot of different rules, including no extra point kicks but plays from scrimmage from the 2 (one point), 5 (two points) or 10-yard-lines (three points). There will reportedly be a lot of audio, including play calls, referee discussions, etc. Games should be under three hours, as the clock won’t stop for incompletions and there will be a 25, not 40, second play clock running once the ball is spotted. For TV, games this weekend are 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. both today and Sunday, on ABC, FOX or ESPN.

Recognizeable coaches names: Bob Stoops (Dallas), Kevin Gilbride (New York), June Jones (Houston), Marc Trestman (Tampa) and Jim Zorn (Seattle).

Will it all satisfy our football fix? We’ll see. Incidentally, the XFL Commissioner is Oliver Luck – the father of recently retired Colts quarterback Andrew Luck.

— Former Patriots special teams coach Joe Judge is now the head man on the sidelines for the New York Giants, and believe us when we tell you, Judge makes Bill Belichick sound like the late Don Rickles. In any TV appearance since being named, we have yet to see the guy smile. The Giants players are likely in for a rude awakening with Judge’s no-nonsense approach, that’s for sure.

— Quarterbacks usually get the Super Bowl MVP nod as well as the Heisman Trophy, fair or not. Three years ago we thought running back James White should have been named the MVP of the Patriots Super Bowl win over Atlanta. And last Sunday night, you certainly could have argued that Chiefs back Damien Williams deserved the award, with 104 yards rushing, a rushing TD as well as a receiving TD.

And now, for the dramatic off-season…

PLAYOFFS: 5-3

REGULAR SEASON: 75-45

OVERALL: 80-48

Tom King may be reached at 594-1251 or tking@nashuatelegraph.com. Also, follow King on Twitter (@Telegraph_TomK).

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