What the Kansas City Chiefs' Win Means for Your Bar Preparation
If you were one of the estimated 115 million viewers last night, you watched the Kansas City Chiefs win its second Super Bowl in four years by kicking a late-game field goal to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in what some have already called one of the best NFL title games of all time.
Going into the game, though, most football pundits didn’t give the Chiefs much of a chance to beat the Eagles, who came into the game with the league’s best offense.
And that didn’t change on paper after the game.
Here are some impressive end-of-the-game offensive stats by the Eagles. The Eagles had more first downs than the Chiefs (25 to 21); ran more plays (72 to 52); gained more total yards (417 to 340); had moredrives (10 to 8); and passed for more yards (302 to 182). The Eagles also possessed the ball longer than the Chiefs, 36 minutes compared to 24 minutes.
Jalen Hurts, the Eagles’ quarterback, made NFL history by becoming the first Super Bowl quarterback to rush for three TDs and also the first Super Bowl quarterback to throw for a TD and run for two or more.
To make matters worse, at least on paper, the Chiefs failed to convert on a 42-yard field goal when the attempt went “doink” by hitting the left upright bar.
So how exactly did the Chiefs win the game, aside from the pure gutsy performance by its quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, who suffered a high ankle sprain a few weeks ago and seemed to have reinjured it just prior to halftime during yesterday’s game? And what can you learn from the Chiefs’ victory?
Well, the Eagles also led in some other more dubious stat lines.
Red Zone Offense
The Eagles were only 3-5 (60%) in the red zone while the Chiefs converted on 4 of 5 attempts (80%). In other words, the Eagles were more inefficient in the red zone than the Chiefs.
Red zone efficiency is the percentage in which a team scores a touchdown while in the red zone, which is the area from the 20-yard line to the nearest goal line. Teams want a high red zone efficiency because it’s better to score a touchdown and extra point (seven points) than to walk away with a field goal (three points) or, worse, nothing at all when you’re that close to the end zone.
When it comes to your bar preparation, take advantage of your opportunities. One of my favorite quotes is “You don’t have to, you get to.” You don’t have to take the bar exam. You get to take the bar exam. Make the most of that opportunity by taking advantage of all the assignments and assistance provided to you through your bar review course and your law school. As you go into your final week of bar preparation, look at this as an opportunity to get some solid review down.
Complete Team Effort
The Eagles also committed the game’s only turnover, a lost fumble that ultimately led to a scoop-and-score for a touchdown by the Chiefs defense.
While the Eagles impressed almost everyone with its high-powered offense, that’s only one facet of the game. A well-rounded team requires a strong defense and special teams. So, while the Chiefs might not have outscored the Eagles’ offense, the Chiefs’ defense forced a fumble and scored a touchdown.
And with the game on the line early in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs’ special teams ran a punt back 65 yards—the longer punt return in Super Bowl history—and set the Chiefs up at the five-yard line. Three plays and 49 seconds later, the Chiefs scored the go-ahead touchdown.
When it comes to your bar preparation, remember to focus on all facets of the exam. Yes, the multiple-choice portion of the Uniform Bar Exam is worth one-half of your UBE score, but the written portion is worth one-half, too, with the two Multistate Performance Tests worth a hefty 20% of your overall score. You cannot pass the exam by hitting one component out of the park (to use a mixed sports metaphor), but you can certainly hurt your chances of passing by not scoring well on one component. It takes a well-rounded examinee to pass the bar exam, as it takes a well-rounded team to win the Super Bowl.
Penalties
The Eagles also committed six penalties resulting in 33 yards, the last of which was a costly five-yard flag that helped the Chiefs extend their last drive that ultimately led to the game-winning field goal. By comparison, the Chiefs committed only three infractions for just 14 yards.
When it comes to your bar preparation, think about penalties as negating all of the hard work you put in being negated or wiped out by silly and avoidable mistakes. In golf, the tournament winner isn’t usually the player who makes the most birdies or eagles. Rather, it’s the player who avoids the bogeys, double bogeys, or the dreaded “other.” In tennis, the winner isn’t usually the player who hits the most winners. Instead, it’s the player who commits the fewest unforced errors. On the bar exam, you don’t need to score 5s and 6s (one a six-point scale) on the essays. You just need to make sure you avoid scoring 1s and 2s. Adhering to the basics and relying on your strong foundational skills of systematic problem-solving will help you do just that. You’ve worked hard up to this point of your bar preparation. Don’t let the last week of bar preparation be your downfall by forgetting the core strategies that got you to this point.
Here’s a blog post I wrote in 2016 about my struggles—or mistakes I made—when completing a half marathon in Alabama. It’s still relevant here, and it provides some advice so that you don’t make similar mistakes when you’re preparing for the bar exam during this last week and taking the exam next week, like making sure you pace your yourself during the exam and being familiar with the testing location before the testing days.
