Like anyone who roots for or bet on the Kansas City Chiefs, I’m trying to understand what just happened in New Orleans.

Meanwhile, Milton Williams is about to cash in on it.

Williams is that plugger who became a primetime player Sunday night. The unheralded Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle had the game of his life in the game of his life, menacing Patrick Mahomes and dragging him down for two of Philly’s six sacks in the Super Bowl LIX surprise. The second was a strip sack that Williams recovered that I believe set up the game’s final field goal and a staggering 40-6 fourth-quarter lead. At that point I wasn’t paying close attention.

That blowout was a three-hour-plus Philly Special. Not one play. Almost every play.

Give former LSU star and ESPN analyst Booger McFarland credit. While the betting line hovered around break even last week, he nailed it – predicting Philadelphia’s defensive front would have its way with the Chiefs’ offense, resulting in a rout.

Williams played his college football at Louisiana Tech, departing Ruston after his junior season as a team captain and first-team All-Conference USA selection. He was the last pick on the second day of the 2021 NFL Draft, going 73rd overall to the Eagles, to the delight of GM Howie Roseman and the frustration of senior scout Tom Donohoe, who wanted another player with the pick.

Score one for GMs everywhere. This season, Williams low-key had Pro Football Focus’ No. 2 grade among pass rushers, behind only Chiefs’ All-Pro tackle Chris Jones, yet was not even generally regarded as the bell cow of Vic Fangio’s defensive front – that is 2023 first-rounder Jalen Carter.

Now Williams is bathed in green – not his uniform, but his future. This was his contract year, and he can become a free agent. Before Sunday he was projected for a three-year, $36 million deal. Now speculation has that number soaring to $20 mil per for the soon-to-be 26-year-old from Crowley, Texas, where kids used to grow up dreaming of making it in the NFL like native son Gary Reasons, the two-time Super Bowl champion starting linebacker for the New York Giants who developed into an NFL prospect at Northwestern State.

Williams’ rocketing stock isn’t hard to understand. So much else about Sunday defies explanation.

I’ll go there – that halftime show. I have no problem with Kendrick Lamar, or his performance. I got a kick out of Samuel Jackson in a pseudo Uncle Sam suit, and tennis legend Serena Williams dancing to a number written to slam her ex-boyfriend Drake.

Due respect to Lamar’s undeniable talent, the first solo hip-hop artist to star in the biggest entertainment showcase of every year. The man has won a Pulitzer Prize, I’ve learned.  I know he won song of the year at the Grammys a couple weeks ago. Just like he said he would, he staged a 13-minute spectacle, packed with visual treats no matter what you think of rap music.

But I don’t want to have to interpret Super Bowl halftime shows.  I’m an old cat who was all about the pregame production fronted by Harry Connick Jr. and featuring Southern University’s Human Jukebox, the jazzy “America the Beautiful” rendition by Lauren Daigle and Trombone Shorty, Lady Gaga’s elegant and emotional tribute to the first responders at the Jan. 1 Bourbon Street tragedy, Jon Batiste’s national anthem, and among other treats, the soliloquies by Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt.

Lamar’s 13 minutes was self-described storytelling on multiple levels, I’m told. It was over my head like a Jalen Hurts bomb to south Louisiana native DeVonta Smith, along with most of Saturday Night Live’s schtick in its ballyhooed 50th season.

I didn’t get it. I didn’t hate it. I watched it like I watched most of those $8 million commercials – only occasionally. Difference is, I’ll get online and check out some of those. I won’t revisit Lamar’s masterpiece. I’ll just savor memories of Prince, U2, The Stones, Beyonce’, Rhianna, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, and more Super Bowl halftime classics.

Maybe if I read all about it, I’ll get all the layers of context in Lamar’s show. But I’ll spend my time wondering if after Monday, streets in the French Quarter will be sprayed with lemon-infused water to stifle the stench of those bricks. Yes, that really happened last week, too.

I can certainly understand that.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com