Tampa are the two Buccaneers Super Bowl LV champions after finishing the victory on Sunday night at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, exceeding expectations and creating all sorts of history. With the Kansas City Chiefs dominating 31-9, the Bucks won their second Super Bowl and became the first team to win a Super Bowl at their home stadium. Quarterback Tom Brady won his seventh Lombardy Trophy, two more than any other player in NFL history and has won the entire NFL franchise.
At age 43, Brady’s performance was almost flawless, and the suffocating pressure of Todd Bowles’ defense was a perfect compliment to the offense’s efforts. Future Pro Football .L Hall F Fame completed 21 of 29 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns in the quarterback, including a pair of his long-term favorite targets, tight end Rob Gronkowski and other wide receiver Antonio Brown. He quietly distributed the ball to his cadre cadre and he was particularly successful in the middle. Brady and Gronk now have 14 postseason scoring connections in their legendary careers.
The Bumps pushed the Chiefs into their worst offensive performance of the Patrick Mahoms era as the Tampa Bay defensive front completely controlled the conspiracy line in all four quarters. Mahoms laid siege all night, alternately firing the ball into the ground and had to survive and wreck with constant pressure. Mahoms took three sacks and threw two interceptions on the tipped pass. That statistic also explains the degree to which Books made his life miserable. He ended the night with 270 yards passing, much of it a waste of time, while KC was held without touch for just the second time in 56 games since taking charge of the starting lineup in 2018. This first double-digit loss was also the first loss of Mahoms’ career.
Tampa’s defensive backs and linebackers deserve to be blamed after bouncing off the same devastating Week 12 performance against Kansas City. After burning the box for 269 yards and three touchdowns in the first matchup, Chiefs explosive WR Tyrick Hill recorded just seven catches for 73 yards, a relatively muted effect. Travis Kells was a little more productive, but it wasn’t very important. Hill and the rest of the space were completely removed from the game.
The disappointments on both sides of the ball were significant for Casey, who hit 10 penalties for 100 yards in the game, including several irregularities that cost the Chiefs on the scoreboard in key situations.
Brady, meanwhile, had a good wealth of defense throughout the game, a sign of the Buccaneers’ offensive line against him. The group also cleared the way for Leonard Fornet and Ronald Jones to come together for 150 yards in 28 carries, including our 27-yard touchdown run from Furnett, which could have opened the game well in the third quarter.
In the end, Books did well at the hearing on the idea of what could happen to Brady. Both sides envisioned a living legend as a catalyst that would take Tampa Bay to the championship, and they proved it right. In the odd NFL season so far, the league’s greatest player has found a way to win them all again.
Why Buchanan won
When Brady took the Super Bowl MVP for the fifth time in his career, the Tampa Bay coordinators were adept.
Byron Leftwich’s offensive game plan was masterful, and he had particularly entertaining designs on screens and red zone plays. Books coveted the Kansas City linebackers in the coverage range and run game, often getting our franchise to another level where it could work against over-the-top, under-defended defenders. Gronk, Fornet and Cameron Brett, meanwhile, combined for 13 receptions for 139 yards – about two-thirds of Brady’s total.
If an MVP can be awarded to the entire unit, the Tampa Bay defensive front deserves it. Shake Barrett, Jason Pierre-Pa Paul L, Vita Way, Ndamkong Sue and Steve McClendan performed brilliantly, and they will have to share it with the Bowls, who put them in a position of continued success. The group kept Mohoms in their pockets and kilf-killers most of the night. Chiefs had to resort to lots of screens and short passes designed to prevent pass rush from getting behind their ears. Even those plays didn’t work out as well, and Mahoms was constantly in the game and running for his life.
Why the Chief lost
Fines, drops and offensive line. Super Bowl record – The Chiefs hit an incredible 95 penalty yards on eight misunderstandings during the first half. Hill will be a touchdown. Kells put down for sure first. Darrell Williams left the fourth-down conversion. McCall Hardman had at least two pass ships over his head because he wasn’t looking for them.
Indeed, the story was, however, that Mahomes usually did not have time to either target its receivers on the downfield or improvise without panicking at the sight of a rush. With Eric Fisher and Michelle Schwartz out due to injuries, Mike Reimers and Andrew Wiley worked hard on the perimeter and sank where they could not easily handle JPP and Barrett. Kicking Willie out, Stephen Wisniewski set foot in the starting lineup with Nick Allegreti and Austin Ritter, and all three struggled most of the night with VA and Sue.
Just as the Packers’ offensive line dominated the books’ front in the NFC Championship Game, so did the Chiefs’ offensive line in the Super Bowl.
Play the game
It became the game’s first touchdown – a record-breaker designed entirely by Leftwich and Buchanan’s coach Bruce Arians. Bron’s 8-yard touchdown pass near the end of the first quarter was about the beauty of Gronk.
This was the 13th touchdown that Brady and Gronk have joined the playoffs, pairing them to pass the most famous postseason in NFL history. (They added a 14th touchdown in the first half.) It was also somehow the first touchdown pass of the first quarter of Brad’s Super Bowl career, which is incredible.
The design of the play was flawless. It really did look great from the Chiefs’ playbook. Tampa Bay showed RPO slant to Mike Evans, who got to bite Bashod Briland from the inside. But the play was not made to go to Evans. Gronk got out of the formation, that’s where Evans came from. Evans’ haunted path served as a pick, preventing Dev .No Sorenson from going outside to Gronk. All Brady had to do was flip it over to Gronk, and the big tight end went into the end zone for an easy score and yet another spike.
Where the game continues
Towards the tail of the first half, it looked like the Chiefs were working their way back into the game. Trailing 14-3, they metric the ball downfield by traveling 61 yards on 10 grounds before stalling inside Red Downfield. While the field goal was a disappointing result, it reduced the deficit to 14-6, and the Chiefs seemed to be in good shape when they got the ball in the second half.
But then Brady and Books went to work. Crucially, the Chiefs called a 3rd and 2nd face-off period with the Bucks, with 44 seconds left in the first half to convert Tampa Bay to the next play. After that, Kansas City’s defensive back hit a two-pass interception penalty for throwing Mike Evans (the second was a controversial call), setting the Bucks first from the 1-yard line and with a goal. That’s when Brady was seen working against Brown Tyrone Matthew, and the pair tied for Brady’s third touchdown of the game. Suddenly all the lead was 21-6, and the Bucks never backed down.
