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Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face the reigning champions Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 55 on February 7.
Quarterback Brady, 43, threw three touchdown passes to help the Buccaneers defeat the Green Bay Packers 31-26 in an exciting NFC Championship game to reach their first Super Bowl in 18 years.
The Chiefs then defeated the Buffalo Bills 38-24 to seal the AFC Championship, with touchdowns from Mecole Hardman, Darrel Williams, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and two from Travis Kelce.
Super Bowl 55 will be held at the Buccaneers’ Raymond James Stadium and will be the first time a team has played in the NFL masterpiece at their home stadium.
It will be a 10th Super Bowl appearance for Brady and he will be looking for his seventh win, both records.
The veteran will face prominent young Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“Going on the road and winning another play-off game is just a great achievement and now a Super Bowl at home for the first time in NFL history, I think it puts a lot of interesting things in perspective,” Brady said.
“Whenever you’re the first time doing something, it’s usually a pretty good thing.”
Mahomes, the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in last season’s Super Bowl, is enjoying the opportunity to go head-to-head with the player many consider to be the greatest of all time in the NFL.
He said: “Being able to face one of the best quarterbacks, if not the best, of all time, will be a great experience for me.
“To go out and have the opportunity to repeat (the 2020 win) and do it against the best, it’s something special and I’m excited for the opportunity.”
As a result of the Covid-19 restrictions, only 22,000 people will attend the match, with 7,500 seats reserved for healthcare workers, who have been given free tickets.
Brady defeats Rodgers in legendary quarterback battle
The Buccaneers, whose only Super Bowl victory came in 2003, faced the first seeds of the Packers at their home field at Lambeau Field.
It took the visiting team four minutes to take the lead when Brady, who won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots, threw Mike Evans, who caught the pass over his head as he ran backwards.
However, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, expected to be named the NFL MVP for the third time in his career, leveled the scores with an impressive 50-yard pass to Marquez Valdés-Scantling.
The Buccaneers regained the lead with a brilliant 20-yard dash from Leonard Fournette before a 39-yard shot from Brady connected with Scotty Miller with a second of the first half left to play to give the visitors a 21-10 lead at half time.
The Packers, seeking their first Super Bowl success since 2011, were booed off the field by their home fans.
Brady, who was playing in his fourteenth career championship game, then threw an eight-yard touchdown for Cameron Brate early in the third quarter to give the Buccaneers a 28-10 lead.
However, the Packers, four-time Super Bowl champions, fought back when Rodgers hit an eight-yard pass to Robert Tonyan.
After a sack on Brady, Rodgers found Davante Adams for a two-yard touchdown as the Packers’ offense looked ominously good in the third quarter.
In fact, they were confident enough to go for the two-point conversion, but failed when Equanimeous St Brown dropped another perfect pass from Rodgers to give the Buccaneers a five-point lead before the fourth quarter.
Brady was sacked two more times, but the Packers couldn’t capitalize and a 46-yard field goal by Ryan Succop extended the Buccaneers’ lead to eight points.
After a sustained period of pressure, the Packers had quarter and goal, but controversially decided not to go for the touchdown, settling for a 26-yard field goal from Mason Crosby to cut the deficit to five with just over two minutes to go. the end.
The decision backfired as they never got the ball back, the Buccaneers kept possession and ran time to claim victory.
Chiefs on track to back-to-back Super Bowl wins
Ahead of the AFC Championship game, the Chiefs got a boost when quarterback Mahomes, 25, was declared fit to play after suffering a concussion in a 22-17 play-off win over the Cleveland. Browns a week ago.
However, the Bills, who lost four consecutive Super Bowls in the early 1990s and have not reached top competition since 1994, got off to a brilliant start in front of 19,000 fans at Arrowhead Stadium.
Tyler Bass kicked a 51-yard field goal to put the Bills ahead and an error by Hardman, who dropped a punt, allowed the visitors to score the first touchdown on a three-yard pass from Josh Allen to Dawson Knox.
But Hardman quickly made amends by catching Mahomes ‘three-yard pass for the Chiefs’ opening score. Then, Hardman had a good 50-yard run to bring the Chiefs closer and Williams did the rest from close range to put the reigning champs ahead for the first time.
They wouldn’t be left behind again when Edwards-Helaire stretched their lead with a one-yard touchdown, going through the middle of the Bills defense.
The Bills had plenty of possession late in the first half, but the Chiefs’ defense restricted them to a 20-yard Bass field goal as the hosts held a 21-12 lead at halftime.
Both sides kicked field goals in the third quarter, Harrison Butker from 45 yards for the Chiefs and Bass from 26 yards for the Bills, but a pass from Mahomes to Kelce, who scored from two yards, gave the Chiefs a significant lead. .
Mahomes and Kelce then connected again for the quarterback’s third touchdown pass, before Allen made an eight-yard pass to Isaiah McKenzie and Bass’s 51-yard field goal gave the scoreboard a bit more respectability. .
The Chiefs remain on track to become the first team to win consecutive Super Bowls since the Brady Patriots lifted the Vince Lombardi Trophy in 2004 and 2005.
“The work is not finished,” Mahomes said. “When we entered the season we weren’t talking about going to the Super Bowl, we were talking about winning it again.
“We just have to be ourselves. I trust my guys more than anyone to go out there and be ourselves.”
