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Tom Brady led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a comfortable 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs to extend their Super Bowl win record to seven.
In his first season, after a brilliant 20-year season with the New England Patriots, the evergreen quarterback helped Tampa Bay become the first team to play a Super Bowl in their own stadium.
And despite playing Kansas City and its young and dynamic quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who came as a favorite, Brady threw three touchdown passes to prevent the Chiefs from becoming the first consecutive NFL champions since Brady and the Patriots. in the 2004 season.
At 43 years and 188 days, Brady became the oldest player to play in the biggest game in American sport, extending his record for Super Bowl appearances to 10 and joining Peyton Manning as the only quarterback. to win Super Bowls with two different teams.
Already considered the greatest NFL player of all time, Brady decided to leave New England out of season for a new challenge and was drawn to Tampa Bay, whose only previous Super Bowl victory came in the 2002 season.
He reportedly told the Bucs that he wanted them to bring in former Patriots teammates Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown, as well as Leonard Fournette, and the trio shared all four Tampa Bay touchdowns when they returned home afterward. of leading 21-6 at halftime.
While the Chiefs entered the postseason as the top seeds in the AFC Conference, Tampa Bay was the NFC’s sixth seed and became the first wild-card team to win a Super Bowl since the Green Bay Packers 10 years later. of a remarkable repechage. run.
After losing to the Chiefs in Week 12, the Bucs finished the regular season with four wins before beating three division winners on the road to reach the title decision for the second time.
Brady proves a point
While in New England, Brady formed the NFL’s most successful quarterback-coach partnership with Bill Belichick, and when he left, some felt that Belichick deserved more credit, that Brady would be ‘found out’ without him.
But the Patriots endured their first losing season since 2000, the year before Brady became their starting quarterback, while Brady won another Super Bowl, with a team he joined during a pandemic, after an offseason. very interrupted with no preseason games. .
It was also a team that, prior to this season, hadn’t won a play-off game since winning Super Bowl 37. It hadn’t made the postseason since 2007.
But Brady acknowledged that they were gradually building a competitive roster. They had a solid defense that would protect him in the pocket and two of the best receivers in the NFL in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
During Super Bowl week, coach Bruce Arians called Brady “the missing piece.” To a large extent, they pulled Gronkowski out of retirement, gave Brown another chance, and selected free agent Fournette.
They’ve all come to the fore as the Bucs braced for an unlikely run in the Super Bowl and after Kansas City opened the scoring with a field goal, Brady found Brown twice in the next drive before sending to wing. closed Gronkowski with a screen pass.
The pair combined to devastating effect on New England before Gronkowski retired after winning Super Bowl 53 with Brady and the Patriots. The 31-year-old had a brief stint in WWE and television during his time out. But after returning to the rigors of the NFL with seven touchdowns during the regular season, he caught a 17-yard strike from Brady for his second Super Bowl 55.
The Chiefs finally got the offense to respond with a field goal, but allowed 64 seconds for Tampa Bay to score before the half, and Brady completed a 71-yard drive by finding Brown in the end zone.
Kansas City rallied early in the second half and cut the deficit with another field goal, but the Bucs continued to dominate on both ends of the ball, stifling the best offense in the NFL.
And Brady found Gronkowski for another big play before Fournette dived for a 27-yard touchdown to seal a victory many dreamed of in Tampa when Brady came on board, but few would have thought it was possible.
Brady to Gronk, one more time – Super Bowl stats
- Tom Brady now has more Super Bowl wins than any NFL franchise, an advantage over the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers (6)
- Rob Gronkowski became the first man to make at least one catch in five Super Bowls.
- Brady and Gronkowski have connected for five passing touchdowns in Super Bowls, passing Joe Montana and Jerry Rice (four) for the most in Super Bowl history.
- Brady and Gronkowski have combined for more postseason touchdowns than any other quarterback-wide receiver duo of all time: 14.
- At 68 years and 127 days, Bruce Arians became the oldest coach to win the Super Bowl.
The Weeknd takes advantage of most of Covid’s restrictions
Mark Savage, BBC Music Reporter
The Super Bowl halftime show is traditionally based on grand gestures and flashy shows.
Think Lady Gaga launching from the roof of Houston’s NRG Stadium, or Katy Perry riding an animatronic lion, or Diana Ross flying from Arizona’s Sun Devil Stadium, waving to fans through the open door of a helicopter.
This year it was a bit different. Canadian R&B star The Weeknd was the interval act and, for the first time in the game’s 55-year history, was largely forced to perform from the stands, rather than the court, in accordance with strict protocols. of coronavirus.
And his 12-minute show was “watched” by thousands of cardboard cutouts, increasing to 25,000 socially estranged fans.
But the 30-year-old made the most of the restrictions with a no-gimmick show that emphasized his songs.
Read more of Mark’s review
More to follow.
