Though Kansas City may have the most recent Super Bowl victory, Tampa is prepared to send the Chiefs to Davy Jones’ Locker with the franchise’s second championship, and here’s why.
With an unusual year comes an unusual season for the NFL. Ranging from an empty to a quarter-filled stadium, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on their way to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2003. Though 18 years is a long time, the Bucs finally seem to be on a path that will lead to a second Super Bowl victory.
Brady, at the age of 43, is going to his 10th Super Bowl matchup. This time against Kansas City Chiefs and their All-Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who is attempting to be the seventh QB to win back-to-back Super Bowls. The sixth player on that list is none other than Tom Brady when he did it in 2004 and 2005.
We must give credit where credit is due – Mahomes is a competitive and talented QB. If the Chiefs manage to win next Sunday, Mahomes would be the youngest player to win multiple Super Bowls. However, the young Mahomes is still quite new to the NFL, being drafted in 2017 as a 21-year-old.
Brady, on the other hand, has had a whopping 21 years in the league with six Super Bowl championships under his belt, the most by any player in NFL history, and he has only seemed to improve year after year.
Along with Brady’s impressive record, the Kansas City Chiefs will be entering Super Bowl LV without their two starting offensive tackles in Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz. Fisher is out with a torn Achilles, while Schwartz has been out since Week 6 due to a back injury.
The Chiefs’ offense will not be favored in that edge matchup, as the line will be facing outside linebackers Shaquil Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul, while Kansas City’s defense will need to hold off Tampa’s strong offense as well. In their three playoff games, the Bucs’ offense has a combined total of 860 passing yards and wide receiver, Chris Godwin, making up about 26% of those yards.
Yet another asset Tampa can add to their formidable list is tight end, Rob Gronkowski. The chemistry between Gronk and Brady was first established on the New England Patriots, and their combination led to some of the franchise’s greatest victories. During Gronk’s rookie season in 2010, Brady threw 10 touchdown passes to the athletically talented tight end. Now, the duo, who have won three Super Bowls together, will be going into Super Bowl LV as a powerhouse.
With the strange year we have experienced with COVID-19 and social distancing, few people expected fans to be in the stands at all during the season. But, after integrating many frustrating, yet effective, safety measures, the NFL has made a decision that gives Tampa their real edge over the Kansas City Chiefs, and it’s three simple words: home-field advantage.
Super Bowl LV will be held at the Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 2 in Tampa Bay, Fla. for the first time since 2009. At a capacity of 22,000, America’s biggest game will be having fans in the stands, and I expect most of them to be Buccaneer supporters.
All in all, this is an exciting match up for the 55th Super Bowl. Two extremely gifted teams with impressive and solid line ups facing off in the ultimate showdown. The Bucs are predicted to lose, but that is what makes them even more dangerous to the Chiefs. Granted, some of the teams the Bucs have beaten earlier in the year may not have been as talented as the Chiefs. But the stars seem to be aligning for the Bucs, and it may give Kansas City a run for their money.