The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are Super Bowl LV champions after a victory that exceeded expectations and made all sorts of history Sunday night at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. By dominating the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9, the Bucs won its second Super Bowl and became the first team to win a Super Bowl in their home stadium. Quarterback Tom Brady has secured his seventh Lombardi Trophy, two more than any player in NFL history and one more than any NFL franchise has scored.
Brady’s performance at the age of 43 was almost flawless, and the suffocating pressure from Todd Bowles’ defense was a perfect compliment to the attempted offense. The future Pro Football Hall of Fame full-back completed 21 of 29 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns, including a few after his longtime favorite target in tight end Rob Gronkowski and another for wide receiver Antonio Brown. He calmly distributed the ball among his Easter catchers and was especially successful across the middle. Brady and Gronk now have 14 post-season points in their legendary careers.
The Bucs forced the Chiefs into their worst offensive performance of the Patrick Mahomes era, as the Tampa Bay defensive front completely controlled the line through all four quarters. Mahomes was under siege all night, and shot the ball alternately into the ground and had to hide and move away from the relentless pressure. Mahomes takes three bags and throws two interceptions on seesaw. Even the figures highlight the extent to which the Bucs made his life miserable. He ended the night with a passing of 270 meters, of which a large part of the match was in the garbage, while he has only been kept 56 times in 56 matches without a touch since taking over KC’s starting position in 2018. It was also the first double-digit loss of Mahomes’ career.
Tampa’s defensive backs and lineouts also deserve their feathers after bouncing back after a disastrous Week 12 performance against the same Kansas City. After the Bucs lit 269 yards and three touchdowns in the first game, Chiefs explosive WR Tyreek Hill scored just seven points for 73 yards, which had a relatively muted impact. Travis Kelce was a little more productive, but it did not matter much. Hill and the rest of the expansions were completely removed from the game.
The frustrations were striking on both sides of the ball for KC, who committed 10 penalties for 100 yards in the match, with many fouls in key situations costing the Chiefs on the scoreboard.
Brady, meanwhile, had the good fortune to be well protected throughout the game, a testament to the attacking line the Buccaneers built in front of him. The group also paved the way for Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones to combine for 150 yards on 28 cars, including Fournette’s 27-yard run that broke the game open in the third quarter.
Eventually, the Bucs got the idea good about what they could become with Brady at the helm. Both sides love the living legend as a catalyst that would lead Tampa Bay to a championship, and they seem to be right. In the weirdest NFL season of all time, the league’s greatest player has found a way to win it all again.
Why the Buccaneers won
While Brady took home the Super Bowl MVP for the fifth time in his career, Tampa Bay’s coordinators were masterful.
Byron Leftwich’s attacking game plan was masterful, and he played some fun designs on screens and red zone. The Bucs named the Kansas City linebackers in the coverage and the run, and repeatedly caught up with Fournette in the second tier where he could work against an oversized, oversized defender. Gronk, Fournette and Cameron Brate meanwhile combined 13 receptions for 139 meters – almost two thirds of Brady’s total.
If an MVP can be assigned to an entire unit, Tampa Bay’s defense front deserves it. Shaq Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul, Vita Vea, Ndamukong Suh and Steve McClendon put on a dazzling performance, and they would have to share it with Bowles, who could put them in a position to succeed throughout. The group put Mahomes in the bag and in the bag most of the night. The Chiefs had to use a multitude of screens and short passes designed to prevent the passion from pulling back their ears. However, even the plays did not work so well, and Mahomes kept touching and had to run for the rest of the game for his life.
Why the Chiefs lost
Penalties, drops and the offensive line. The Chiefs produced an incredible 95 penalties on eight disqualifications during the first half – a Super Bowl record. Hill dropped a possible touch. Kelce first dropped a certain fire. Darrel Williams drops a fourth-down conversion. Mecole Hardman dropped at least two passes right over his head because he was not looking for them.
The story, however, was that Mahomes just did not have his usual time aiming or improvising his receivers in the field without panicking in view of the rush. With the tackle of Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz due to injuries, Mike Remmers and Andrew Wylie were overworked and overwhelmed on the perimeter where they simply could not handle JPP and Barrett. When Wylie was kicked out, Stefen Wisniewski joined Nick Allegretti and Austin Reiter in the starting lineup in the middle, and the trio also struggled much of the night with Vea and Suh.
Just as the Packers’ offensive line was dominated by the Bucs’ front in the NFC Championship, so was the Chiefs’ attack in the Super Bowl.
Playing the game
This should be the first time of the match – a record-breaker also perfectly designed by Leftwich and Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians. Brady’s 8-off pass to Gronk at the end of the first quarter was a thing of beauty.
It was the 13th power play that connected Brady and Gronk in the playoffs, making them the most productive two-player game in NFL history. (They added a 14th finish later in the first half.) It was also somehow the first time in the first quarter of Brady’s Super Bowl career, which is incredible.
The design of this play was flawless. It actually looked like something out of the Chiefs’ playbook. Tampa Bay showed an RPO touchdown for Mike Evans, which left Bashaud Breeland biting on the inside. But the play is not designed to go to Evans. Gronk leaks out of the formation, right where Evans comes from. Evans’ sloping route worked as a choice to stop Daniel Sorenson from getting outside to Gronk. All Brady had to do was turn it to Gronk, and the big tight end ran into the end zone for an easy score and another striker.
Where the game revolves
By the end of the first half, it looked like the Chiefs would be working their way back into the game. With 14-3 behind, they matriculated the ball down the field and traveled 61 yards on ten games before getting stuck in the red zone. While the field goal was a disappointing result, it reduced the deficit to 14-6, and with the Chiefs getting the ball in the second half, it looked like they were in a good position.
But then Brady and the Bucs went to work. Most importantly, the Chiefs demanded a time-out with the Bucs facing third and 2nd with 44 seconds left in the first half, only to see Tampa Bay convert in the next game. Then Kansas City’s defensive backs imposed two penalties on Mike Evans (the second was a controversial call), which set the Bucs up with first-and-goal from the 1-yard line. It was then that Brady saw Brown work against Tyrann Mathieu, and the couple committed for Brady’s third attempt of the match. The lead was suddenly 21-6, and the Bucs never looked back.