The Super Bowl game is officially scheduled as the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face Tampa in two weeks. Interestingly, the Buccaneers will be the first team to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium, and the Bucs’ defense will need that home field advantage if they want to stop this explosive Chiefs offense. Patrick Mahomes and Co played 439 yards of total offense against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship, while moving on to a 38-24 victory. The Buccaneers were in a much tighter conference game against the Green Bay Packers, but they were able to escape the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field with a 31-26 victory.
This will be the first Super Bowl to feature the last two Super Bowl backs. The Chiefs and Buccaneers met in Week 12 in Tampa, and Kansas City left Florida with a 27-24 victory. The Chiefs led 17-0 in the first quarter, but Tom Brady and the Bucs slowly allowed themselves to get back into the game. The Buccaneers did score 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, but that was not enough to score a comeback. It was nevertheless the last loss of the Buccaneers, as they scored seven consecutive wins to play the championship. Will Super Bowl LV follow a similar text to their game earlier in the season? What players can we expect to stand out on the biggest stage? Below, we’ll explore five early Super Bowl predictions.
1. Tyreek Hill is over 100 meters, and wins Super Bowl MVP
Hill has proven to be one of the best receivers in the NFL for the past few seasons – and certainly the fastest – but the Pro Bowl series has looked on a different level. In the Chiefs’ divisional game against the Cleveland Browns, he caught eight passes for 110 yards and then exploded for 172 yards on nine catches in the conference game. His 172 receiving yards were the most in a playoff game in Chiefs history, and it was his third consecutive post-season game with more than 100 receiving yards. In the Chiefs’ Week 12 meeting with the Buccaneers, Hill had the best game of his career. He conceded 269 yards and hit three counts at 13 through the air, and no one in secondary Tampa Bay could hold him back. With how he played in the post-season, coupled with the fact that he burned down the Buccaneers earlier this year, goes ahead and takes the Over on Hill’s receiving prop.
2. Mahomes is fired four times
Mahomes has only been sacked four or more times in his entire career, but that could happen in the Super Bowl. His left-hander Eric Fisher suffered a torn Achilles in the AFC Championship and Mitchell Schwartz, a fellow suit, is already in an injured reserve with a back injury. When Fisher left the game, Mike Remmers moved from right tackle to left and Andrew Wylie to right tackle, so that could be a lineup that the Chiefs hold on to in Super Bowl LV.
The Buccaneers’ defensive front dominated the Packers at stake, and Shaquil Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul combined with Aaron Rodgers five bags. You have to think that the Bucs’ defensive game plan will be under pressure on Mahomes, especially now that he does not have some important attacking lineouts in the series. Mahomes was sacked twice against the Buccaneers earlier this year, and that could double this time.
3. Rob Gronkowski catches an attack
Gronk’s decision to retire and play with Brady in Tampa worked out well, no? In 16 games in the regular season, he caught 45 passes for 623 yards and seven touchdowns, but he caught just two passes for 43 yards in three off-season games. Interestingly, Gronk set up 12 season numbers against the Chiefs in Week as he caught six passes for 106 yards. This will be the Super Bowl number 6 in which Brady and Gronk played together, and the star endgame achieved success in the big game. He hit six of the seven targets for 87 yards against the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LII, and he also scored nine catches for 116 yards and twice against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII. My prediction is that Brady will look at him when the Buccaneers are in the red zone, and he gets an onslaught in what could possibly be his last NFL game.
4. Significant turnover in the second half concludes the transaction
As in the first meeting between the Bucs and Chiefs, Super Bowl LV will be a close affair. The Chiefs are unlikely to take a 17-0 lead this time around, and that will mean which team can outperform the other in the second half, when each possession is precious. Brady let the Packers crawl back with three interceptions on Sunday in the second half of the game, and the Chiefs showed the potential to take over games in the final two quarters. In Super Bowl LIV against the San Francisco 49ers, the Chiefs outscored the 49ers 21-10 after both teams scored just 10 points in the first half. I can see Brady throwing an interception in the third or fourth quarter that is shifting the momentum fully into Kansas City.
5. Chiefs repeat as champions
It would be quite a story if Brady won the Super Bowl in his first season with the Buccaneers, but the magic run ends here. It’s so hard to repeat as Super Bowl champions, but the Chiefs are apparently built to do it. The defense played very well and then the offense is virtually unstoppable. We know Mahomes is special, but Travis Kelce and Hill and the tight end play their best football. They have just become the first duo to have two matches of more than 100 meters in one post-season! Mahomes builds on what is already an impressive NFL career by taking down the “BOK” in Super Bowl LV.