Super Bowl 55 was a battle between 43 year-old Tom Brady and the Buccaneers and Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Brady, who was playing for his seventh ring, helped the Buccaneers win their second Super Bowl in franchise history. Tampa Bay was the first team in NFL History to win a Super Bowl in their home stadium.
Tom Brady received the Super Bowl MVP, throwing for 201 yards and 3 touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns landed in the hands of Brady’s longtime teammate, Rob Gronkowski. Gronkowski hauled in 6 catches for 67 yards along with those two touchdown grabs.
Game Recap
The first points of the game came from a 49 yard field goal from Harrison Butker with 5:10 left in the first quarter. After the Chiefs’ field goal, the Tampa Bay offense was off and running. The Buccaneers scored three times out of their last four possessions in the first half which were all touchdown passes from Brady (Gronkowski 2, Brown 1). Going into the half, Patrick Mahomes was held to 67 passing yards. Tyreek Hill was also only able to haul in two catches for 13 yards. The half ended with a score of 21-6.
There wasn’t much of a change in energy from the Chiefs offense in the second half. Mahomes threw two interceptions in the second half. The Chiefs could only muscle three more points in the second half as the Bucs defensive line gave Mahomes limited time to throw. On the other hand, the Bucs rattled off an additional ten points, as Fournette ran for a 27 yard touchdown with 7:45 left in the 3rd quarter. A 52 yard field goal from Ryan Succop sealed the game for the Bucs, making it 31-9.
What Happened To The Chiefs?
There was not one moment where it felt like the Chiefs had control of that game. From start to finish, Tampa Bay dominated on both sides of the ball. There were two main takeaways from this game, the refs and the Chiefs O-line. No, I do not believe the refs had anything to do with the outcome of the game. All of the penalties called against the Chiefs were the correct calls, but since the calls were in favor of Brady, it felt unfair. The Chiefs O-line was atrocious, though. Although Mahomes only got sacked three times, that doesn’t mean he didn’t have the Tampa Bay defensive linemen in his face all night long.
The 38 pressures were the most by any team in Super Bowl History. The Bucs secondary came to play, also. After getting torched by Tyreek Hill in a Week 12 loss to the Chiefs, Bruce Arians had a great gameplan to make Hill a non-factor in the Super Bowl. Although Hill had 7 catches, none of them were for big plays and most came in garbage time when the Bucs were playing a prevent defense.
Brady Wins His 7th
Wow. If Tom Brady wasn’t your GOAT before this, he should be now. Not even the GOAT in the NFL, but for any team-sport athlete (sorry Michael Jordan fans). Brady has won a Super Bowl in each of the last three decades, which is almost unheard of as it is argued that the Super Bowl is the hardest championship to win in sports.
Brady made all the throws he had to make on Sunday night. His arm strength and accuracy still look great and his football IQ sure hasn’t declined, either. Brady completed 21 of 29 attempts, with 201 yards and three touchdowns.
Every season, there is speculation that Brady will retire. But time and time again he comes back and just wins. In conclusion, the torch has not been passed to Mahomes yet, as it seems Brady isn’t going anywhere.
