By Brandon Simmons
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won Super Bowl LV, giving quarterback Tom Brady his 7th championship ring. It was an upset victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, but not an upset where nobody doubted the Bucs; it was an upset fashion in how Tampa dominated one of the more explosive offensive units of the past couple of seasons. The Chiefs struggled offensively, in a game that saw QB Pat Mahomes have an off night at the worst possible time. However, for the Bucs, it seemed that everything fell into place at the right possible time.
This was not just a game where Tom Brady was going hog the spotlight; this was a matchup where the team earned all of their shine. The Buccaneers defense put on another brilliant performance, as they have all postseason. Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles had a wonderful game plan that took away all the deep routes for Kansas City. With the heavy focus on coverage, it made Chiefs quarterback Pat Mahomes indecisive and moved him around in the pocket when he didn’t want to be. This caused the defense to rack up 2 interceptions and 3 sacks. But aside from the defense improving on their performance on the Week 12 loss to KC, Brady simply showed up to the game and did what he had to do in these moments. He threw 21 of 29 for 201 yards and 3 touchdowns, with the 3 scores coming in the first half, just like in the NFC Championship. While it seemed like he was quiet in the 2nd half, the rest of the offense helped close the game out, including Buccaneers running backs Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette. While Jones was fed the ball for some runs to move the chains, Fournette made his presence felt the same way, including running for a 27-yard TD In the 3rd quarter.
Tonight, was just not the night for Patrick Mahomes and it showed in the whole team. With Mahoes not being able to get to his most important receiver in Tyreek Hill, the offense looked out of sync and could barely get the points on the board they’re used to getting. The only other receiver – not named Tyreek Hills – that had a solid game was tight end Travis Kelce, who finished the game with 10 catches for 133 yards. The inefficiencies of the offense highlighted how much of a liability the defense was. The Kansas City defense barely got any pressure on Brady as he would move the ball down the field through checkdowns and screens on those early touchdown drives. But this defense was also the victim of their own penalties, including a defensive holding call that negated an interception.
At the end of the day – and season for that matter – the Tampa Bay Buccaneers just formulated into becoming a complete team when they needed to be. Their defense faced one of the toughest offenses in this league and shut them down, which propelled the Tampa offense to go out and maximize their attack. A lot of credit, and shine, will go to Tom Brady once again, but the Buccaneers defense should have more light on them, for what they have done in this game and the entire playoffs. They faced Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, in back-to-back weeks, then faced Pat Mahomes. What also might go unnoticed is this the Buccaneers became the first team to play for, and host, the Super Bowl in their home stadium. With this being a historic accomplishment, a lot of pressure could be applied on them to win this game; because if they lost, it would be a slanderfest on Brady’s whole career and legacy. As for Brady, this further proves that he is still a winning QB in this league at 43-years-old and has earned the right for people to call him GOAT. With 7 championship rings, he now has more rings than any other NFL franchise. That is an absurd stat when you think about those who never got the title, much less made it to a Super Bowl; but here we are, talking about a 7th ring for the guy who was a 6th round pick, system QB and lucky beneficiary of the tuck rule. However, of all those things, in addition to the 4 letter words he has been called, people somehow managed to call him a winner. Last year, the Buccaneers were 7-9 and missed the postseason; this year they ended up playing for a championship in their home stadium. Brady has been up against some of the all time great teams, so no game will be too big for him to approach at this point in his career, or the remainder. Congrats to TB12 and the Bucs on winning the title and having a superb year.