By Brandon Simmons
Brady and Bucs Bring it to Lambeau
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Green Bay Packers to become the first team in NFL history to host a Super Bowl. It was a tough game that saw 2 of the game’s legendary passers go at it on the legendary stage of Lambeau Field. However, it was old man Brady who came up with the victory against “lesser old man” Aaron Rodgers, who had a great game for the Green bay Packers but came up short in another conference title game. The Buccaneers quarterback finished the game throwing 20/36 for 280 yards, 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. It was a game in which he played 2 different halves of football. In the first half, he was unstoppable; he went for over 200 yards and 2 touchdowns. But the 2nd half was a different story as he threw 3 picks. Once again, he was aided by his defense, who applied pressure to Rodgers throughout the game, and was able to make some key stops.
The main story in this game is going to be how Brady was, once again, saved by his defense. This unit had a huge game against the Packers by generating tons of pressure on the QB. Linebacker Shaq Barrett and defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul combined for the team’s 5 sacks (3 for Barrett and 2 for JPP). One key moment in this game was when Bucs defense held the Packers to a field goal in the red zone in the 2nd quarter. Down 14-7, Rodgers was trying to get the ball to Packers receiver Davante Adams, but the Bucs would not let up, as he was covered mostly by Tampa cornerback Carlton Davis. Another crucial moment was when Bucs cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting got an interception just before the half ended. This set up the Brady TD pass to Bucs receiver Scotty Miller to make the score 21-10.
At the end of the day, there is enough love to go around for this whole Buccaneers team. The defense brought pressure on Aaron Rodgers to stop the Packers’ drives. The Tampa coaches made smarter, aggressive decisions as opposed to the Green Bay coaches, who kicked a field goal before the 2 minute warning in the 4th quarter, when they were down by 8. However, the one thing that made the difference in this game, was that the Buccaneers had Tom Brady and the Green Bay Packers didn’t. That is no slight to Aaron Rodgers, but his record in the conference championship games is spotty and some of the decisions he made today sort of highlighted that difference between the two. On the field goal drive before the 2 minute warning, on 3rd down, Rodgers dropped out the pocket to look for Adams and threw an errant pass instead of running in the space in front to attempt to get in the end zone. But with Brady, his coaching staff knew they could get him in a position to win. The TD pass to Miller, could have been foregone in favor of a long field goal, but he took a shot at the endzone to extend the lead. Had it not been for that play, as well as the earlier TD passes, this might be a different outcome. Brady has been in plenty of moments like this and he lead his team through his determination and experience.
Chiefs Leave the Bills Seeing Red
The Kansas City Chiefs punched their ticket to the Super Bowl when they punched the Buffalo Bills in the mouth in the AFC title game 38-24. It was a game that started off with the Bills, taking a 10-0 lead in the 1st quarter. But just like the 10 point leads they faced in last year’s postseason, Kansas City completely erased that by scoring 21 straight points. It was a dominant by the Chiefs affair led by their 2 receiving options, in wide receiver Tyreek Hill and tight end Travis Kelce.
The Chiefs offense was nothing short of the unstoppable nature they were expected to be. As mentioned earlier, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce gave the Bills defense trouble all game. Kansas City This This Chiefs offense go things going from top to bottom. Kansas City started the game with a 3 and out, but on their 2nd drive, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes found Kelce to get things going and begin a career night for him. The Chiefs tight end finished with 13 catches for 118 yards. Hill also had a tremendous game, which included a couple of big plays in the 2nd half. He finished the gae with 9 catches for 172 yards. As for Mahomes, you never would have known he was in concussion protocol throughout the week. He went 29/38 for 325 yards and 3 touchdowns. The offense was able to click by moving a lot of their weapons around in different formations, letting their speed kill the Buffalo defense.
Quite simply, the Kansas City Chiefs offense was explosive as usual and it strengthened this team overall. The Chiefs defense made some big stops to help KC score straight 21 straight. In addition to that, this unit got 4 sacks, in which 2 of the belonged to defensive end Frank Clark. One other thing that is noteworthy, is Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman redeeming himself quick in this game. He muffed a punt in the 1st quarter, but in the 2nd quarter he caught the TD pass to put KC on the board and also had a 50 yard run on a reverse play. It just goes to show that this team is a lot more than Mahomes, even though he is still what makes this squad go.
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