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As the clock reached zero, the scoreboard at Super Bowl LV read: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31, Kansas City Chiefs 9. The Bucs became the first team to win the Super Bowl in their own stadium and Tom Brady, the Buc’s quarterback, earned his 7th championship; one more than the winningest franchises in the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots, both with 6.
With the dominant win, another chapter in the lengthy story about Brady being the greatest to ever play the game was written. At age 43, it can be argued that this Super Bowl win is Brady’s crowning achievement, but don’t ask him that.
“I think they’re all special,” Brady said.
Tampa Bay started with the ball, but had to punt after three plays due to some trouble handling the blitz.The teams exchanged punts a few more times until Kansas City was given a short field from a 33 yard punt by Bradley Pinion. The Chiefs drive ended with a 49 yard field goal for the first score of the game. It was the only time Kansas City would lead.
While it was Brady who took home the MVP with 201 yards passing and 3 touchdowns, it was Tampa’s defense who deserved the most credit. They chased Patrick Mahomes, sacking him three times and forcing him to throw two interceptions.
“All the talk, all the outside noise, all the things the media was saying all week, they never paid attention to us,” cornerback Carlton Davis said. “We knew who we were.
The first score of the Bucs high flying offense was a Brady to Gronkowski connection, tying the record set by Joe Montana and Jerry Rice for QB-Receiver touchdowns in the Super Bowl; which Brady and Gronk would later break in the game. Gronkowski finished with six catches for 67 yards and two TDs.
The rest of the game followed a similar pattern. Brady and the Buccaneers offense, with the rallying cries of their home fans in the background, continued to drive down the field over and over again. Occasionally, the Chiefs made a spectacular stop here and there; especially the 1st and goal defensive stand that prevented another Tampa score. But the Bucs pounded the ground when needed; running backs Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette combined for 145 yards.
Kansas City’s defense came into the game as one of the most-penalized in the NFL and it showed. By halftime, they had racked up 8 penalties for 95 yards, a Super Bowl record.
“It’s football,” safety Tyronne Mathieu said. “Guys are going to go back and forth. There were like three possessions there that those guys scored on and they all came after penalties. Any time you do that against any good football team or any good quarterback, they’re going to make you pay for it."
Mathieu, who had an interception overturned, was called for pass interference that led to a Tampa touchdown that gave the Bucs a 21-6 lead right before halftime. The safety was also called for unsportsmanlike conduct for his altercation with Tom Brady.
With Mahomes not being Mahomes, and Brady being Brady, the Buccaneers cruised through the rest of the game. Kansas City was held to only 3 field goals; something that had never been done to a Mahome’s led Chiefs offense before.
The foundation for the Buccaneers second Super Bowl title was laid back in March of 2020, the day that Tom Brady chose to leave the New England Patriots. A month later, Brady convinced tight end Rob Gronkowski to come out of retirement and join him in Tampa.
With confetti covering the field at Raymond James Stadium, the winningest QB in NFL history found his favorite target one more time.
“Robby G! Robby G!” Brady hollered while smiling. “Congrats, baby! I’ll see ya later!”
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