Oops, he did it again. As Skip Bayless would so often refer... “Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr,” has won himself a record 7th Super Bowl.
This is truly an incomprehensible feat, as no NFL franchise has ever managed this tally, the closest being the Steelers (6) and of course the 6 Brady himself won with the Patriots. Brady exuded class and further exemplified his greatness and the power of manifestation at last year’s Super Bowl. When the Patriots were already eliminated, Brady declared that he would not merely attend next year’s Super Bowl, but rather, contest in it:
He then went on to back up that declaration. I was personally really happy for Tommy who quarterbacked my favourite franchise for two golden decades. But him winning with the Buccaneers was like seeing your ex moving on and happy with someone else... What about the beloved and faithful Patriots? Admittedly the game itself was not the most spectacular, and I was disappointed that it was such a blowout. I expected a much tighter affair. Even though I was rooting for the Buccaneers, we can all agree that it would have been preferred to have one of those cliff-hangers of a Super Bowl. That being said, I will now elaborate on the many MANY things the Chiefs did wrong and sing the praises of a Buccaneer team that dominated a Super Bowl, something we have not seen since the “Legion of Boom”, when the Seattle Seahawks annihilated the Denver Broncos back in 2014.
What the Chiefs Did Wrong
Hmmm, where do I even begin? What was that Kansas City?! A complete no show that’s what! The only thing they managed to win was the coin toss. I am mostly upset that I wrote so assuredly, that the Chiefs offense was locked to score 30 points, and now I just look silly. Boy was I wrong and I have no shame in admitting it.
The Chiefs offensive line resembled that of the National Guard’s defence of the Capitol on January 6th. Patrick Mahomes scrambled for his life all night; a total of 497 yards which was the most by any quarterback throughout the course of the NFL season, including regular season and playoffs. Much respect to Patrick Mahomes though, who played on an injured toe, and to be fair I do not believe he played that badly. His offensive line really let him down, so I would not be too critical of his performance. What I will say is that he finally experienced what his fellow compatriots like Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson face on a gamely basis by the Tampa Bay pass rush, which is ‘extreme pressure’. Kelce and Hill were also abysmal, failing to get open and dropping really important catches at crucial 1st and 3rd downs in the game. Even though Kelce had 10 receptions for 133 yards, these were all empty stats and came when the game was long over.
Furthermore, to pile on the Chiefs’ dismal display, they played with absolutely no discipline throughout the course of the game. When you are playing poor football AND giving away soft penalties, you’re literally asking for a beatdown. The Chiefs had more penalties (8) than points (6) at halftime. I mean comeeee onnnnnn. Offsides, unnecessary roughness, pass interference, unsportsmanlike conduct, holding, man you name it, the Chiefs committed it.
According to Eddie Pells of Fox Sports, “Kansas City’s 95 first half penalty yards were more than any team had given up in the first half of the 269 regular and playoff games this season.”
Conclusively, the Chiefs’ pass rush hardly applied any pressure on Brady all night, getting only 1 sack for a loss of 6 yards. Meanwhile, Brady picked apart the Chiefs’ secondary all night, completing 21 of his attempted 29 passes, a performance the defence would surely not be proud of.
What The Bucs Did Right
It would be too easy to laud Tom Brady for his performance last night, but there comes a point in time where you have to accept that the man is just inevitable. Much like Lebron James in the NBA, it is to your demise to bet against such superior sporting anomalies, as both Brady and James are in a class of their own, making it to ten finals respectively. Brady converted on 3 of his 5 Red Zone attempts, throwing no interceptions in the process. Him taking care of the football was one of the keys to Tampa winning the game, as he kept his team on the field for 31 minutes, 3 more than Mahomes.
I will now, further embarrass myself by admitting to being wrong about the Tampa Bay defence, as they were absolutely unplayable last night. They were men on a mission, forcing Mahomes to drop back out of the pocket and scramble all night to create time just for his receivers to be locked up by the Buccaneers' secondary. It was honestly some of the best defence I have ever seen, played against one of the most explosive offenses in football history. Mahomes was sacked 3 times and failed to convert in the Red Zone on 3 attempts. Lavonte David, Devin White, Antoine Winfield Jr, and Vita Vea, just to name a few, were all flawless last night. The defence forced Patrick Mahomes to score less than double digits for the first time this season. Also, if you told me that all of the Chiefs’ points would have all derived from field goals, I would have thought you crazy. Mahomes did not throw a single touchdown. Something no defence has denied the quarterback ALL season.
Todd Bowles, take a bow sir. Honestly speaking, you deserved Super Bowl MVP. Bowles may have just shown the league the blueprint to beating the Chiefs’ dynamic offense by pressuring Mahomes without even blitzing, a play they ran only on 5 occasions throughout the game.
A special mention must be made to the Buccaneers’ discipline as well. They only conceded 4 penalties last night for a total of 39 yards. Some of these were totally understandable, like when Winfield Jr was charged a 15 yard penalty for ‘unsportsmanlike conduct’. This was right after he threw up deuces for Tyreek Hill following a failed pass attempt, which he made an incredible play to deny. This was a classic celebration that ‘Cheetah’ (Hill) is so widely known for. It was totally badass and I was in 100% support of it.
Ultimately, this victory now cements Brady’s legacy. As if it even needed more bolstering, Brady has now joined the ranks of Jordan, Federer, Serena Williams, Phelps, and even Messi, in terms of athletes truly dominating their sport. Something like this will surely never be seen again and we must take time to respect and admire Brady’s resolve at 43; to continue to dominate despite all the hate and criticism claiming that, “He’s finished”. Leaving the Patriots to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a franchise who would have never even dreamt of making the Super Bowl and far less for winning it, was both bold and truly remarkable. Brady went on to guide the team to victory in his first season with them. SuperBowl LV was a one-sided affair. Just as Brady would say when asked, “What was your favourite Super Bowl?” to that I say, “The next one.”
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