Life is not bad for you these days if you are complaining the Super Bowl is not normal this year. Get over it; there are world problems, such as a global pandemic.
Super Bowl LV, or what I would like to call it Super Bowl “double nickel,” is here. Before I predict who will win the game, some brief facts and crucial points stand out for both teams.
Super Bowl double nickel features the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The nerds in the desert out west favor the Chiefs by three points. The over/under is 56.
The Buccaneers will be the first team to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium and the first wild card team to appear in the Super Bowl since the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV.
In his first season as a player for the Buccaneers, quarterback Tom Brady will appear in his record 10th Super Bowl (6-3). A win will give him more Super Bowl wins than any NFL team.
The Chiefs will seek to become the first team to repeat as Super Bowl champions since Brady’s former team, the New England Patriots (XXXVIII and XXXIX).
Due to COVID-19 protocols, the NFL is limiting stadium capacity to 25,000 fans; this will be the lowest attended Super Bowl. The NFL will give free tickets to 7,500 vaccinated health care workers.
Canadian singer “The Weeknd” will headline the Super Bowl halftime show. Fingers crossed he performs “Can’t Feel My Face.”
Let’s get into it.
The Buccaneers have Brady. No one is more experienced in the Super Bowl, player, or coach than TB-12. He will be looking to pull off an upset win; he is the quarterback capable of doing it.
Brady is the Super Bowl’s all-time leader in wins, completions, passing yards, passing touchdowns, game-winning drives, and MVPs.
Brady will need the help of the Buccaneers running game to keep pace with the Chiefs’ offense. Leonard Fournette will be the catalyst. The Tampa Bay running back didn’t get a ton of carries during the season, but when the playoffs began, he hit the switch with 48 carries in the three games after carrying it 49 all season long.
Fournette is not running for big yards, but he has a touchdown in each of the three games and is coming up with the challenging runs to help set a tone for Brady.
The Buccaneers defense is who has been carrying the legend of Brady this season. The Bucs’ defense has 7.0 sacks and seven takeaways in three playoff games.
Brady threw three interceptions in the NFC Championship win over Green Bay. The team was able to overcome the mistakes because of the defense. They have been fantastic in the playoffs against Hall of Famers Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers; it’s been outstanding at forcing errors with 11 takeaways in the last five games.
The Chiefs are a high-powered offense if they are winning or losing in the game. Don’t count them out until the clock strikes zero. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is who can not only defend his Super Bowl title but continue proving he is the future of the NFL. Mahomes will be recovered from his concussion.
The Chiefs piled up 543 yards in the win in Tampa this season, Mahomes was on fire, the offense had the ball for close to 37 minutes. Add Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill, to say the least, in this offense, and the game can get out of hand for the Tampa Bay defense if Mahomes untouched and able to spread the ball around.
Hill isn’t going to catch 13 passes for 269 yards and three touchdowns like he did in the first meeting, but he’s going to be rested and healthy.
Stop Tom Brady is on top of the scouting report, but the Chief’s D gets the job done with good pressure and enough third-down stops to get by for their offense this season.
Super Bowl double nickel will showcase the top two passing offenses for the first time in Super Bowl history. But it will be all about the defense slowing down one of those offenses.
Hopefully, the game will help unify fans worldwide and keep minds off the real-world problems for a moment.
WWW prediction: Kansas City Chiefs 33 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24
Photo/NFLUK/twitter
KC 34 – TB 28
Great article!! Bucs D call was a good one, but the game prediction (like mine and the game itself) blew! Ha!