The Super Bowl That Wasn’t Supposed To Happen: LV

Tom+Brady+takes+the+snap+in+the+Wild+Card+game+against+the+Washington+Football+Team+on+January+9.

Tom Brady 2020 Playoffs by All-Pro Reels via Flickr licensed under cc-by-sa-2.0.

Tom Brady takes the snap in the Wild Card game against the Washington Football Team on January 9.

Harrison Kemmer, Sports and Life and Arts Editor

Chiefs vs Buccaneers. Brady vs Mahomes. 6 Super Bowl rings vs one Super Bowl ring. Does it get any better than this? 

In a season that went surprisingly well during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the last teams standing and will meet in the 55th Super Bowl. This will be Patrick Mahomes’ second Super Bowl and Tom Brady’s tenth. The effect that this game will have on Mahomes’ legacy is monumental. If he loses to Brady, he will never be able to be in the GOAT discussion. Period. If he beats Brady, the talk and debates will be rampant for the rest of his career and post-career.  

The matchup to watch is the Chiefs and Bucs receivers vs the Bucs and Chiefs cornerbacks. The Chief’s Tyreek Hill had a game last time these teams met. And by a game, I mean a GAME! He had 13 receptions for 269 yards and three touchdowns to help the Chiefs beat the Buccaneers 27-24 in Week 12. Mahomes threw for 462 yards and Brady threw for 345 yards in that game. Brady also threw for two interceptions. 

The coaches in this game are also a big topic this year. The Bucs’ head coach, Bruce Arians, will be making his first Super Bowl appearance as the head man of a team. The Chiefs’ coach, Andy Reid, will be making his third appearance. Both coaches are offensive-minded, and Reid is considered a top-ten coach of all time. Arians is a quarterback whisperer who has used Brady in different ways than the New England Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick used him. 

The coaching battle to watch though is the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy vs Bucs’ defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. Both are top-five coaches on their respective sides of the ball, and Bieniemy is number one. 

A fun thing about this Super Bowl is that it is at Tampa Bay’s stadium. They will be the first team ever to host the Super Bowl and play in it. The closest a team has come to doing this was the 2018 Minnesota Vikings, as they made the NFC Championship and lost to the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Predictions for the Game

In what is projected to be an offensive onslaught, I am projecting a defensive battle that shows old-fashioned football. The score will be a little higher than an old-school defensive battle, but it will showcase the new NFL. 

Winner: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Score: 24-22

Super Bowl MVP: Devin White, LB: He has the most tackles in the postseason up to this point and he missed the first game that the Bucs played. He will finish this game with 10 tackles, a forced fumble, and a recovered fumble.