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Tampa Bay BuccaneersSuper Bowl LV Champions
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31, Kansas City Chiefs 9
Kansas City came into this game as the seeming emerging dynasty in the league, and as favorites in this game. They were trying to become the first team since the New England Patriots in 2003 and 2004 to win back-to-back titles.
It didn’t happen. Like with Washington in 1983, Green Bay in 1997, Seattle in 2014, and New England in 2018, Kansas City entered this as the defending champions, but were dethroned in brutal fashion. In fact, this game reminded me a bit of Super Bowl XVIII, when Washington also entered as defending champs and favorites, but were rolled over by the Raiders. In fact, the final score was similar, and even the team’s logos and colors are somewhat similar. Hell, both Super Bowls were even played in the same city.
Still, it would not be fair to boil this down to what the favored team failed to do, as much as what the better team did manage to do. And you cannot mention that team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, without mentioning their veteran star quarterback, Tom Brady.
There are times when you watch sports and you think that you are watching someone, or a team, perform so well that it seems unreal. Watching Michael Jordan at his best felt like that, as did Reggie Miller at times, particularly when he played the Knicks. Watching the San Francisco 49ers in the 1980’s and 1990’s, or the New England Patriots in the 2000’s and 2010’s was a bit like that.
Sometimes, a team or player will remind you that they are, in fact, human. Watching the 2007 New England Patriots shatter all sorts of records and enjoy a historic, undefeated 18-0 run tom the Super Bowl, and then lose for the first and only time in the final minute of that game was like that. So was watching the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors race off to a perfect 24-0 start, en route to a historic 73-9 regular season record, the best ever. Then, they blew a 3 to 1 series lead to lose the NBA Finals.
We have now seen Tom Brady on both sides of those stunning moments. Everyone right now is talking about how much of a winner Brady is. Well, that might not be entirely true, as he has a lot of haters, and they seem to be out in full force today. A lot of people still claim that he is a cheater and all of that, which has grown rather tiresome.
Let’s give him his due: Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback in NFL history, and most likely, the greatest single player in NFL history. I mean, come on. You can hate if you want to, but this guy made it to 10 Super Bowls in his career, twice that of the next closest competitor, John Elway, who led his Broncos to the biggest game five times in his storied career. And Brady has now won the Super Bowl seven times, fully three more than Joe Montana, the other guy still sometimes mentioned by people as the greatest. In his day, Montana was tied with Terry Bradshaw for the most Super Bowl rings ever. Brady, with seven, is now one shy of matching the total number of rings by those two guys combined. Simply incredible.
And let’s face it: it’s not like this guy has not suffered some incredibly disappointing losses. He was on a team that game up a record 18-point lead in the AFC Championship Game. He was part of that team that went undefeated, until they lost in the final minute of the biggest game in their history. In fact, he has lost three Super Bowls, including one in which all sorts of offensive records were set. Yes, he has lost at times, too.
Brady has recovered from each disappointment. He recovered from that devastating blown lead in the AFC title game in 2006 to reach the Super Bowl the next season, but then suffered what I feel was the most crushing Super Bowl loss in history. He would return to the Super Bowl four years later, and lost yet again to the Giants. But he returned back to the Super Bowl, and beat the Seahawks, beginning yet another Patriots dynasty. They seemed on the very of winning their third in four years, only to lose that Super Bowl to Philadelphia. Yet they returned the next year, and beat the Rams to clinch “Team of the Decade” honors for a second decade in a row. But many believed Brady’s career was over after a surprisingly down (for him) season, where he and the Pats offense looked flat. Many of these same people were certain that he could not pull out a magic wand and make the transition to a new team work so quickly and efficiently.
That’s the other truly impressive aspect here. Many felt that Brady’s experiment with a new team might wind up like it did with many other star quarterbacks, who saw formerly great careers fizzle with a second team. It happened to Joe Namath, Ken Stabler, Joe Montana, Warren Moon, and Brett Favre. We shall see about Phillip Rivers. But only one Super Bowl winning quarterback went to another team and won another Super Bowl with that team, and that was Brady’s greatest rival, Peyton Manning, who’s last game was a Super Bowl win with the Denver Broncos. Now, Brady joins him, becoming only the second quarterback to win Super Bowls with two different teams.
Now, here we are. In this game, Brady became the oldest man to play in any Super Bowl at 43 years old. He completed 21 of 29 passes for 201 and three touchdowns. His favorite target, not surprisingly, was his big tight end, Rob Gronkowski, who caught six catches for 67 yards, including two touchdown passes in the first half. The Chiefs defense also clearly had a difficult time handling or slowing down running back Leonard Fournette, who picked up 89 yards and one key touchdown on 16 carries. That touchdown was a 27-yard run midway through the fourth quarter that gave Tampa their biggest lead of the game at 28-9. It was basically an insurmountable lead, and likely iced the game for the red hot Buccaneers. In addition, Fournette also had four receptions for 46 yards. Again, he was a force for Tampa Bay on this day.
As for Kansas City, Patrick Mahomes completed 26 of 49 passes for 270 yards, with two interceptions. That gave him a 52.3 quarterback rating, which ranks as the lowest in his NFL career. Indeed, the entire Chiefs offense just appeared flat and largely lifeless. There were a surprising number of dropped passes and missed opportunities. Mahomes was pressured in 29 dropbacks, the most of any quarterback in Super Bowl history. Indeed, he was also sacked three times, and it seemed like he, and really his entire offense, just never found any kind of rhythm.
For what it’s worth, Travis Kelce statistically had an impressive day with 10 catches for 133 yards, although that was not the full story, as he had a few drops that betrayed his frustration. Tyreek Hill, usually also a force for KC’s offense, was mostly a non-factor for most of this game, until he got a few catches late in the game. At the end, he had collected 7 receptions for 73 yards. The ground game was not particularly effective, either. Clyde Edwards-Helaire picked up 64 yards on 9 carries, which is not terrible, but it certainly was not going to be enough to even make a game of it in this one, when the passing game was clearly just not effective. Even if the Chiefs offense actually produced 10 more yards than Tampa Bay did, 350 to 340 total yards. But it seemed that most of those yards by KC came very late, when the outcome was no longer in question.
Who would have thought that the mighty and explosive Chiefs offense, who took the league by storm over the past three seasons, would be held to their lowest points total over that three years stretch in this game? They did not score a single touchdown, which is only the third time in Super Bowl history that a team failed to earn a touchdown. They also committed two turnovers, while the Bucs had none. However, you have to credit the Bucs defense, which produced 3 sacks, with Ndamukong Suh leading the team with 1 ½ sacks. In addition, they also got four tackles for losses.
Some were unhappy with the officiating, feeling that this contributed to KC’s losing this game. Maybe. Indeed, the Chiefs picked up 120 total penalty yards in this game, which is the third most in Super Bowl history, behind 133 for Dallas in Super Bowl V, and 122 for Pittsburgh in Super Bowl IX. The Chiefs had 95 total penalty yards in that disastrous first half alone. Some of those penalties led to Tampa Bay points.
However, the collapse came on both sides of the ball. I have already addressed the offensive woes, with the dropped passes and general ineffectiveness. But the defense also had a lot of problems. They had no answers for Tom Brady, and had a hard time bringing Fournette down at times. Altogether, Tampa Bay had 145 total rushing yards, in addition to what Brady managed to do with the passing game. The Bucs had a slight advantage in time of possession, hanging onto the ball for 31 minutes and 23 seconds. They also produced 26 first downs, to 22 for the Chiefs.
Tampa Bay head coach Bruce Arians wins his first Super Bowl championship, becoming the oldest coach to ever win the game at 68 years old. He won NFL Coach of the Year honors twice, in 2012 with Indianapolis, and again in 2014 with Arizona. Now, he joins the group of head coaches with Super Bowl championships to their name. He also made clear that he will return to coach next season. And he will have Tom Brady, who also was clear that he fully intends to return next season, as well.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had not won a playoff game since their first Super Bowl title in the 2002-03 season, which was their only previous Super Bowl championship. They become the 13th NFL team to win multiple Super Bowl titles in only their second Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. Kansas City, meanwhile, was making their fourth Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, and are now 2-2.
My pick: Very Inaccurate
I stopped watching at some point in the third quarter. As well as the Buccaneers played, the Chiefs picked the worst possible time to play uncharacteristically poorly, and weren't helped by all of those penalties, some of which were questionable. Yes, Brady's an amazing quarterback, but I'm more than a little tired of his Trump-supporting ass. Unlike you, I get tired of the same people winning over and over again regardless of whether or not they play for California-based teams. Frankly, as long as my Jets are going to be irrelevant laughing stocks anyway, I'd love to see long-suffering teams like the Bills or Browns finally win it all. But whoever makes it to next year's SB, here's hoping next year's game is way more compelling than last night's snoozefest. Signed, Statler and Waldorf (the two grumpy Muppets always heckling from the balcony).
ReplyDeleteWell, I understand on many levels. Yet, it sounds a bit like sour grapes. After all, I recall pulling against the 49ers, yes, that's true. But you and Pop seemed to want them to win in every Super Bowl that they played back in the day, even though they had won a number of them. Also, you pull for PSG to win the Ligue 1 title (as do I, admittedly) each year, even though they have done it more than any other team. All of that said, even though I tended to dislike the 49ers as a team, I actually liked Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, and Bill Walsh, the head coach. They were a lot more likable on a personal level than Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, and I would never argue otherwise. That said, it is hard not to admire what they - and specifically Brady - has managed to do. I remember hating the Niners, and that was what made it so frustrating, because they kept winning. And yes, the Lakers, who are actually worse in that regard, although those are the only two California teams that I disllke on that level. BUt I also got sick and tired of the New York Yankees, mostly for the same reasons as the Lakers, because they get all of the breaks, seemingly, and the fans are spoiled, arrogant, and entitled to an astonishing level. Sick of the Steelers, although that is mostly because of "big Ben," who I find it impossible to like on any level, since he should be behind bars, and not at the helm on a football field, making his millions. As far as Brady is concerned, I also found the hatred against him to be often over the top and with a mindlessness that is a bit tiresome. He was criticized for being a prima donna by some, and more recently, haters always claim that he cheats, because of the whole ridiculous "deflategate" scandal. It seemed that a lot of quarterbacks - including Montana - were saying in the aftermath that every quarterback, and indeed every professional athlete, especially the greatest ones, tend to do things like that to help their cause. But in this day and age of 24/7 sports shows and such, and the fact that Brady was caught, a much bigger deal was made of it. The Colts complained about that after they had been thoroughly trashed, 45-7. Sorry, buddy, but the balls being slightly deflated would not be the reason that you lost that game. And then, when everyone was carefully watching how inflated the balls would be in the Super Bowl, Brady mounted a 14-point comeback against the best defense in the league to win his fourth Super Bowl. Since then, and under tighter scrutiny than likely any other big name has been, he just keeps winning. It is impressive, and I am glad that I don't actually hate him, as so many people do. Again, I remember how that felt with the 49ers, and how it still feels against the Lakers. That is why I can admire what he managed to do yesterday, winning his second Super Bowl in his forties, and becoming only the second quarterback to win a Super Bowl with two different teams. As for the Bills and the Browns, I'm with you. Would love to see either, or both, of those two teams win the Super Bowl in the near future. Let's hope it happens!
DeletePSG haven't won more Ligue 1 titles than any other club, though that's likely to change in the near future. For the time being, Saint-Étienne holds that distinction, with 10 titles to PSG's 9. But "Sainté", aka "Les Verts" aren't likely to add to their tally, since they haven't been relevant for decades.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that I'd go so far as to say that I hate Brady. I try not to hate anybody, even if the degree to which I'm successful in that endeavor is subject to debate. I don't care so much about Deflategate. It's the Trump supporter thing which really bothers me, and which you didn't acknowledge here. As you know, I'm not a big fan of anybody in the political arena, but Trump sickens me on a visceral level. Everything he says and does reveals his arrogance, neediness, shamelessness and self-indulgence. I'm not even exaggerating – literally everything. So anyone who persists in trivializing and enabling his dangerously beyond the pale and indefensible behavior is a hopelessly misguided asshole in my view, whether it's Tom Brady or John Lydon. Rotten is an articulate and gifted lyricist and provocateur, which I feel is at the heart of what drew a lot of us to him back in the day – we felt he had a rare talent for getting under the skin of people who clearly had it coming. He's since lapsed into self-parody, like the proverbial drunk uncle running his mouth at family gatherings while everybody waits for him to finally shut his pie hole.
Getting back to football though – yes, Brady's an exceptionally gifted quarterback. I'm certainly not suggesting otherwise. But I've had my fill of him. If that makes me a "hater", so be it.