In the biggest game of the year on Sunday night in Tampa Bay, Florida it was a cool 72 degrees with partly cloudy skies as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were set to host the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. For the Buccaneers entering the game, they were set for smooth sailing scoring their first touchdown on their third first quarter possession with 30 seconds left. The Chiefs were only able to score a field goal on their second possession of the first quarter. Questions began to arise, where were the electric Kansas City Chiefs and Mahomes. From the start, Tampa Bay made it very clear to the Chiefs they were playing in their house.
As the game progressed, Patrick Mahomes would continue to struggle going 26 for 49 on passing attempts with no passing touchdowns. Overall, Patrick Mahomes threw for 270 total yards with 133 yards being to tight end Travis Kelce. This performance of the Chiefs was lackluster for the most explosive offense the NFL has seen in the 2020/21 season. The reason the Buccaneers kept the Chiefs from scoring a touchdown is credited to two things Todd Bowels and the defense.
Todd Bowles’ defense kept consistent pressure by dropping two deep safeties and rushing only four on the offensive line. This smart defensive plan works because it allowed Tyreek Hill to be consistently doubled team on deep passing routes and have Kelce work on the inside route. This mixed with the pressure Mahomes faced 29 times, a Superbowl record, the whole night made the Chiefs work for every yard.
Head coach Bruce Arians went on record after the game saying “ He (Todd Bowles) was simply tired of hearing of them being unstoppable”.
The Kansas City Chiefs scored a total of nine points throughout the four quarters of the Super Bowl compared to the Bucc’s who scored 31 points. Tom Brady threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns with 67 of those yards and two touchdowns going to TE Gronkowski. The Buccaneers simply outplayed the Chiefs on both sides of the ball in Super Bowl 55. The Buc’s outran and out passed the Chiefs with the Bucs rushing for 145 yards with a touchdown compared to the Chiefs 107 rushing yards.
In the end, Tom Brady and the Buccaneers would win Super Bowl 55, 31- 9 giving Brady his 7th Super Bowl win and the Bucs their second. This loss will hurt Kansas City’s dynasty moving forward for a couple of reasons. The first simply being Patrick Mahomes now has lost a Super Bowl to a 43 year old Quarterback who many thought was at the end of his career. I think Mahomes saw ghosts while he was in the game. This loss will hurt Kansas City for the future because now teams have seen what it takes to stop the Chiefs and they are taking notes.
Ending the Historic Night of Super Bowl 55 we saw the unbeatable be beaten and great defense bring home a championship. As the night ended Patrick Mahomes was put on the hot seat in his post game interview as he discussed Sunday’s loss “ They beat us pretty good, probably the worst I’ve been beaten in a long time”.
Is it time to worry about the future of the Chief’s dynasty? The simple answer is no it’s one loss, but it opens up the door for more teams to pick them apart as the Buc’s did on Sunday.
