Tom Brady — The Greatest of all Times
...as Tampa Bay Buccaneers win Super Bowl 55 over the Kansas City Chiefs
The events leading up to, and the staging of Super Bowl LV (55) were nowhere near anything ever experienced before and the predicted ‘game for the ages’ turned out to be a ‘game for the ageless’.
Everything was in place for a storybook ending to a most unprecedented season: Tom Brady (the ageless one) moved to Tampa Bay at the end of last season, and guided the Buccaneers to their first Super Bowl since 2003. In his 21st season, with a record four Super Bowl Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards, Brady played his 10th championship game last Sunday and, when the dust settled, emerged with another title, another MVP award, and became the first quarterback (QB) to win Super Bowls across three decades.
Brady played his first Super Bowl when his counterpart Patrick Mahomes was about six years old, but left the dynasty he helped build with the New England Patriots after 20 seasons, to masterfully steer the Buccaneers to the big dance in his first year with the team. And with that, ensured they would be the first team to ever play the Super Bowl on home soil.
The game began on an ominous note for the Kansas City Chiefs following them winning the coin toss and choosing to defer. In the six previous Super Bowls, the winners of the coin toss elected to defer and went on to lose the game. As fate would have it, the Chiefs would prove to be the seventh-straight team to do so.
The Chiefs opened the scoring with a field goal following a dropped pass in the end zone by standout receiver Tyreek Hill. Tampa Bay responded on the subsequent drive with a Brady touchdown pass to tight end Rob Gronkowski to close the first quarter, and the writing was already on the wall. Kansas City went on to score only three field goals (one each in the first three quarters) and no touchdowns, culminating in an embarrassing 31-9 loss.
In the first half, Kansas City was penalised a Super Bowl record 95 penalty yards that may have rendered them less aggressive in the second stanza. A number of the calls were questionable, and could have been ignored (considering the magnitude of the game), but the efficiency of the Brady-led offence was undeniable, while the patchwork offensive line of the Chiefs offered very little protection for Mahomes.
Despite that, the Chiefs were trailing by only 15 points at half-time, and were well within striking distance. However, following a Mahomes interception in the third quarter, the dream quickly transformed into a nightmare, and it was slow death the rest of the way.
Mahomes was limited by an injured toe, and had to depend on backup tackles, who failed miserably, which saw him scrambling on, seemingly, with every snap. The Tampa Bay defence quickly realised their opponent’s limitations and capitalised on every opportunity and, at the same time, were successful in nullifying the explosive impact of Hill and, to some extent, tight end Travis Kelce.
Mahomes completed 26 of 49 passes for 270 yards, but had two interceptions that eventually proved too much to overcome. The Kansas City offence failed to score an offensive touchdown for the first time since November 2017, and had they not dropped two very catchable passes in the end zone, the game might have lived up to expectations.
Brady completed 80 per cent of his passes in the first half — the most by any QB in any half of a Super Bowl — but the true heroes of the game were the Tampa Bay defence. Prior to last Sunday, in his 54 NFL career starts, Mahomes had never lost by double digits, and the nine points scored in the game were the fewest with him as starting QB.
The blanketing Buccaneers defence has had an impressive run since narrowly losing to the Chiefs in Week 12 of the regular season. They have engineered eight straight wins (including the Super Bowl) and, along the way, managed to better three previous Super Bowl MVPS during the postseason: Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints), Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers) and Mahomes — a feat never before achieved.
The MVP of Super Bowl LV was awarded to Tom Brady (his fifth) who, at 43 years of age, has succeeded beyond the wildest dreams of any QB, and has piled on unparalleled accomplishments. However, what really came through for Tampa Bay was Brady’s influence, guile and experience.
The four touchdowns for Tampa Bay last Sunday were scored by players who were not on the team in 2019, and only signed up because of Brady’s existence; Gronkowski came out of retirement at the convincing of Brady (two touchdowns), Leonard Fournette was lured by the GOAT’S (greatest of all time) presence, and Brady persuaded management to sign embattled receiver Antonio Brown.
Brady now has 34 postseason victories — the next closest is Joe Montana with 16 — and used every bit of experience to school his opposite number. He quickly snapped the ball on most plays, which kept the Kansas City defence off balance, and prevented them from setting. He has added to a blazing legacy with his seventh Super Bowl triumph and, following the promise of more to come during the victory celebrations, this could be the beginning of another enticing run.
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