Off to the Super Bowl
‘‘I’m just pretty gutted,’’ Rodgers said. ‘‘It’s a long season. You put so much into it to get to this point. We had our chances.’’
Tampa Bay took command in the middle portion of the game.
After Sean Murphy-Bunting intercepted a Rodgers pass and Tampa Bay converted a fourth-and4, the Bucs were at Green Bay’s 39 with 8 seconds remaining. The Bucs passed up a long field-goal attempt, and Brady found Miller down the left sideline for a 39-yard touchdown catch with just 1 second remaining.
‘‘We didn’t come here to not take chances to win the game,’’ Arians said. ‘‘Love the play we had. Got a great matchup and got a TD. That
Packers got the ball with a chance to take the lead after Jaire Alexander picked off Brady passes deep in Green Bay territory. Both times, the Packers went three-and-out against Tampa Bay’s fierce defense.
It’s been quite a ride for Brady and the Bucs. Brady moved to Tampa as a free agent and brought star tight end Rob Gronkowski out of retirement to join him. But with limited practice time with his new teammates because of coronavirus protocols, the Bucs didn’t get rolling until after their bye week.
Now look where they are.
‘‘It’s been a great journey this far,’’ Brady said.
And it’s taking them right back home.
Meanwhile, it took the Kansas City Chiefs five frustrating decades to make their second Super Bowl appearance. Now, the defending champs are headed there for the second straight year.
Showing no lingering effects from his concussion, Patrick Mahomes sliced up Buffalo’s secondary with ruthless efficiency yesterday, helping the Chiefs roll to a
38-24 victory over Josh Allen and the Bills in the AFC championship game.
The reigning Super Bowl MVP finished with 325 yards passing and three touchdowns, most of it to favourite targets Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill, who complemented their star quarterback with a recordsetting night of their own.
Kelce finished with 13 catches for
118 yards and two touchdowns, and Hill added nine catches for 172 yards, becoming the first duo in NFL history with consecutive games of at least 100 yards receiving each in a single postseason.