Preparing for the big game; Breaking down the stats as teams get ready to face off

The annual battle of the pigskin takes place this Sunday in Tampa Bay, Florida. The game pits Kansas City (14-2) against Tampa Bay (11-5). The game is set to kickoff at 5:30 p.m. Central Time.

This is being hyped as one of the best matchups in the history of the Championship Game. So, let us take a closer look at both teams, shall we.

Let's start with Kansas City; they are looking to be back-to-back champs for the first time since the team from New England accomplished it in the 2002-2003 seasons.

Kansas City is led by the 2018 MVP Patrick Mahomes. The young quarterback is entering his fourth year in the league, and his third as the starter. Mahomes is only 25 years old and one of the most recognized faces of Professional Football. The talented K.C. quarterback was second in the league in passing this year, with 4,740 yards, 38 touchdowns with only 6 interceptions.

Mahomes is not the only star on this team. Kansas City finished first in overall offense this year. This team is loaded with weapons as they have two of the most dangerous pass catchers in the league. Leading off with Travis Kelcie; while he may be listed as a tight end, do not let that fool you. Kelcie was second in the league in receiving yards and set a record for most receiving yards by a tight end in a single season with 105 receptions, 1,416 yards and 11 touchdowns. Now, if that was not enough, Kelcie is not even the most impressive player on his team. That designation goes to Tyrek Hill. If you do not know who Tyrek Hill is, let me tell you his nickname is “The Cheetah.” Hill is known for being one of, if not THE fastest men in all of football. He is so dynamic and brings a speed element to the game that is hard to duplicate. Hill finished this season with 87 receptions, 1,276 yards and 15 touchdowns. With this group of remarkable talent at Mahomes discretion, it is no wonder that Kansas

City is back in big game.

Now, let us delve into the team from Tampa Bay. They are led by what many consider to be one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time; the ageless wonder, Tom Brady. Brady is in his twenty-first season of football, in which, he spent his first twenty with New England. This will be Brady's tenth Championship game appearance. He has an amazing 6-3 record in his first nine appearances in football's game of the year. Brady who is In his first season with Tampa is 43 , but that did not slow him down as he ended up finishing third in passing this season with 4,633 yards, 40 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Like the young Kansas City quarterback, Brady has a ton of weapons of his own. We will begin with Mike Evans, the Texas A&M grad is a dangerous big-time threat. Evans had 70 receptions, 1,006 yards, and 13 touchdowns. Evans, with his big 6'5” 231-pound frame, is a big-time target in the Red Zone. He is followed by Chris Godwin, another dynamic target for Brady to use. Although, he did have a substandard year, he still had 65 catches, 840 yards with 7 touchdowns. We now come to one of Brady's long-time teammates, who came out of retirement to join Brady in Tampa; the one and only Rob Gronkowski. The duo spent nine seasons playing together in New England. This year, Gronk decided to come back to help Brady make yet another run at the big game, with his new team. Gronkowski had decent year with 45 receptions, 623 yards, and 7 touchdowns. He is always somebody that Brady looks for when he needs a big play. Tampa also has the always controversial, Antonio Brown. He joined Tampa Bay midway through the season after his suspension by the league was over. Even in a shortened season, Brown still had quite an impact with 45 catches, 483 yards, with 4 touchdowns.

Now that you know a little bit about both teams and their offense, let us break this game down as they go head-to-head. This is not the first time these teams have played this season. Both teams met up in this exact same stadium in week 12 of the season. K.C. came out on top in that matchup 27-24. Mahomes had an amazing day with 462 yards and 3 touchdowns. Tyrek Hill had an astonishing game with 13 catches for 269 yards and 3 touchdowns. Brady had a solid game as well with 342 yards, 3 touchdowns, but had 2 interceptions.

So, let's talk about these defenses before we make a prediction. Tampa had the sixth best defense in football this year, compared to Kansas City coming in at 16. Tampa really shines at stopping the run as they finished as the top team against the run. Now Kansas City has a better pass defense led by the doit-all Safety Tyrann Mathieu. He will be a player that Brady must identify before every snap. However, K.C. is not the only team that has playmakers. Tampa has an amazing front four led by Jason Pierre-paul, who had 9.5 sacks, who is joined by Devin White who came in with 9 sacks, Shaq Barrett had 8 sacks, and Ndamukong Suh had 6 sacks, respectively. Why do I mention the pass rush? Well, it turns out that Kanas City will be without there two starting tackles going into this game, so this could be a big factor.

If history has anything to say about this game, it does not bode well for the team from Kansas City since no American Conference team has ever beaten a National Conference team twice in one season.

Now that we have broken this game down from both sides, now it is time for the prediction. Kansas City is favored by three in this game and Vegas gives them about a 63% of winning. I, however, am taking the underdog in this one, Tampa Bay 24 to Kanas City 17.