Thoughts on Sunday’s big game
The Big Game is upon us. The show. The spectacle. Some may forget that between all the fanfare and commercials, the wings and seven-layer dip, an actual game will be played on Sunday.
It’s the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, who rallied to defeat the 49ers last year, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who return to the game led by Super Bowl mainstays Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski.
Who do you have? The elder Bucs or the young buck?
Brady, the 43-year-old from San Mateo, became arguably the most successful quarterback in NFL history with six championships over his 20-year career with the New England Patriots. He left the icy Northeast for the sunny climes of Florida in 2020, and was joined by his long-time partner in crime, tight end Rob Gronkowski. The Bucs and coach Bruce Arians gathered a team around him, and now he’s back for his 10th Super Bowl appearance.
On the other side is the defending champion Chiefs, which rallied from a 20-10 deficit in last year’s game to beat the 49ers 31-20. With fourth-year star Patrick Mahomes under center and ProBowlers Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill at his side, Kansas City’s high-flying offense has not let them down.
I asked around, inside the newsroom and outside, to see what the feeling is about Sunday’s game.
Two local football coaches are on the same page — Tokay’s Michael Holst and Galt’s Tim Cobleigh both have Tampa Bay penciled in as the winner.
“Buccaneers will be the winner,” Cobleigh said via email. “Defense is playing lights out right now and that is what it takes to win Championships. And the vast experience of Tom Brady has their offense clicking.”
Holst also likes the Buccaneers’ defense.
“I’m going with the Bucs to win (partially out of spite though since the Chiefs beat my Niners last year),” Holst wrote. “Also, I think the Bucs defense will play well, especially with injury issues up front for the Chiefs offensive line. Their pass rush with Shaq (Barrett), JPP (Jason Pierre-Paul) and (Ndamukong) Suh can generate pressure. (Devin) White and (Lavonte) David are studs and Tampa gets (Antoine) Winfield Jr. back. It might be enough to hold the Chiefs to points in the 20s.”
Inside the newsroom, sentiment is mixed, with News Writer Wes Bowers siding with the Bucs and Editor Scott Howell taking up the cause of the Chiefs.
“I can't stand Tom Brady, and I'd love to see KC win, but he's 6-3 in the Super Bowl,” Bowers said.
Howell had trouble looking past