Super Bowl LV kicked off this past Sunday, Feb. 7, with the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers battling for the championship. In terms of odds, the Chiefs opened this game as a 3.5-point favorite for good reason. They had the best offense in the NFL during the regular season in large part thanks to the most talented quarterback Patrick Mahomes and All-Pro receiving options in Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce (415.8 yards per game, 303.4 passing yards per game, 30.1 points per game).  They also defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 12, 27-24. However, in that game, the Buccaneers came back in the fourth quarter.

On the other hand, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers struggled through the regular season, having a 7-5 record going into their bye week. After the bye week though, they were a perfect 7-0 including the postseason and all that mattered was that they had the greatest quarterback ever, Tom Brady.

In the first quarter, the Chiefs and Buccaneers didn’t do much during their first three possessions. However, at the end of the quarter, Tom Brady threw a touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski, putting them up 7-3. That was their 13th postseason touchdown, the most ever by a quarterback-wide receiver duo. 

Chung, Patrick (PatrickChung23). “just witnessed history. Blessed to see this @RobGronkowski @TomBrady greatest of all time. Both of you.” 7 Feb. 2021, 8:08 PM. Tweet. 

In the second quarter, the high-scoring Chiefs once again could not get anything going through the air or on the ground, managing to only kick another field goal. The Buccaneers, however, scored two more touchdowns, another one to Rob Gronkowski and one to Antonio Brown. It was 21-6 going into halftime. 

This year’s halftime show was performed by the Weeknd. He spent $7 million of his own money to put together what he envisioned. The majority of the public enjoyed this performance, highlighted by his song “Blinding Lights” at the end. 

After halftime, the Chiefs quickly went down the field but only came away with a field goal because of the Buccaneers’ stout defense. The Buccaneers were relentless and scored another 10 points, pushing the score to 31-9. At this point, the game was over. Neither team scored again in the fourth quarter. 

The Chiefs were doomed by some terrible drops, one by Tyreek Hill and another by Darrel Williams. Both drops could have resulted in touchdowns after Mahomes made some of the most ridiculous incomplete throws ever. The Chiefs’ offensive line was also atrocious and let the Buccaneer pass rushers get to Mahomes in a matter of seconds. 

“Mahomes ran for 497 yards before either passing or being sacked tonight. 497,” said NFL analyst Scott Porter. “Bucs only blitzed 5 times. Pressured 29 times on 56 drop backs. Most ever in a Super Bowl.”

This Super Bowl victory marks number seven for Tom Brady (he was also the Super Bowl MVP). After what he did in this game at the age of 43, he is now the undisputed GOAT in most people’s eyes. 

Bayless, Skip (RealSkipBayless).“THOMAS EDWARD PATRICK BRADY JR., THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME EVEN GREATER AT AGE 43. NEVER BEEN ANYTHING LIKE HIM.” 7 Feb. 2021. 7:13 PM. Tweet.

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