Super Bowl Preview -- Tom Brady vs. History
John Crowe, Sports Contributor
Super Bowl Preview -- Tom Brady vs. History
Needless to say, Tom Brady has done a lot of rubbing it in over the course of his 21-year NFL career. This Sunday, Brady will appear in his record 10th Super Bowl and first with his new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In his first nine trips to the Big Game with the New England Patriots, TB12 has garnered a record 6 Lombardi Trophies. Now, he'll make history again as the Bucs become the first team to play a Super Bowl in its home stadium with Super Bowl LV.
"Maybe some people can wake up and play PlayStation all day, but that's never been me." – Tom Brady
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThat's probably one of the main reasons why Brady is still playing quarterback in the NFL at the age of 43 at an elite level. His mental toughness and drive are unmatched around the league. You would think that at his advanced age for competitive sports, Brady would be talking about possibly winning and retiring, yet during this week's media sessions, Brady is actively talking about playing past the age of 45. Simply amazing.
This Sunday, Brady will face more than a worthy challenger on the other side of the field as the reigning, defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes. At the tender young age of 25, Mahomes is already a SB Champ, NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP and if the Chiefs win, he'll lead the first team to defend its title since the 2003-04 Patriots.
It'll be the fifth matchup between the two star QBs with each coming out with a pair of wins. Brady's the only quarterback, then with the Patriots in the 2018 AFC Championship, to beat Mahomes in the playoffs.
Now, this won't be your normal Championship Game with COVID-19 protocols in place. In the stands, they'll be only about 22,000 fans, 7,250 of which will be healthcare workers who are there are guests of the NFL to honor their service over the past year. The Chiefs will treat it much like a regular season game, flying into Tampa on Saturday and leaving after the game Sunday night/Monday morning. There's no staying in Tampa this week as in year's past for anyone but the Bucs who remain at their own houses.
On the field, the Chiefs will be without left tackle Eric Fisher, out with an Achilles tendon injury. Mike Remmers and Andrew Wylie will be in new spots to protect Mahomes against the likes of Jason Pierre-Paul, Shaq Barrett and Ndamukong Suh. They should get back wide receiver Sammy Watkins back from a calf injury though.
As for the Bucs, wide receiver Antonio Brown should be available after missing the NFC Championship with a knee injury. Tight end Cameron Brate suffered a late week back injury and while he’s officially questionable for the game like Brown, he is expected to play.
Let’s be honest, both teams are loaded offensively. Mahomes has Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Mecole Hardman, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and more to lean on. As for Brady, he went from no weapons in Foxboro to having Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Brate, Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette to go along with Rob Gronkowski and Brown.
I’ll give the Bucs the advantage running the ball as the Bucs have been the best in the league at stopping the ground game all season long. It’s in the air that the Chiefs should have the edge over the young Bucs secondary. But, in their playoff run, Devin White has been a big help in coverage, so expect him to play a role in trying to take out Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
That edge was in full effect when the two teams met back in week 12, also in Tampa, with the Chiefs dominating early with a 17-0 first quarter lead before holding on for the 27-24 victory. We all remember Mahomes and Hill doing whatever they wanted in that first quarter. Hill snagged 203 yards with scores of 75 and 44 yards before ending with 13 catches, 269 yards and three touchdowns for the day. Mahomes finished with 37-49, 462 yards and 3 TDs.
What should be scary for the Bucs is this nugget from Hill on how good Mahomes has looked in practice the past two weeks.
“I haven’t seen Pat throw dots like this before in practice. I mean he’s throwing dots. It’s crazy” said Hill, according to the team’s website.
As for Brady back in that November game, he did toss three scores and 346 yards but did throw a pair of interceptions while playing catch-up all game. In that first quarter, the Bucs got just one first down and 44 yards of offense.
But, let's be honest, Tampa Bay is not the same team the Chiefs saw that November day. Neither team has lost since that game as well and the Bucs offense has been in full attack mode. Can Chris Jones and Frank Clark get enough pressure on Brady Sunday to force him into some bad mistakes?
Kansas City comes in three-point favorites according to Bonus.com. The line itself has barely moved since opening at Chiefs at -3.5 back on January 24th.
For now, both teams have escaped a huge COVID-19 scare. The Chiefs activated wide receiver Demarcus Robinson on Friday and should have center Daniel Kilgore, who needs one more negative test before gametime, back as well. Both were placed on the COVID-19 reserve list after a brush with a barber who tested positive. The same barber who was about to get ready to cut 20 other Chiefs’ hair including Mahomes.
Weather could be a factor as there’s a 60% chance of rain for Sunday according to Weather.com, but it looks like it should clear out for game time, where there’s only a chance for showers. Something to keep an eye on, of course. This is South Florida after all.
So, who will win the Big Game? The head says that the Chiefs repeat, probably with a 7-10 point victory. Everything points that way. But, how can you bet against Tom Brady in a season in which it seems everything has fallen into place since leaving the Patriots. The question will be do we get the Brady that played in the first half of the Packers in the NFC Championship Game, leading the Bucs straight down the field completing third down after third down for touchdowns or do we get the Brady that threw three interceptions on three successive drives in the second half? Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnola has burned Brady before back in 2008 with the Giants to stop the perfect season for New England. In that game, the Patriots were favored by 12 but held to just 14 points, losing 17-14 in the final minutes in the infamous David Tyree helmet catch game.
In the end, how do you go against the G.O.A.T.?
Prediction: Bucs 30-27
Super Bowl MVP: Tom Brady