Super Bowl LV

If I would have told you that the final score of Super Bowl LV would be 31-9 before the game began, you'd probably think the Kansas City Chiefs blew out the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Why? Because the Chiefs' Offense is the best in the NFL and Tampa Bay is historically the worst team in the NFL.

However, the exact opposite happened. Kansas City lost Super Bowl LV 31-9. While the Chiefs had quite a few chances throughout the game to score a touchdown, they only managed three field goals for the entire game. The Bucs' Defense simply played their best game of this awkward Season.

As for the Bucs' Offense, we've seen them play better. Yet, they didn't give the game away, which is what my team (the San Francisco 49ers) did in last year's Super Bowl. Last year, Kansas City had only managed to score 10 points by mid-4th Quarter and the 49ers could not hold onto a 20-10 lead.

This year, the Buccaneers did what the 49ers did not do in the 4th Quarter: They ran the football. Similar to last year, the Chiefs' Defense had trouble stopping the run. In turn, the Bucs kept running the ball until the Chiefs could slow them down. Last year, the 49ers ran the ball even better than the Bucs did tonight. Still, San Francisco leaned on the Pass, stopped the Clock with incompletions, and gave Kansas City the opportunity to get back into the game. Perhaps, Tampa Bay learned from the 49ers' mistake.

Furthermore, Tom Brady (yes, the 43-year-old Tom Brady who was pushed out of New England by the Coach) played the best game of this Season. Nothing spectacular, but no major mistakes. No Interceptions. He didn't hold the ball too long while trying to throw deep down the field. Kansas City pressured. Brady got rid of the ball quickly, as he's done throughout his career. He played smart. Took a few shots down the field to loosen up the Defense, but again, nothing spectacular.

And once again, like in the AFC Championship game, right before halftime, Tampa Bay drove down the field and scored a touchdown with only a minute left on the clock when they started the Drive. Well, they did get an assist from Kansas City's penchant for committing penalties.

Yes, in the first half especially, the Chiefs were getting the lion's share of penalties called against them. KC fans will argue this was unfair and a couple of Calls did feel unwarranted. The problem is, the majority of the Calls against the Chiefs' Defense were warranted.

Specifically? Lining up offsides when the Bucs were attempting a field goal. How do several players line up offsides on 4th down and 5 yards to go to give the Bucs an automatic 1st down? Personal fouls. Holding calls, at the most inopportune times. It was noticeably bad.

The Chiefs' Offense? Penalties were not the problem. The problem was the Offensive Line injuries KC suffered before Super Bowl LV began. Tampa Bay didn't need to blitz on Defense for much of the game because the front four of the Defensive Line harrassed Patrick Mahomes for nearly the entire game. And when Mahomes did escape to throw the ball, the Chiefs' receivers still had a tendency to drop the ball, especially at the beginning of the game.

Kansas City is notorious for their slow starts. They're usually down by double digit points before making a furious comeback. Unfortunately for them, the Buccaneers didn't allow them to come back. Even on KC's final possession of the game near the goal line, Mahomes threw the ball into a bit of traffic and the Bucs tipped and intercepted the ball in the End Zone. Not the best way to end the game.

A quick note about the Halftime Show: The Weekend did a very good job. Even though the Show always seems to run a bit long for my taste, I enjoyed the performance and presentation. Fireworks, Lights, the Orchestra, and all. Thought out very well. I don't think anyone was disappointed with it. Commercials? They were toned-down, overall. Heartfelt, in some cases, but nothing really stood out to me.

As for my pre-Super Bowl prediction, this game was a toss up. Simply because I didn't know how long Tampa Bay could hold a Chiefs' furious comeback. I knew the Bucs would be able to score, but could they outscore Kansas City? Yes, and they didn't need much production of Offense. Ten points would have sufficed. But 31 points took KC's run game out of the equation altogether. They had to throw the ball constantly, which constantly left Mahomes scrambling for dear life in the backfield.

Speaking of which, Patrick Mahomes threw two of the most incredible incompletions I have ever seen. He was literally falling to the ground while trying not to get sacked for a huge loss and hit both receivers ..literally in their helmets with the ball. No, the Chiefs' receivers didn't catch the ball, but I'm still amazed at how accurate the throws were.

For my final note, I have to bring up the shouting matches during the game between Tom Brady and the Chiefs' Safety Tyrann Mathieu (aka the Honey Badger). What was Tyrann doing? And why?

Tom Brady will come back at you. If you talk trash to him, he'll talk trash back to you using words I can't repeat. This is common knowledge. Next thing you know, whoever you're guarding, Tom Brady will throw the ball right by you. And he did in this game. Stared Tyrann down, which made Tyrann think Brady was throwing left... Instead, Brady threw the ball to the right, right down the middle of the field. Mathieu was out of position.

Then, Tampa Bay reached the goal line. Yes, Mathieu was guarding Antonio Brown. "AB" gave Tyrann so many quick, subtle movements in a small space, Tyrann didn't know what to do. Then, Brady threw a fastball low and away, which Brown caught for a touchdown. On cue, Brady runs right up to Mathieu to tell him all about it. This is not new. Remember the Safety for Pittsburgh, years back? Talked a lot of trash about Tom Brady before that playoff game and Brady lit him up. Touchdown, touchdown, touchdown. Brady told that guy all about it, too.

Which goes back to my original question: Why? Just leave the Quarterback alone. Lesson learned ...I think. Well, until the next player comes along. Right?

Oh, wait. I almost forgot. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the first team in NFL History to play in and win a Super Bowl that's hosted in a team's Home Stadium. Typically, you'll have two teams play the Super Bowl in someone else's stadium. This year, this was literally a Bucs' Home game. It's absolutely amazing.

While Tom Brady did win Super Bowl MVP (he's fifth to go along with his 7th Super Bowl win), Tampa Bay's Defense played outstanding for the entire game. The Coaching Staff was rock solid. However, since Brady was the team's biggest acquisition of the off-Season while bringing a winning mentality with him, he does deserve the MVP Award.

No, I will never say that Tom Brady is better than Joe Montana. Yes, the Patriots are still ..the evil Empire. I will say that Tom Brady has earned the respect of this 49ers' fan. He can share the GOAT status with Montana after this accomplishment. Well done, team.

-ecj