Super Bowl LV By: Jack Hill

         On February 7th, 2021 the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs met at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida to play for the Lombardi Trophy.  This Super Bowl marked the first time that a team had a home Super Bowl game in the 55 years of the league!  It also marked the chance for the Kansas City Chiefs to win their second consecutive Super Bowl.  However those two stories were not the highlights of the game.  Instead, the story was about the quarterbacks, Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes.  Essentially Brady representing the "old generation" and Mahomes representing the "new generation"  Tom Brady had a successful career with the New England Patriots winning six Super Bowls until last March when he signed with the Buccaneers.  On the other hand, Patrick Mahomes' NFL career has just begun and he is expected to break many records!  Mahomes was drafted 10th overall in the 2017 draft by the Kansas City Chiefs and since then he has won a Super Bowl and the 2018 MVP award.  The two quarterbacks have played each other in the regular season and postseason before with the series being tied two to two.  Their most recent matchup occurred in November when Mahomes' Chiefs defeated Tom Brady's Buccaneers 27-24 in a game that was dominated by Chiefs star Wide Receiver Tyreek Hill.  That victory however, would be Mahomes' last against Brady this season.

          The game started off like most Super Bowls do being extremely slow.  Both defenses held strong during the initial drives which resulted in both teams punting the ball.  After ten minutes of regulation being played, the first points of the game were scored by the Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker.  This would end up being the Chiefs only lead in the game.  At the end of the first quarter, Tom Brady was responsible for leading the Buccaneers offense 75 yards down the field which was capped of by an eight yard touchdown pass to Brady's good old friend from the Patriots, Rob Gronkowski.  In the beginning of the second quarter the Chiefs defensive safety Tyrann Mathieu stopped Tampa Bay at the one yard line on fourth down which resulted in the Chiefs gaining possession.  Mahomes was unable to take advantage of the possession so this was actually the turning point of the game.  The Bucs would go down on this drive and score a touchdown with a pass from Tom Brady to none other than Rob Gronkowski.  Subsequently the Chiefs responded with a field goal making the game 14-6 with one minute left in the half.  For an average quarterback, one minute would end the quarter but Tom Brady is not average.  A couple of big plays and a few defensive pass interference calls resulted in Tampa Bay having the ball at the Chiefs one yard line with ten seconds left.  This drive was capped off by Tom Brady throwing a one yard curl route to wide receiver Antonio Brown.  The score going into halftime was 21-6 and it was now The Weekend's time to take the field for the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show.

            Even though the Chiefs faced a deficit of 15 points at halftime there was still hope for Las Vegas bets and for fans that the Chiefs could possibly come back and win the game.  The Chiefs received the ball coming out of the half, drove down the field, and kicked a 52 yard field goal.  The next drive ended up being a big drive for the Buccaneers.  Would they play it safe and let the Chiefs come back in the game or would they try to increase the Chiefs deficit?  Tom Brady and the Bucs offense drove 75 yards down the field which resulted in a Leonard Fournette 27 yard touchdown run.  After this drive Patrick Mahomes would throw an unusual interception and the Bucs would then score a field goal.  This was the point in the game that fans started to party in Tampa Bay.  The fourth quarter of the game showed a frustrated Mahomes trying to score and Brady looking poised and confident as a future Hall of Fame player.  As the clock expired Mahomes and the Chiefs were in disbelief of the 31-9 score.  Super Bowl LV marked Tom Brady's seventh Lombardi Trophy, solidifying him as the GOAT and giving him his third head to head win vs the GOAT of the next generation of NFL players, Patrick Mahomes.  Brady also received the Super Bowl MVP award completing 21 of 29 passes and throwing for 201 yards and three touchdowns.  This was special but nothing new for the quarterback who has been honored with this award four other times. Super Bowl LVI is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, California in the brand new SoFi Stadium.  Will Mahomes and Brady meet again?  As for me and traditions, I am hoping that the home team (The LA Chargers) will be playing in the next Super Bowl!