THE GREATEST NFL PLAYER OF ALL-TIME WILL SQUARE OFF WITH THE GREATEST NFL PLAYER OF RIGHT NOW WHEN THE BUCCANEERS MEET THE CHIEFS IN SUPER BOWL LV SUNDAY AT 5:30 P.M. ON NEWSCHANNEL 5. — The greatest NFL player of all-time will square off with the greatest NFL player of right now when the Buccaneers meet the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV Sunday at 5:30 p.m. on NewsChannel 5.
Tom Brady will make his record 10th Super Bowl appearance as he looks to become the first player to win seven Super Bowl titles. Brady already holds the record of six championships, but winning a seventh would actually give him one more title than any organization in the league. Both the Patriots and Steelers have won the Super Bowl six times.
Of course Brady is seeking his first title as quarterback of the Buccaneers. The 43-year-old signed with Tampa Bay last offseason after 20 years in New England. He led the Bucs to an 11-5 record that included four straight wins to end the regular season to earn a NFC Wild Card berth.
Tampa’s won three more games in the playoffs, all on the road, at Washington, New Orleans and Green Bay to become the first team in NFL history to have the opportunity to play in a Super Bowl in their home stadium. The Bucs will not, however, be able to enjoy their typical home field advantage at Raymond James Stadium. There will only be about 25,000 fans in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including about 7,500 vaccinated healthcare workers, and the cannons on the famous pirate ship will not fire during the game.
The Chiefs are also impacted by COVID-19 as they get set for the biggest game of the season. In an effort to simplify things given the NFL’s testing protocols, the franchise elected to stay home in Kansas City until Saturday instead of traveling to the game site like Super Bowl teams in the past. This way the Chiefs can keep their routine before traveling to Tampa Bay on Saturday just like they would for any other road trip.
Kansas City is seeking to become the first team to repeat as Super Bowl champions since New England did it back in 2004-2005. The Chiefs beat the 49ers in last year’s Super Bowl in Miami behind a MVP performance from Patrick Mahomes.
The team’s star quarterback won league MVP honors after the 2018 season and will be up for the award again Saturday night. But he is most focused on trying to win his second ring as the Chiefs look to build a dynasty around a still young core group of players.
Mahomes is surrounded by a talented group of wide receivers to throw to in Tyreek Hill, MeCole Hardman and Sammy Watkins, an elite tight end in Travis Kelce and rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire to go along with former rushing champ LeVeon Bell.
They’ll try to get the best of a good Bucs defense with a pass rush that bothered Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in the NFC Championship game.
The matchup also features two well respected coaches in the latter stages of their career. Soon to be 66-year-old Andy Reid had been criticized for his playoff failures and 12-14 postseason record before the Chiefs run to the Super Bowl last year. Now he’s directed Kansas City to five straight playoff wins and the brink of a repeat championship.
Tampa Bay’s coached by 68-year-old Bruce Arians, who didn’t get the opportunity to be a NFL head coach until 2012 when he was elevated to be interim head coach in Indianapolis following Chuck Pagano’s cancer diagnosis. Since then he’s gone 76-47 in seven and a half seasons with the Colts, Cardinals and now Bucs. He reached a NFC Championship game in Arizona, but now has the chance to win his first Super Bowl title as a head coach after being a part of two championships as an assistant.
No matter who wins Sunday the storylines will be plentiful. And the NFL will be able to celebrate a champion in the midst of a worldwide pandemic that made many think that playing a full season would be impossible.
