The first home Super Bowl in the history of the sport is upon us. On one side of the ball Brady just won his 1st NFC Championship after going on the road to take down the #2 Pass Defense, Drew Brees, and Aaron Rodgers. On the other side of the ball Mahomes embarrassed the Bills for his 2nd AFC Championship.
These 2 QBs are 2-2 against each other and all 4 matchups were 1 possession games. Unlike Brees & Rodgers, Brady has faced Mahomes in the postseason and came out on top on the way to his 6th ring. He has also faced Andy Reid in Super Bowl XXXIX. A lot has changed since both of those games, so soak in all of the headlines and storylines, we’re in for a treat.
Super Bowl LV
6:30 p.m. ET | CBS | Raymond James Stadium | Tampa, FL | O/U 56.5
5 Tampa Bay @ 1 Kansas City (-3)
Jake: Buccaneers
It is really freaking hard to pick against the Kansas City Chiefs. They’re the defending champions with a borderline unstoppable offense, and a perennially underrated defense. From a coaching standpoint the Chiefs have the advantage: though I don’t think one Super Bowl win erases Andy Reid’s legacy as a postseason choker, but he’s certainly a better coach than Arians. As much as I like Steve Spanguolo though, I think Todd Bowls is right there with him as a D Coordinator, as he’s had an impressive season specifically helping a young and relatively inconsistent secondary excel this postseason. On the offensive side of things, if the Chiefs do everything right there’s no chance they lose this game. The problem is that they’re missing multiple starting offensive lineman, and though it’s been a good few weeks since the injury, Mahomes is still recovering from a toe injury. As much as the Chiefs offense functions due to Mahomes’ arm strength and the Chiefs’ receivers’ separation ability, it also requires Mahomes to take deeper dropbacks than most QBs. Throwing with a messed up toe is also not the easiest thing to do, and that’s likely the reason Mahomes did not complete a pass over 20 yards against the Bills (and only attempted one). The underneath game is going to be more of a key than usual for the Chiefs, and while Kelce and Hill are largely unstoppable, the return of speedy CB Jamel Dean helps the Bucs’ cause with stopping Hill. At the end of the day I don’t think the Chiefs offense is going to be AS explosive as we’ve seen them be in this one, and in any situation where it’s a close game, I’m taking Tom Brady 100/100 times.
Sam: Chiefs
There's two camps in this game; Brady fans who are taking the Buccaneers at an alarming rate, and everybody else. Yes this is going to be a close game and in sports anything can happen in any given day, but the Chiefs clearly are the best team in the NFL by a wide margin and the rightful favorite to win this game. The O-Line injuries are a little concerning going up against a strong pass rushing team like Tampa Bay, but Kansas City has enough buffer room in their all around superiority to make up for that. Although Patrick Mahomes has some healthy issues that are concerning to some, I couldn't be less worried about a toe injury he was able to play through in a win vs Buffalo, and then rest for two weeks. I’m pretty confident in a Chiefs win this sunday, and I wonder how tying the record for most Super Bowl losses will affect Tom Brady’s legacy.
Johnny: Buccaneers
This is going to be a great game. Despite the Chiefs legendary 1st half against the Bucs earlier in the season, it was just a 3pt game in the end. Brady has worked even more with his weapons and developed more of a chemistry with Antonio Brown for there to be a more competitive full 60 minutes. Mike Evans should be more involved because KC shouldn’t be able to shut him down as much as the Packers and Saints could, so that is a new factor along with Godwin, AB, and towards the 3rd quarter Miller, Brate, and Gronk getting involved. It’s going to take everyone from both teams to contribute to a ring for each of these franchises. If the Bruce Arians doesn’t execute and the Bucs pass catchers continue their drops and miscommunicate with Brady, Mahomes won’t have a hard time, but if both teams are at their best, Super Bowl LV will be an instant classic.