Which SUPER Offense Will Have The Last Laugh?
Sunday, February 7th, 2021 @ 6:40 PM EST
Tampa Bay Buccaneers v. Kansas City Chiefs
Tampa Bay, FL
The winner of Super Bowl LV will be decided in the final two minutes of the game.
Either, Tom Brady will add another game-winning drive to his resumé for a 7th ring. Or, Pat Mahomes will navigate his offense downfield and find the end zone to repeat as Super Bowl Champions.
NFL fans were blessed with a Super Bowl LV teaser in week 12.
November 29th, the Chiefs outlasted the Buccaneers 27-24 in Tampa Bay on a Sunday evening.
The Bucs outscored the Chiefs 17-7 in the second half. However, they could not overcome the 17 unanswered points scored by the Chiefs in the 1st quarter. The Bucs struggled early to find a rhythm on either side of the ball.
Mahomes completed 76% of his passes for 462 yards and 3 TDs. WR Tyreek Hill was undoubtedly the player of the game with 13 catches on 15 targets, 269 yards and all three of Mahomes passing TDs.
Brady finished the game completing 66% of his passes for 345 yards, 3 TDs and 2 INTs. He showed his 4th quarter perseverance by finding Mike Evans twice in the end zone. But, by that time in the game, it was too late for a comeback.
That’s exactly how Super Bowl LV will play out.
The biggest matchup will be the ‘Big G.O.A.T. v. Baby G.O.A.T.’ If basketball fans were to have anything remotely close to this, it would be ‘Jordan vs. LeBron’ in the NBA Finals.
There are other key matchups you should keep an eye on during the Super Bowl.
First matchup is if the Chiefs secondary will be able to contain all of Brady’s targets?
The Buccaneers offense features WRs Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, RBs Ronald Jones II, Leonard Fournette and TE Rob Gronkowski.
Brown is the only one of Brady’s weapons listed as questionable (knee) for the Super Bowl. But expect #81 on the field this Sunday.
The Chiefs allowed 63% of passes to be completed for 236 yards per game in the air this season. Their secondary has SS Tyrann Mathieu. FS Daniel Sorensen, CB Bashaud Breeland and CB Charvarius Ward.
Mathieu is the fearless leader for that defense. He racked up 62 tackles and 6 INTs (career high) in 2020. His coverage skills and physicality has kept him in the conversation with the best safeties in the game.
But there could be a matchup problem for the Chiefs secondary when it comes to covering Antonio Brown.
Second matchup to watch is the timing of the Bucs front seven vs. the speed of Mahomes targets.
Of course we know that WRs Tyreek Hill, Mecole Hardman, TE Travis Kelce and RBs Edwards-Helaire and LeVeon Bell have the speed to find creases in any defense. But, can the Bucs defensive line yield a speedy Chiefs offense for one game?
The Bucs finshed 4th in the NFL in sacks this season. They averaged at least 3 per game. But, their secondary allowed almost 70% of pass completions. That average sounds like bait facing a quarterback with Mahomes style of play.
Which is: escape the pocket, give receivers time to get open and find a target.
Will Jason Pierre-Paul, Ndamukong Suh and William Gholston be able to chase down Mahomes in the backfield? Or, will they tire out before the 4th quarter starts?
Lastly, will Andy ‘Big Red’ Reid outcoach Bruce Arians?
This will be Arians first dance he’s earned an invitation to as a Head Coach.
Technically, he’s coached in a Super Bowl but only as an assistant coach for the Steelers in 2005 and 2008. This time Arians perspective will need to be completely different heading into the game.
Now for Andy Reid, he is no stranger to the big stage. This will be his third appearance in the Super Bowl as a Head Coach.
In 2005, Andy Reid took the Philadelphia Eagles to Super Bowl 39 and lost by a field goal. To who? None other than Tom Brady. Although Reid is a relatively quiet guy, expect him to make a huge statement vs. the Bucs.
But this Super Bowl preparation has been a bit different for Big Red because of off-field distractions leading up to the big game.
In the beginning of the week, the Chiefs had a health scare.
One of the team’s barber tests came back positive for COVID-19 mid-haircut. Since then, the team has tested the two players, WR Demarcus Robinson and C Daniel Kilgore, who came in contact with the barber.
They have tested negative throughout the week of mandatory testing. Since then, Robinson has been reactivated from the COVID-19 Protocol List; Kilgore is still waiting to be reactivated.
Later in the week, Chiefs Linebacker Coach and son of Andy Reid, Britt, was involved in a car accident that left two young children hospitalized. One of the two has said to have suffered life-threatening injuries.
Britt Reid admitted to the Kansas City Missouri Police that he had “two or three drinks” before driving his vehicle that evening. The Police, National Football League and Chiefs organization are still investigating the accident that took place Thursday evening.
With only a day left before the game, these are the lingering questions to be answered.
If Brady wins a ring without former coach, Bill Belichick, does that stamp him as the greatest football player to ever walk the face of the Earth?
Or, if Pat Mahomes and Andy Reid can find a way to scoot past Brady, are they the next Head Coach/Quarterback combination to beat?
We will find out this Sunday @ 6:40 PM EST.