THE TYGRRRR EXPRESS

Super Bowl XL (55) Recap

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers took on the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. The game was played in Tampa, the first time a team ever played in the Super Bowl in their home stadium. Only 22,000 fans were in attendance, most of them first responders on the front line of the COVID fight. In the regular season the Chiefs went into Tampa and took a 17-0 first quarter lead. They led 27-10 after three quarters and coasted the rest of the way, winning 27-24. The Chiefs were 3 point favorites in this rematch. 

The Chiefs came in with several clouds hanging over them. Patrick Mahomes had an injured toe which would require surgery in the offseason. Starting left tackle Eric Fisher ruptured his achilles two weeks ago in the AFC Title Game and would miss the game. Thursday night Walrus Andy Reid’s ne’er-do-well son Britt Reid was in a multi-car crash that left a 5 year old girl fighting for her life. Britt Reid was drunk, and has a history od drunk driving among other crimes. He is the Chiefs linebacker coach, and did not travel to Tampa for the game. 

Distractions aside, the Chiefs were a 14-2 team, with one of those losses coming in the season finale when they played their backups. The victory over the Buccaneers dropped Tampa to 7-5. The Buccaneers then rebounded to finish the season 11-5. Tom Brady avenged a 38-3 home drubbing by the Saints, beating them in the playoffs and possibly sending Drew Brees into retirement. Brady then went into Green Bay for the second time this season and hit the Packers in the mouth for the second time. Aaron Rodgers was the NFL MVP, but it was Brady getting to the big game for the 10th time. Brady was seeking a 7th Super Bowl victory while Mahomes was looking for his 2nd straight Lombardi Trophy. Mahomes had never lost a game by double digits.

The Chiefs won the toss and deferred. A game that was expected to be an offensive shootout started with the teams exchanging punts. The Buccaneers punted a second time and the Chiefs took over at their own 38. They moved to the Tampa 30, but a pair of Mahomes incompletions were sandwiched around a run that lost a yard. Harrison Butker hit a 49 yard field goal to put the Chiefs up 3-0. The Buccaneers finally got going after a touchback with a heavy dose of the running game. Leonard Fournette ran for 3, 6, and on 3rd and 1 from their own 34, 6 more. Brady then hit Antonio Brown for 16 and Cameron Brate for 15. Fournette gained 11. Brady hit Rob Gronkowski for the 8 yard touchdown as the Buccaneers led 7-3 after the first quarter.

In the second quarter the Buccaneers got it back and moved from their own 30 to a 3rd and goal at the 2. Ronald Jones only gained one yard. Bruce Arians went for it. On 4th and goal at the one Jones got the carry and got stopped. There was a chance he broke the plane of the goal, but on further review the goal line stand stood. The Chiefs defense had come up big. Yet their high-powered offense was off all day. They gave the ball back with a shanked 29 yard punt that had the Buccaneers starting with a short field at the Chiefs 38. On 3rd and 4 from the Chiefs 32, Brady was intercepted by Tyrone Mathieu. It appeared the Chiefs defense had again come up big. Yet defensive holding nullified the interception and gave the Buccaneers a key first down. The Chiefs defense was penalized repeatedly on the day. On 3rd and 5 from the Chiefs 22, Brady threw incomplete. Ryan Succop hit the 40 yard field goal, but the Chiefs jumped offside. That horrendous mistake gave the Buccaneers another first down and caused Bruce Arians to take the points off the board. On the next play, Brady went back to Gronk for a 17 yard touchdown. The Buccaneers had a 14-3 lead with 6 minutes left in the half. 

After a touchback, the Chiefs moved 61 yards in 10 plays and 5 minutes. Yet on 3rd and 6 from the Tampa 14, Mahomes threw incomplete. Butker hit a 34 yard field goal. The Chiefs trailed 14-6, but there was still one minute left in the half. The Chiefs would get the ball to start the second half, so a defensive stop would get them right back in the game. Yet the Chiefs made another mistake. With 44 seconds left in the half the Buccaneers faced 3rd and 2 at their own 37. The Chiefs took a timeout on defense. That strategy almost always backfires, and it did again. Brady hit Gronk for 5 yards. On the next play Brady went deep and drew a very questionable 34 yard defensive pass interference call. The ball was overthrown and could not have been caught, but the call stood. Then Brady hit Fournette for 15. With 13 seconds left in the half, both teams took their last timeout with the Buccaneers facing 1st and goal at the 9. Brady threw off the mark but defensive pass interference in the end zone meant 1st and goal at the one. Again, the ball could not have been caught. Again, it was called anyway. In the NFC Title Game, Brady delivered the dagger against Green Bay with seconds left in the half. In the Super Bowl, Brady did it again. With 6 seconds left he rifled a one yard touchdown pass to Antonio Brown. The Buccaneers led 21-6 at the half. 

The Chiefs began the third quarter at their own 19 and moved to a 2nd and 7 at the Tampa 34. Mahomes then threw a completion for no gain followed by an incompletion. Butker hit his 3rd field goal from 52 yards out to get the Chiefs within 21-9. However, this was a reverse of prior Chiefs games. They were kicking field goals and their opponent was scoring touchdowns. The Buccaneers on 3rd and 4 from their own 32 made it look easy. Brady hit Fournette for 12 and Gronk for 25. Fournette then raced for a 27 yard touchdown. Midway through the third quarter, the Buccaneers were dominating 28-9. In the Super Bowl 4 years ago, Brady found his team trailing by that same score around the same time. They were actually down as much as 28-3. He led the greatest comeback of all time. Now he was ahead 28-9 against a team that could score points at will in a hurry.

It didn’t happen. Mahomes was intercepted, setting up a 52 yard Ryan Succop field goal. The previous year the Chiefs overcame a 24-0 first quarter deficit. The previous year they trailed by 10 points in the Super Bowl in the fourth quarter before rattling off 3 straight touchdowns for an 11 point win. That was last year. This time they were down by 22 after three quarters. They moved 64 yards in 11 plays. Yet on 1st and 10 from the Bucs 12, a run gained one yard and Mahomes threw 3 straight incompletions. The Chiefs got it back and moved 65 yards in 10 plays. Yet a sack of Mahomes had the Chiefs facing 3rd and 33 at midfield. Mahomes hit Tyreek Hill for 23 but on 4th and 10 Mahomes threw incomplete. He was running for his life and not getting any help. Late in the game with the outcome not in doubt, Mahomes was intercepted in the end zone for a touchback. 

The 2002 Buccaneers ran an interception back for a touchdown on the game’s final play. They had 5 interceptions in that game. This time they had 2 interceptions, but that was enough. Pewter Power was back. One day after 2002 Buccaneers safety John Lynch was selected for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Buccaneers defense honored Buc Ball. The fourth quarter was scoreless. Tom Brady was the Super Bowl MVP for the 5th time. He won his 7th Super Bowl, tying Otto graham for the most championships by a quarterback. Graham played before the Super Bowl era, but from 1955 to 1964 Graham’s Browns went to 10 straight championship games, winning 7 titles. The first four of those were with the All-America Football Conference before the Browns joined the NFL. 

Andy Reid was a disappointed Walrus indeed. One year after winning his first Super Bowl, he lost his second Super Bowl. He has now lost a Super Bowl with two different franchises. Brady became the first NFL player to win a Super Bowl in 3 different decades. His first Super Bowl win in 2001 saw his 11-5 team shock a 14-2 team on the verge of a dynasty. Those were the exact same records of these two teams in 2020. Bruce Arians won his first Super Bowl. The Chiefs were kept out of the end zone the entire game. The game itself was a terrible game, which was only fitting for the terrible year that was 2020. Yet for true leatherheads, the real pain begins with the nightmarish existence known as the offseason. Another regular season game will not be played until 2021. The 2021 NFL Draft begins on Thursday, April 29th. The Jacksonville Jaguars are on the clock. The Chiefs have now won 2 Super Bowls and lost 2 super Bowls. The Buccaneers have won 2 Super Bowls in their only 2 appearances in the big game. The 2020 NFL season is now in the history books. 31-9 Buccaneers

https://www.commdiginews.com/sports/nfl/pro-football-hall-of-fame-nfl-2020-2021-enshrinement-predictions-136007/

Super Bowl LV (55) Prequel

https://www.commdiginews.com/sports/nfl/nfl-super-bowl-lv-55-covid-edition-preview-and-bettors-guide-135925/