Led by a timeless performance from Tom Brady, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 to win Super Bowl LV.
The Chiefs, seeking a second consecutive Super Bowl win, started the scoring with a field goal but the Buccaneers wrestled control back in a hurry.
Brady and Rob Gronkowski, who spent the 2019 season in retirement before following his former New England Patriots teammate to Tampa Bay, connected on a pair of first-half touchdowns. Not only did the plays help carve out an early 14-3 lead for the Buccaneers, it moved the duo into sole possession of first place on the NFL’s all-time list of most post-season touchdowns by any quarterback-receiver combination.
The Buccaneers weren’t done, though. With time winding down before half, Brady found Antonio Brown for another touchdown to extend the advantage to 21-6.
Coming out of half-time, which was headlined by an instantly memorable performance by Canadian pop star The Weeknd, Tampa Bay pushed its 15-point lead further.
A third-quarter interception on a Patrick Mahomes heave wound up in the hands of rookie safety Antoine Winfield Jr., giving the Buccaneers the ball in Chiefs territory and continuing a game-long trend of the former Super Bowl MVP resorting to desperation plays to keep his team in it.
Tampa Bay scored a field goal off the interception, extending the lead to an insurmountable 31-9.
This year’s Super Bowl marked the first time in NFL history a team played the season’s biggest game in its home stadium and Tampa Bay made the most of it. Brady’s win, the seventh of his storied career, came in his first season since leaving the Patriots.
More to come…
