by Reese Sieger
For sports fans, February means that the Super Bowl is nearing. Even though the world seems to be crumbling, there’s still something to look forward to! Super Bowl LV (55) was played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on Sunday, February 7th, and pitted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Buccaneers were victorious, as they won 31-9. This marks their second-ever Super Bowl win, their last one being in 2003. For those who don’t know, the Super Bowl is the championship football game in which the best team from the National Football Conference (NFC) competes against the best team from the American Football Conference (AFC). This year’s Super Bowl was very different than what we’re used to. In a stadium that fits 66,000 people, there were only about 22,000 people in the stands due to Covid restrictions, only allowing about 33% capacity. However, 7,500 of those people were vaccinated health-care workers who got to attend the game for free as a thank you for all their hard work during this pandemic. Not only was it a very entertaining game, but during the halftime show, the three-time Grammy award winner, The Weeknd, performed a great show; and before the game, Eric Church and Jazmine Sullivan sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” and H.E.R sang “America The Beautiful.” Unfortunately, these amazing performances were in front of a small and masked crowd. However, that did not take away from their greatness.
Tampa Bay came into this game by previously beating the Green Bay Packers 31-26, winning the NFC championship. This made Bruce Arians’, who became the oldest head coach to win a Super Bowl (at 68 years of age), and the Bucs have a total season record of 14 wins and 5 losses (now 15 wins due to the result of the Super Bowl). This was only the second time they had ever made it to the Super Bowl, the first time being when they won it in 2003. Also, since this game was played in Tampa, it marked the first-ever Super Bowl to be hosted by a competing team. Tampa Bay was led by their 43-year-old quarterback, Tom Brady, who previously played for the New England Patriots and made it to the Super Bowl with them 9 times, winning 6 of those times (meaning that now Tom Brady has won a total of 7 Super Bowls, which is more than any other football team has). Alongside Brady was one of Tampa’s tight ends, Rob Gronkowski, who played with Brady at the Patriots and came out of retirement to play by his side. With these two, plus running back Leonard Fournette, kicker Ryan Succop, and many more, Tampa Bay was ready to face off against Kansas City and these players had a key role in their victory.
Kansas City came into this game having previously beaten the Buffalo Bills 38-24,winning the AFC championship. This made Andy Reid’s team have a total season record of 17 wins and 2 losses (3 losses now due to the result of the Super Bowl). This marked the third time that the Chiefs have been to the Super Bowl, the first time being when they lost it in 1970, and the second being when they won it last year, in 2020. Kansas City was led by their 25-year-old quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was concussed in their playoff game versus the Cleveland Browns, but still cleared to play in the AFC championship. Alongside Mahomes was tight end, Travis Kelce, wide receiver, Tyreek Hill, and many more. Kansas City was looking to get two consecutive Super Bowl championships, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
During the first quarter of the game, there were only two scores, a field goal from Kansas City and a touchdown from Tampa Bay, making it 7-3. During the second quarter, the Chiefs were able to make a goal-line stand, which was the reason that the Buccaneer’s only scored two touchdowns rather than three. Along with the Chiefs’ one field goal, this meant that going into halftime, the score was 21-6, with Tampa Bay in a comfortable lead. During the third quarter, Tampa Bay rocketed into more of a lead as they scored one touchdown and one field goal while Kansas City only scored a field goal. This meant that going into the fourth and last quarter, Tampa Bay led 31-9. In the last quarter, Kansas City tried to come back, but had no luck, as there were no points scored in this quarter and the game ended 31-9. The most valuable player, or MVP, of the game, was Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady. Brady was voted his 5th ever Super Bowl MVP because of his amazing statistics in this game. He threw for 201 passing yards and 3 touchdowns. Alongside this amazing award, Brady broke a record with his teammate Rob Gronkowski as they connected for two touchdowns this game, making them get the playoff record for most passing touchdowns by a quarterback-pass catcher tandem in NFL history (15 total).
Although this Super Bowl was definitely weird, it was entertaining nonetheless. Plus, it was nice to have something remain constant during these trying times. It is unfortunate to see the NFL football season come to a close, but we’ll all be excited to see it back running later in September this year. Until then, I’m sure the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will continue to celebrate their great victory!
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