Super Bowl LV Prediction

 Feb. 7th Super Bowl LV Prediction

#5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers(11-5) vs. #1 Kansas City Chiefs(14-2)

Head to Head Comparisons:

Quarterback: Tom Brady(TB) vs. Patrick Mahomes(KC)

Advantage: Kansas City Chiefs

Rushing Attack: Ronald Jones II, Leonard Fournette(TB) vs. Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Le'Veon Bell(KC)

Advantage: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Aerial Attack: Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, etc.(TB) vs. Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, etc.(KC)

Advantage: Kansas City Chiefs

Offensive Line: Tristan Wirfs, Ali Marpet, etc.(TB) vs. Austin Reiter, Mike Remmers, etc.(KC)

Advantage: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Defensive Line: Ndamukong Suh, William Gholston, etc.(TB) vs. Chris Jones, Frank Clark, etc.(KC) 

Advantage: Kansas City Chiefs

Linebackers: Devin White, Jason Pierre-Paul, etc.(TB) vs. Anthony Hitchens, Damien Wilson, etc.(KC)

Advantage: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Secondary: Sean Murphy-Bunting, Antoine Winfield Jr., etc.(TB) vs. Tyrann Mathieu, Daniel Sorenson, etc.(KC)

Advantage: Kansas City Chiefs

X-Factors:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Chris Godwin(Offense), Sean Murphy-Bunting(Defense) 

Kansas City Chiefs: Clyde Edwards-Helaire(Offense), Tyrann Mathieu(Defense)

Analysis:

Super Bowl LV has the possibility of being one of the greatest and most important Super Bowls of all time as Tom Brady tries to cement his claim to the title of the "Greatest of All Time" while Patrick Mahomes attempts to throw his name into the debate with a win. This is also a historic Super Bowl game as the Buccaneers are the first team ever to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium, and the effects of this home-field advantage will be another interesting storyline to follow. The Kansas City Chiefs are entering their second straight Super Bowl appearance coming off a convincing win against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game, winning 38-24. Patrick Mahomes will look to repeat his AFC Championship game performance where he threw for 325 passing yards and three touchdowns. The goal for Mahomes in his second career Super Bowl will be to limit turnovers as he had two interceptions against the 49ers last year, nearly costing his team the Lombardi Trophy. Another objective for Mahomes will be to keep his top passing game weapons, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill, hot. The duo have tallied 38 receptions, 509 receiving yards, and 3 touchdowns through two Postseason games, and will need to step up one more time in order to help their team win. Even though the Chiefs’ passing game is their bread and butter, they will need their backfield, made up of Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Le'Veon Bell, and Darrel Williams, to step up in order for the Chiefs to control the clock and be able to close out this game late. On the other side of the ball, the Chiefs will look for their big-time playmakers to step up in order to thwart the Buccaneers offensive firepower which has been able to find consistent success throughout the season. Frank Clark and Chris Jones upfront will be called on to disrupt Tom Brady who has been allowed to sit comfortable in his pocket this Postseason, and in the secondary, the Chiefs’ Safeties Tyrann Mathieu and Daniel Sorenson will look to limit the Buccaneers air attack from getting behind them for chunk plays. Their opponent, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, are entering their second-ever Super Bowl appearance after holding off a late Packers comeback effort to win 31-26 in the NFC Championship Game. Tom Brady was able to throw for 280 yards and three touchdowns but had three interceptions that opened the door late for Aaron Rodgers and the Packers to attempt to come back. Even after having 5 receptions and 110 receiving yards against the Packers, Chris Godwin will need to continue to find more consistency after having some drop issues in the first couple of Playoff games, and Mike Evans, who had 51 yards and a touchdown in the Bucs last game, will look to find more consistent touches throughout the whole game in order to put more pressure on an inconsistent Chiefs’ secondary. Despite not getting as much attention as his team's wideouts, Leonard Fournette has been just as important this Postseason tallying 211 rushing yards and 3 total touchdowns in three games. Leonard Fournette and his backfield partner Ronald Jones will be called upon for a fourth straight game to help establish the Buccaneers ground game and keep the ball out of the hands of Patrick Mahomes. The Buccaneers defense will look to get consistent pressure on Patrick Mahomes with their edge rushers Jason Pierre-Paul and Shaq Barrett so they don't have to blitz too much due to the danger Mahomes poses when opposing teams blitz him. The Buccaneers defense will be led by Linebackers Devin White and Lavonte David who each have caused havoc throughout the playoffs in every way imaginable. Finally, the Buccaneers young secondary is led by rookie Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. who is returning from an ankle injury that kept him out of the NFC Championship game and by Cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting who has had an interception in every Postseason game and has been able to stop some of the more explosive wide receivers in this Postseason. The Buccaneers back seven will be the key to this game as every single member of those position groups will have to play solid football for the whole game because the Chiefs’ offense has the ability to dice them up on any play. Overall, I expect the Chiefs’ offense to come out in the first quarter similar to how they did back in Week 12 when these same two teams faced off in Tampa Bay where the Chiefs won 27-24. But despite the early adversity for the Buccaneers, Tom Brady and Bruce Arians will not be fazed as they keep the game close going into halftime. In the end, I expect there to be some quarterback mistakes for both teams but I believe the Bucs defense will be able to make a couple more clutch plays for the Buccaneers to take the lead late. And because Chiefs’ coach Andy Reid may not 100% be mentally involved in the game because of the off-the-field troubles for his son, the Chiefs may not have the same late-game success that they've had the last couple of years which allows Tom Brady to close this game out in the end to win his SEVENTH CAREER RING, solidifying his status as the “Greatest of All Time” and get the Buccaneers their second-ever Super Bowl title.

Score Prediction:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers-33

Kansas City Chiefs-30

Conference Championship Predictions: 2-0

Overall Playoff Predictions: 10-2

Super Bowl LV Prediction: 1-0

Final 2021 Playoff Prediction Record: 11-2