Super Bowl LV: Tampa touch downs as Brady leads the way to classic NFL victory
Tom Brady is 43 and the greatest quarterback of all time. He wrote perhaps his finest chapter as Tampa Bay took a stranglehold on the Super Bowl.
- Final quarter: We’re not in Kansas any more
- Third quarter: Tampa takes stranglehold
- Halftime recap: Barnstorming Brady
- Second quarter: Buccaneers take charge
- First quarter: Tampa Bay touch down
- Mahomes on Brady
If it is true that there are no second acts in American lives, Tom Brady never got that memo. Today he completed another brilliant chapter in what was already an incredible tale.
At 43, Brady — the greatest quarterback in NFL history added another improbable entry to his two-decade career CV, leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 31-9 victory in the Super Bowl over the Kansas City Chiefs.
It was his seventh Super Bowl win. He engineered the unanswered touch downs. Naturally, he was named Most Valuable Player: the fifrth time he been awarded the honour.
‘I’m happy’
“I’m happy,” Brady told his supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen before going through a familiar routine.
The routine of lifting the Vince Lombardi Trophy and accepting the MVP trophy.
oldest man to ever play in a Super Bowl barely had a hair out of place. Not a drop of sweat.
He said: “How about that! I’m so proud of all of these guys. Everything we dealt with all year. We came together at the right time. I think we knew this was going to happen, didn’t we? I’m not making any comparisons. To be here and to experience it with this group of guys, every year is amazing. This team is world champions forever. You can’t take it away from us.”
After an NFL season played out against the backdrop of COVID-19, Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers took on Patrick Mahomes and defending champion Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium. Tom’s pirates ran riot.
Four unanswered touch downs. A steely defence which left the Chiefs only able to salvage points from the boot.
The biggest event on the American sporting calendar was held with a reduced capacity crowd of 25,000 and a US television audience of around 100 million.
Final quarter: We’re not in Kansas any more
Desperate, and throwing the ball everywhere, the Chiefs watched the Super Bowl slip away. The third quarter pushed the game pretty much out of reach for Kansas. So much so that in the fourth, Tampa Bay were foregoing field goals in search insteadfor the a fifth touch down.
Tom Brady already with six Super Bowls to his name, was looking confidently down the barrel of seven.
With less than two minutes to go, the celebrations began. Then the canons rang out in celebration.
Big spend for The Weeknd
There’s more missing than the ‘e’. He spent $9 million of his own dollars to make his show a winner. He’d want his money back. As would the crowd, humans and cardboard. The Chiefs had to score first after The Weeknd cleared out. Mahomes had first use of the ball. Incomplete. A field goal pegged the deficit to 21-9. Still not a great situation. Better than it was before. But as soon as Brady got his hands on the ball again, the Bucs scored again, Leonard Fournette scooting away. Virtually game over. Brady played steely-eyed. Calm. Composed. In total and utter control. If Brady’s performance could not have been better, Mahomes’ could not have been worse. It’s 31-9 to the Bucs ahead of a fourth quarter that should be a victory lap for Brady.
Third quarter: Tampa on a roll
The Chiefs just can’t take a trick, and the Buccaneers are merciless.
Every time Kansas posts a paltry field goal, Tampa Bay replies with a touchdown.
The third quarter opened with the Chiefs being kept in touch by the boot of Butker, with a 52-yard field goal to make it 21-9.
But the Buccaneers hit straight back, to take a stranglehold on the Super Bowl, stretching the lead to 28-9 after running back Leonard Fournette gave Brady the support he needed with a 30-yard dash to make it 28-9.
A long-range goal — a 52-yarder from Ryan Succop — and the Bucs’ first for the night, rubbed more salt into the wounds, for Tampa to lead 31-9.
Butker knocks through a 52-yard FG. @Chiefs cut the lead to 21-9.
— NFL (@NFL) February 8, 2021
📺: #SBLV on CBS
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/HJtQf5igun pic.twitter.com/cnubTwkP6h
SUPER BOWL LENNY. #GoBucs
— NFL (@NFL) February 8, 2021
📺: #SBLV on CBS
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/HJtQf5igun pic.twitter.com/57dCW6tdT7
Halftime recap: Barnstorming Brady
Brady’s on his way. Perhaps. Bucs lead 21-6 at halftime.
They’re dominating but they should probably be ahead by more. They might not have made the most of it. Super Bowl really is the greatest sporting show of all.
The pre-game silence for COVID-19 victims. The electric-guitar rendition of America The Beautiful that made America sound beautiful again. The toss of the coin by an ICU nurse from Tampa. Any greater heroes in the last year than ICU nurses?
Probably not. Dad was knocked on his backside in the opening quarter. Mahomes slung a perfect long-distance pass while off-balance; sidearm like Viv Richards taking a shy at the stumps. Nearly a touchdown. Definitely an indication of the danger in his right arm. Brady replied with a rocket of a ball that found Antonio Brown.
Touchdown to Rob Gronkowski, the teammate of Brady at New England who came out of retirement to follow him to Tampa.
That's a #PepsiHalftime entrance for the ages 😠https://t.co/C9ztYpsKio
— Pepsi (@pepsi) February 8, 2021
In his tenth Super Bowl, it was the first time Brady had thrown for a first-quarter TD. Bucs were flying. Brady had it on a string. All Mahomes could do was watch it from the sideline while his defence clutched at air and straws. The Bucs would have led by more but Joe Haeg dropped a sitter from a Brady pass in the in zone that had touchdown written all over it. Brady went back to Gronkowski and found another touchdown. Six seconds before halftime, Brady found Antonio Brown for a third touchdown. Chiefs defensive leader Tyrann Mathieu is so flustered and frustrated that he’s started sledging Brady. Probably not a wise move to rile Brady. He’s motivated enough as it is. “Gas on the fire,” as one ESPN commentator says.
Second quarter: Buccaneers show bite
The two sides have made way for the what many say is the main event: the halftime entertainment, heading to the sheds with Tampa Bay leading 21-6.
Bring on The Weeknd.
In the dying seconds of the first half, the Buccaneers were in for touch down number three, with Brady dispatching the ball to Antonio Brown for the touch down. Brady’s third touch down pass of the game was converted for the extra point.
Minutes before, the Chiefs had managed to stay in touch with three points to Harrison Butler kicking from 34-yards out to trail 14-6.
Earlier, Brady and Rob Gronkowski took the Buccaneers to a 14-3 lead, combining again for touch down number two for Tampa Bay.
The duo have broken the Chiefs defence with sustained pressure.
Earlier, only sheer determination kept the Buccaneers at bay: they came within centimetres of another first-half touch down, but desperate Kansas City defence kept running back Ronald Jones out.
THEY DID IT AGAIN. BRADY TO GRONK. LEGENDARY. #GoBucs
— NFL (@NFL) February 8, 2021
📺: #SBLV on CBS
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/HJtQf5igun pic.twitter.com/eOSHmkH857
Game on: First quarter
It’s touchdown for Tampa Bay with minutes of the first quarter remaining for Tampa Bay to lead 7-3, and the relief is almost palpable.
Star of the show? You guessed it — Tom Brady.
Brady, throwing a first quarter touch down for the first time in his career, passed to Rob Gronkowski who made no mistake for the touch down.
BRADY TO GRONK IN THE #SUPERBOWL
— NFL (@NFL) February 8, 2021
📺: #SBLV on CBS
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/HJtQf5igun pic.twitter.com/hjKIHWaYmE
Earlier, the Chiefs drew first blood, with Harrison Butler landing a 49-yard field goal with just over five minutes remaining in the first quarter for a 3-0 lead.
Kansas City Chiefs won the coin toss and deferred their decision to the second half.
That saw the Chiefs get proceedings under way, with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers starting off with the ball in hand.
Both teams started sketchily, with the Chiefs getting in Brady’s face, but Tampa Bay holding firm.
Halfway through the first quarter, scores remained 0-0, with the pressure on Brady, and Mahomes lurking, equally desperate to convert his chances.
The NFC Champion Tampa Bay @Buccaneers! #SuperBowl #GoBucs
— NFL (@NFL) February 7, 2021
📺: #SBLV -- 6:30pm ET on CBS
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app pic.twitter.com/ZQm5KtYl6K
The AFC Champion Kansas City @Chiefs! #SuperBowl #RunItBack
— NFL (@NFL) February 7, 2021
📺: #SBLV on CBS
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/HJtQf5igun pic.twitter.com/cV5n3Pv6dM
Mahomes on Brady
Brady’s two-plus decades in the game have seen him dubbed the greatest quarterback of all time. The 25-year-old Mahomes is the best right now … pending today’s result.
Mahomes says of Brady: “When you’re an athlete, you chase greatness. Tom Brady is the pinnacle of that and so for me, to be able to have this chance to play against him in a Superbowl, it’s exciting. It’s something you want to take advantage of. It’s been something I’ve chased for a long, long time. It’s just how he continues to get better. How consistent he is every single year. To deal with injuries. To deal with different teammates. To deal with different situations. And throughout that all, he’s kept the same mentality of making himself better each and every day. He's never satisfied. Whenever you’re having that much success, it’s easy to become satisfied. His determination to be better every single day is something all great athletes have to have.”
“The perfect script would be to throw the game-winning touchdown. It would be special to do that. But whatever way, if we get to win, I’ll be happy any way that happens. The ultimate goal right now is to win the Super Bowl and get that second ring and get that back-to-back championships, which is so hard to do. It’s only happened five or six times in the history of the NFL. To be able to do that would be special for me.”
Fending off Father Time
Brady says: “I have enough experience to know it’s not easy. Let me say that. There’s a lot of things that go into getting to this point in the season … there’s a lot to figure out. We’re going to be the best that we can be. We’re playing against a great football team. We have to be at our best.”
Brady is trying to fend off Father Time while being a father himself.
He says: “I always tell them, this is what dads do. We go to work. We’ve got to show up and we’ve got to find something we love to do. If you find something you love, you’re going to work hard and you’re going to be good at it. And if you’re good at it, you’re going to enjoy it. In the off-season I’ve ready made a concerted effort, certainly in the last three or four years, to spend more quality time with them. My kids are getting older. It’s not always about what’s going on in dad’s life. It’s about what going on in their life too. Part of being an older athlete – that’s the tricker part. How do you find time and balance a lot of things that are important to the other people in your life? I’m very, very blessed.
Brady on Mahomes
Brady says of Mahomes: “I’m just so impressed with Pat. Not just the physical skill, bit how endearing he is to his teammates, you know? There’s a special quality that attracts the teammates to him. I just wanted to let him know that I was – I don’t know, not proud – I just wanted to let him know what kind of a guy I thought he was. Not just as a player but as a person as well. He’s going to be a great player in the NFL for a long, long time.”
Brady is always called The G.O.A.T. Greatest Of All time. What’s his take on the G. O. A. T? “Everyone has different tastes for different things,” he says. “If I say, what’s your favourite meal? Some people like steak. Some people like chicken. I don’t know. Some people like pizza. That’s athletes. You know what I mean? It depends what style you like, at the end of the day. I’ve always felt like the goal for in playing is to win games. And to never be the reason why we lose a game. That’s how I judge myself at the end of the year. To still be at it and playing this Super Bowl game is an incredible achievement for our team and for me personally, I just want to go out there and play a great game. Do the best I can do for my team.”
Heroes and characters
Super Bowl LV revolves around Brady and Mahomes but but there’s some tremendous characters around them. Kansas coach Andy Reid is as likeable as it gets in a warm fuzzy bear kind of way. He tells stories with a chuckle.
He’s down to earth enough to accept advice that others may dismiss as rubbish. The best story about Reid is the one about the janitor who came up with a touchdown play. Reid was assistant coach at the Green Bay Packers at the time.
The janitor at the club’s HQ kept saying, I’ve got a play for you! Reid kept telling him, thanks but no thanks! Finally, he relented. Reid tells it like this: “We had a janitorial service. The owner of it would come by and clean the garbage every night and say, I’ve got a play for us.’ I’d be going, ‘yeah, OK.’ In about year three I go, OK, here. Here’s a card. Put the play down on the card. He drew the play and I go, you know what? Maybe we just move this guy right here, we’re going to be perfect with this. I took it into our team meeting, coach liked it, I didn’t tell him the origin of it. Our quarterback calls the play and it scores a touchdown. This guy (the janitor) is jumping up and down, telling his family, ‘That’s my play!’ And they’re going, ‘oh, shut up! That’s not your play! What are you saying?!’ But it was. It was his play. And it worked. It scored a touchdown in the National Football League.”
The Super Bowl brought the curtain down on an NFL season completed successfully despite a nationwide coronavirus pandemic that has surged out of control at different times.
While COVID-19 forced multiple games to be postponed, and in one case required a team to start a game without a recognised quarterback, the league’s safety protocols have largely held firm.
While most games this season took place in empty stadiums, limited numbers of fans were allowed into some venues.
– with Agencies
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