This is what it all comes down to. After a crazy year of NFL football because of Covid, Super Bowl 55 will be played in a duel between old school with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and new school with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. 

The Chiefs are looking to repeat as Super Bowl champions, a feat that has only happened seven other times in Super Bowl history. Since the Chiefs won the Super Bowl last year, they have only lost one game with Patrick Mahomes as the starting quarterback, and two total. 

The Bucs are making their first Super Bowl appearance since 2002, where they won the franchises only Super Bowl. This season was a different narrative for the Bucs as they weren’t beating just about everyone like the Chiefs were. The Bucs went 11-5 in the regular season, with a notable loss to the Bears. 

The Chiefs beat the Bucs in the regular season 27-24, but the game looked like it could have been much worse. The Chiefs were winning 17-0 at the end of the first quarter, but the Bucs fought back to make it a much closer game. Mahomes and star wide receiver both had monster games as Mahomes threw for 462 yards and three touchdowns, and Hill had 13 catches for 269 yards and three touchdowns. 

I don’t see this game being much different in terms of score. Both of these teams have high powered offenses with an incredible amount of talent, so both teams should try to slow the tempo down and keep the other offense off the field. It is also notable that the game is being played at Raymond James Stadium, which is the Bucs home field. 

Case for the Chiefs

The case for the Chiefs is obvious. They’ve only lost one game since last year with Mahomes as the starting quarterback, and they’ve only lost nine times in 53 games in all of his starts. They have the best offense in the league, but also a very solid defense. On the sideline, they have arguably the best coach in the NFL right now, Andy Reid. Everything points to the Chiefs to win this game, especially coming off of a huge win against the Bills where everything clicked. 

Case for the Bucs

Tom Brady. That could be the entire case for the Bucs. He doesn’t lose in big games it seems, unless of course, he is playing Eli Manning or now Bears backup quarterback Nick Foles (that’s how good the Bears QB room is). Brady also has an absurd amount of weapons with him. Receivers Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown and Scotty Miller. Tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Cameron Brate. And possibly the best running back tandem in the NFL, Leonard Fournette (playoff Lenny) and Ronald Jones. The Bucs defense is also one of the best in the league at stopping the run, and is very solid at pass defense as well. 

The Pick

As much as I debated this in my head, I find it impossible to pick against Brady. I refuse to call him the GOAT, but no matter how much you dislike him, you know that he doesn’t lose games like these, especially when this Super Bowl would give him more rings than any NFL franchise. I expect this game to be a close game like it was last time, but I would also expect there to be more points in this contest. 

Final Score: Bucs 38, Chiefs 34