They like to say Father Time is undefeated. Well, on Sunday night he took the L.
Tom vs. Time? Score another one for Tom.
The ageless Tom Brady put together another Super Bowl masterpiece, this time as a Buccaneer, to lead Tampa Bay to a 31-9 victory over Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
The 43-year-old Brady won his record seventh Lombardi Trophy in his 10th trip to the Super Bowl, giving the Buccaneers their second Super Bowl title and denying the Chiefs their bid at a repeat. Tampa Bay became the first team to play and win a Super Bowl in its home stadium.
Brady controlled the game and threw for three touchdown passes, two to old friend and Patriot Rob Gronkowski and another to Antonio Brown, who Brady lobbied the team to sign at midseason. Brady and the Buccaneers were helped by an undisciplined Chiefs defense that committed six penalties in the first half.
Brady was named Super Bowl MVP for the fifth time. After 20 years with the Patriots, Brady departed New England for Tampa Bay last March as a free agent. He delivered a Lombardi Trophy in his first season and immediately promised to return for next year after the game.
“I’m so proud of all these guys,” Brady said. “We had a rough November but we came together at the right time. We knew this was gonna happen. We played our best game of the year.”
While Brady was the main catalyst in the win, former Jets coach Todd Bowles was right behind him. Bowles put together a masterful game plan that frustrated Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes. Bowles kept the high-powered Chiefs out of the end zone for the first time in the three years Mahomes has been the team’s quarterback. It was the first time Mahomes suffered a double-digit loss in his career.
“Obviously I didn’t play the way I wanted to play,” Mahomes said. “What else can you say? All you can do is leave everything you have on the field. I feel like the guys did that. … They beat us pretty good, the worst I’ve been beaten in a long time.”
Brady showed he is not ready to pass the torch to Mahomes just yet. He went 21 of 29 for 201 yards and the three scores. Mahomes completed 26 of 49 passing for 270 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Of Mahomes’ 270 passing yards, 163 of them came in the fourth quarter when Bowles played a softer look.
“Todd had a good plan,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “I could have done a whole lot better putting these guys in a better position to make plays. My guys busted their tails. It just didn’t work. Give Todd credit for the job that he did. He got us.”
Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians also showed youth is overrated, becoming the oldest coach to win a Super Bowl at 68 years old. Arians made it clear he’s not retiring after the game, as did Brady.
“Hell no, I ain’t going anywhere,” Arians said. “I’m coming back, trying to get two and then we’ll see.”
Tampa Bay took a 21-6 halftime lead on three Brady touchdown passes. The final one came with 10 seconds left in the second quarter after Brady took his team down the field with under a minute to play, aided by two pass interference penalties on the Chiefs.
Penalties on their defense doomed the Chiefs in the first half. Kansas City committed six penalties on defense and eight overall that cost them 95 yards, a Super Bowl record for a half. Several of the penalties gave the Buccaneers life on their drives. Giving Brady extra downs is always a bad idea, and the veteran quarterback made the Chiefs pay.
“You can’t do the things we did and beat a good football team,” Reid said.
The Buccaneers expanded their lead to 31-9 in the third quarter on a 27-yard touchdown run by Leonard Fournette and a Ryan Succup field goal.
Mahomes was on the run all night and he looked like he was slowed by a turf toe injury he suffered earlier in the playoffs. The Buccaneers sacked him three times, but they harassed him far more often.
“There was nothing that was gonna stop us from winning this game,” linebacker Shaquil Barrett said. “I knew we were going to keep the pressure up. Coach Bowles had a great game plan. We had the guys up there to make it work and we made it work, baby.”
It was a stunning fall for the high-powered Chiefs offense that finished first in yards per game during the season. Mahomes played the worst game of his career. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill was held to 73 yards on seven catches after torching the Buccaneers in November for 269 yards and three touchdowns.
“I didn’t see it coming at all,” Reid said. “I thought we were going to come in and play these guys just like we’ve been playing teams, and it didn’t happen that way. I give them credit on that.”
For Brady, it is another line on the most impressive résumé in football history. He joined old rival Peyton Manning as the only quarterbacks to win Super Bowls with two different teams. He won a title without Patriots coach Bill Belichick, giving him the edge in that debate now. He took a Buccaneers franchise that had not won a postseason game in 18 years to a Super Bowl title. And he delivered the most convincing Super Bowl win of his seven.
“I’m not making any comparisons,” Brady said. “Experiencing it with this group of guys is amazing.”