Tom Brady Does It Again

By Matthew Wong

Tom Brady, arguably the greatest athlete in sports history, is on top of the world once again. On Sunday, February 7th, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, led by Brady, beat the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 to become Super Bowl LV champions. The Buccaneers did so in their home stadium, a first in National Football League (NFL) history. Tom Brady secured his seventh Lombardi Trophy, earning two more than any other player in NFL history and one more than any NFL team. He also took home his fifth Super Bowl Most Valuable Player trophy. 

Both the offense and defensive sides of the ball played flawlessly for the underdog Buccaneers. Brady, a future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback, completed 21 of his 29 pass attempts for 201 yards and three touchdowns. Two of these passing touchdowns were thrown to Rob Gronkowski, Brady’s longtime favorite target whom he played with for years earlier in his career in New England. The quarterback and tight end duo have combined for 14 postseason scoring touchdowns, the most in postseason NFL history. 

The Buccaneers ran the ball well, causing the Chiefs’ defense to stay on their heels, unsure of what was coming next. Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones, the two main running backs for the Bucs, rushed for 150 yards on 28 carries.   Successful rushes enabled the passing game to work well and was the main reason for the Buccaneers’ successful offense. The Buccaneers offensive coordinator, Byron Leftwich, schemed up a game plan that worked to perfection.

On the other side of the ball, the Bucs defense dominated the Chiefs’ offense and Patrick Mahomes, the quarterback who many see as Brady’s successor. Tampa Bay’s defensive front controlled the line of scrimmage throughout the game, bottlenecking the Chiefs’ passing and running game. They took advantage of the Chiefs’ offensive line, who were dealing with injuries, resulting in three sacks and two interceptions. This was the first double-digit loss of Mahomes’ career and only his second in which he was held without a touchdown. The Chiefs’ quarterback was running away from the defensive pressure all game, and when that happens, the team is in for a long night. Todd Bowles, the Bucs’ defensive coordinator, and his squad perfectly complemented Brady’s offense with a suffocating defensive performance. The Chiefs did not help themselves either, committing 10 penalties for 100 yards lost in the game. 

​In the end, Tom Brady was seen hoisting up another Lombardi Trophy. He left New England to win with a new team, and that is just what he did. The Buccaneers executed the vision that the team had to win a Super Bowl, and they built off Brady to do so. Mahomes’ spotlight will have to wait another season because in the strangest NFL season of all time, the league’s greatest player found a way to win yet again. 

​