Super Bowl LV Predictions

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

By Tyler Monahan, Sports Editor

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are making their first Super Bowl appearance since 2002. With the addition of Tom Brady (six time Super Bowl champion) the Buccaneers have thrived in the NFC with a record of 11-5. The Buccaneers were a wild card team and forced to go on the road for all of their playoff games. During their three-game road trip, Tampa Bay defeated Washington, New Orleans and Green Bay, all champions of their respective divisions. The Buccaneers will now be the first team in history to host the big game, as Super Bowl LV had been scheduled to be played in Tampa Bay.

At 43 years old, Tom Brady is the oldest quarterback to ever play in the Super Bowl. He also has the most playoff wins by any quarterback of all time. It’s not just Brady who will help the Buccaneers in the game. They also have many other weapons on offense. In their backfield, they have multiple talented running backs including Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette. One of the biggest strengths of the team is their receivers. Their top receivers Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and tight end Rob Gronkowski have put up a total of 2,469 receiving yards combined through the regular season and a total of 27 touchdowns between them.

Despite Brady and the offense receiving the majority of the headlines during the season, the Buccaneers defense quietly established themselves and ranked sixth in total defense in 2020. In the regular season, their defense combined for 48 sacks with linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul leading the team with 9.5 and Devin White right behind him with nine. The defense’s secondary also put up some good numbers with having a total of 15 interceptions during the regular season. Overall, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a pretty solid team and have a very good chance of taking home the Vince Lombardi trophy for the first time since 2002.

Kansas City Chiefs

By Kalman Sasdi, Sports Editor

This year the Super Bowl will be the defending champs, the Kansas City Chiefs, versus the GOAT Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This upcoming clash between two offensive juggernauts will be a sight to see. Young, up-and-coming superstar Patrick Mahomes looks to triumph over the hugely successful Tom Brady. The Chiefs enter as the No. 1 seed in the AFC and the Buccaneers enter as the No. 5 seed in the NFC. I believe the reigning champs will continue their dominance and take down the Bucs.

The chiefs have some of the most deadly weapons in the game. Patrick Mahomes is arguably the best QB in the NFL right now. Mahomes started the year off great with a 22-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio in the first 10 games. He was a top 3 MVP candidate throughout the year and finished the year with 4,740 yards along with 38 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Mahomes also has in his arsenal one of the fastest receivers of all time, Tyreek Hill. Hill has put up incredible numbers this year, including seven catches for 200yds and 2 TDs in one quarter. Hill was easily a top five receiver this year and arguably top three. He finished the season with 87 receptions for 1,276 yards and 15 TDs.

The weapons do not stop there. Kansas City also has the No. 1 tight end in the NFL, Travis Kelce. This year, Kelce had one of the best seasons of all time. He finished with 105 receptions for 1,416 yards and 11 touchdowns. Those 1,416 yards also broke a record for most yards by a tight end in a season.

With all of these strengths, many would think they must have a weakness. They would be wrong. In the past, their defense was lackluster, but players like Chris Jones and Tyran Mathieu took the defense to another level this year. Kansas City now is a complete and well-rounded team that looks unstoppable. Tampa Bay has some great fire power of their own with Chris Godwin, Mike Evans and Antonio Brown, but I believe the deadly weapons on the Chiefs offense will be too much too overcome for the Buccaneers.