The
Kansas City Chiefs are
looking to become the first two-time NFL champion in 16 years and to do so they have to beat the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
, the first team in history to play a Super Bowl in their own stadium.
It is part of what will be at stake this Sunday in
Super Bowl LV
, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
The big
players
are, of course, the quarterbacks.
Tom Brady
, 43, is in his 10th Super Bowl and first with the Bucs, a team he signed with in March of last year.
His record in the NFL title game is 6-3.
On the Chiefs' side is
Patrick Mahomes,
25, the winner of the Super Bowl MVP last year when Kansas City defeated San Francisco 31-20 in Miami.
The age difference, 18 years and 45 days, is the largest in Super Bowl history between the two starting quarterbacks.
In
Week 12
of the 2020 season, the Chiefs and the Buccaneers met at Raymond James Stadium, with
Kansas City triumphing, 27-24.
Mahomes passed for 462 yards and three touchdowns, three of them at the hands of wide receiver
Tyreek Hill,
who had 269 yards, most (203) in the first quarter.
Kansas City went into halftime with a 20-7 lead, but Brady and the Bucs closed the game in the second half.
“
TB12” finished with 345 passing yards
, three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Since that loss, the Buccaneers have seven wins, including three on the road in the Playoffs.
Kansas City, meanwhile, enters Super Bowl LV with an impressive 12-game winning streak, two of them in the postseason.
The Chiefs had to wait 50 years to win their second Super Bowl, and they did so with Mahomes, who threw two touchdown passes and ran for one more in the win over the 49ers in February 2020.
If the Chiefs win Sunday,
Mahomes will become the youngest quarterback to win two Super Bowls
and equal Brady with two titles in his first four NFL seasons.
The
Buccaneers
only have a Vince Lombardi trophy in their windows;
they won it in the
XXXVII
edition
,
when they defeated the then
Oakland
Raiders
48-21 at the
end of the 2002 campaign.
If he wins,
Brady will be the second quarterback to be a champion with two teams
.
At the moment, the only one who has done it is
Peyton Manning,
who won Super Bowls with Indianapolis and Denver.
The Chiefs' offense was the best in the league, averaging 415.8 yards per game and 303.4 yards through the air.
Mahomes has suffered just five interceptions in his most recent 484 pass attempts and six in 588 in the 2020 campaign.
The
Tampa Bay defense has forced seven exchanges in the Playoffs
(five interceptions and two fumbles), in addition to five quarterback sacks.
THE HOLIDAYS
A total of
25,000 people
will be able to attend Raymond James Stadium and
7,500 will be health workers
, invited by the NFL and previously vaccinated against COVID-19.
The United States Anthem will be performed as a duet by country singer
Eric Church
and
R&B star
Jazmine Sullivan
.
Canadian The
Weeknd
is the artist in charge of the halftime show and the young poet
Amanda Gorman
, 22, is one of the special guests.
Gorman, who stole the camera at President Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony, will recite a poem to recognize three
"honorary captains"
appointed by the NFL for their work during the pandemic.
They are War Veteran
James Martin
, Nurse
Suzie Dorner,
and Professor
Trimaine Davis
, who will participate in the
blowing up
ceremony.