The Super Bowl has always been iconic in American culture and this year is no different. The final matchup will be between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs. This will be the first time in the 55-year history that a team participating in the Super Bowl, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will be playing in their home stadium.
Super Bowl LV will be only the second time the Buccaneers have reached the Super Bowl, the first being when they won in the 2002-2003 season against the Oakland Raiders. This season, the Buccaneers went 11-5 which was heavily driven by newly signed quarterback Tom Brady. Previous to Brady, the Buccaneers hadn’t made the playoffs since 2007. This year they were the fifth seed in the NFC and went on to beat the Washington Football Team in the Wild Card game, the New Orleans Saints in the Divisional Playoff game and the Green Bay Packers in the Conference Championship.
The Kansas City Chiefs, led by Patrick Mahomes, went 14-2 this season, grabbing the top seed in the AFC. The Chiefs look to go back-to-back as they won Super Bowl LIV against the San Francisco 49ers in Miami. They beat the Cleveland Browns in the Divisional Playoff game and the Buffalo Bills in the Conference Championship to make it to the Super Bowl.
The main match-up comes down to Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes. Tom Brady, the seasoned quarterback, looks to take home his first ring with the Buccaneers and seventh ring in his career, while Patrick Mahomes, the up and coming quarterback, looks to become the youngest quarterback to have two rings, a record currently held by Brady himself. These two players will be crucial in deciding which team walks away with the win.
Another important match-up is between the coaches, Bruce Arians for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Andy Reid for the Kansas City Chiefs. Arians will be the second oldest coach to ever appear in a Super Bowl and has built this coaching staff on diversity. All four coordinator coaching positions are held by Black men, Byron Leftwich, Todd Bowles, Keith Armstrong and Harold Goodwin, and has two women on the full-time coaching staff, Lori Locust and Maral Javadifar. On the other hand, Reid was able to finally win his first Super Bowl title last year with the Chiefs after 21 seasons of waiting. This year Reid looks to bolster his status as a head coach and join an elite list of coaches who have brought their team to back-to-back Super Bowl wins.
This Super Bowl is about to be one of the most unique ever, with COVID-19 changing nearly every aspect. The combination of limited seating and the Buccaneers playing in their home stadium has led to ticket prices skyrocketing. The Chiefs won’t arrive in Tampa any earlier than two days before the game, meaning no media day. Despite this, the game will be as big as ever and only time will tell which team will come home with the Lombardi Trophy.
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