Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady hoists the Vince Lombardi Trophy after their victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sun Feb 7, 2021 in Tampa Bay (photo by Shawn McCullough Sports Radio Service)
By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, February 7, 2021
Different uniform, same results.
After winning six NFL championships with New England, Tom Brady added a seventh ring to his collection Sunday after leading Tampa Bay past Kansas City 31-9 in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
Brady was also selected as the game’s most valuable player, his fifth overall, breaking a tie with Joe Montana. The 43-year-old signal caller completed 21 of 29 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns – two of them to his old Patriots teammate Rob Gronkowski and the other to Antonio Brown.
Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones combined for 150 rushing yards, and assistant Todd Bowles’ defensive game plan effectively shut off the Chiefs’ passing lanes and kept KC off balance throughout the game. Bucs linebacker Devin White racked up 12 tackles, plus an interception late in the fourth quarter.
Kansas City didn’t help itself by being flagged 10 times for 110 penalty yards, and the Chiefs were 3 of 13 on third down conversions.
After Kansas City jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter on a 52-yard Harrison Butker field goal, the Buccaneers responded with an 8-yard TD pass from Brady to Gronkowski. At 6:05 of the second quarter, Brady found Gronkowski for a 17-yard scoring strike.
Butker booted a 34-yard field goal with 1:01 left in the second quarter, but the Bucs found the end zone with six seconds left in the half on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Brown. The Buccaneers led 21-6 at halftime.
Early in the third quarter, Butker’s third field goal – a 52-yarder – pulled the Chiefs to within 21-9. Tampa Bay finished the scoring when Fournette ran in from 27 yards out midway through the third quarter, and with 2:46 to go in the quarter, Ryan Succop tacked on a 52-yard field goal.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was held to 270 yards 26 of 49 passes, was intercepted twice and sacked three times. It was the first time he didn’t throw a touchdown pass in a game since Sept. 29, 2019, against Detroit in a 34-30 win over the Lions.
The Weekend performed at halftime, and the National Anthem was sang by country singer Eric Church and R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan. H.E.R. performed “America The Beautiful” in the pregame ceremonies.