After an unprecedented 2020-21 season of NFL football, Super Bowl LV provided us with a conclusion. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were the victors yesterday, February 7th, against The Kansas City Chiefs, giving them their first Super Bowl win since 2003. Despite several postponements of games throughout the course of the season, Super Bowl LV was played on time and on schedule at Raymond James Stadium, in Tampa, Florida. For those of you who are connecting the dots, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did in fact compete in the Super Bowl within their own home stadium and were also the first team in NFL history to do so. That was not the only unique piece of history created because of Super Bowl LV, 68-year-old Head Coach, Bruce Arians, became the oldest head coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl title. And of course, you cannot leave out the accomplishments of the man people are saying is the undisputed greatest of all-time quarterback, Mr. Tom Brady, who won his 7th Super Bowl in his 21st season in the NFL. At age 42, Brady is also the oldest player in the NFL and has won 7 of the 10 Super Bowls he has played in. 

The game itself was a one-sided affair. The Buccaneers scored the first touchdown in the game and were the only of the two teams to score a touchdown in the game. They scored 4 touchdowns and 1 field goal, to the Chiefs 0 touchdowns and 3 field goals from Kansas City kicker, Harrison Butker. However, it could be argued that the game was not won from the scoring itself, but from the work of the Buccaneers’ defense. The Buccaneers bulldozed the weakened Kansas City offense, which had suffered injuries prior to the championship game. Key players in the Chiefs’ offensive line unit Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz were out, and their presence was definitely missed. The stand-ins for the offensive tackles were abysmal at best, as star quarterback Patrick Mahomes was running for his life during almost every passing play. It was a brutal mismatch, and the full strength of the elite Buccaneers’ defense made short work of them. The final score ended 31-9, Tampa Bay.

As it stood, before the game, the Kansas City Chiefs were the favorites to win, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were the underdogs in terms of betting and fan voting. According to CBS Sports, Kansas City was favored by 3 points. The Cat’s Eye View also conducted their own poll on our Twitter page asking members of the Becton community to vote for their predictions on who they believed was going to win the game. The Kansas City Chiefs were also the favorites in our poll, with 67.6% of the votes going for the Chiefs, and the remaining 32.4% of the votes going for the Buccaneers. It’s safe to say that Tom Brady and the Buccaneers shocked the world. 

Becton sophomore Alexander Michaca had his own perspective on the game. Michaca actually predicted correctly and had the

Buccaneers winning the game, but had the score much closer than the final result. Michaca explained, “I thought the Bucs were going to win because Tom Brady has been to the Super Bowl so many times and has more experience than Patrick Mahomes to lead his team to the win. I also knew going into the game that the Bucs’ defense was better than the Chiefs’ defense.” Clearly, Michaca’s prediction paid off.

After a long season for all the teams in the NFL, it came to a close, as all the teams prepare for the offseason and the exciting NFL Draft. One of our local teams, the New York Jets, who play in East Rutherford, alongside the New York Giants, own the #2 overall pick, and another pick in the first round with the #23 overall pick that they acquired from the Seattle Seahawks. The future is bright for the New York teams, and as the Covid vaccine becomes more available, the future is bright for the rest of the NFL and the fans who have looked to sports to lift our spirits during a difficult year.