Super Bowl Sunday

Graphic by Alaina Burris

Patrick Mahomes II or Tom Brady: Who do you have winning this Sunday? 

The Kansas City Chiefs are going to the Super Bowl this year to defend their title of “World Champions” they obtained last season. Prior to going to (and winning) the Super Bowl, the Chiefs had not made an appearance in the big game since 1970, which they won against the Minnesota Vikings; their first appearance was in the very first Super Bowl four years earlier, which they lost to the Green Bay Packers. 

Super Bowl LV will be the Chiefs’ fourth Super Bowl appearance and potentially their third Super Bowl Championship. Led by head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs could be unstoppable this Sunday. 

Reid has been Kansas City’s head coach since the 2012 football season. Prior to coaching that, Reid was with the Philadelphia Eagles for several years; he has coached in four Super Bowls and 10 Championship games. Mahomes has been with the Chiefs since 2017; this is his second Super Bowl appearance in three full seasons in the NFL. 

In regular season play, the Chiefs were 14-2, losing only to the Las Vegas Raiders and the Los Angeles Chargers. They went into the playoffs with a first round bye and made it all the way through, becoming AFC Champions for the 2020/2021 season. 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have the home-field advantage in Super Bowl LV; the game will be played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. However, this is only the second Super Bowl appearance the Buccaneers have, their only other appearance having been in 2002, when they won against the (then) Oakland Raiders. This game could take the Buccaneers to a two-for-two Super Bowl appearance/championship combo. 

This is Tom Brady’s first season with Tampa Bay, and following his successful career with the New England Patriots, he led the Buccaneers to an NFC Championship this season. They started the playoffs with a wild card game, coming out on top of the Washington Football Team, 31-23. In the regular season, the Buccaneers were 11-5. 

Brady has been in the NFL for 21 seasons. During his first 20 seasons with the Patriots, he appeared in nine Super Bowls and came out as the champion in six of them. Brady was a four-time Super Bowl MVP with the Patriots; going into the Super Bowl with the Buccaneers this year will be his tenth appearance in 21 years. 

Head Coach Bruce Arians has been with the Buccaneers for two seasons; he was the interim coach for the Indianapolis Colts in 2012 and coached the Arizona Cardinals from 2013-2017. Arians had retired in 2017 but came back to the Buccaneers in 2019 and accepted a head coach position. Arians has made one other Super Bowl appearance as the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2003. 

This Super Bowl will be one that no one should want to miss; two of the greatest quarterbacks in the NFL going head-to-head for the Vince Lombardi trophy this season. 

Super Bowl LV is set to kickoff at 5:30 p.m. Central Standard Time. The Weeknd will be performing the halftime show.