Patrick Mahomes’ first Super Bowl was an unwitting superspreader event. His second was a mere stinker.
Todd Bowles’ front four was in Mahomes’ face all night, shutting down a Chiefs offense that had backups and journeymen protecting the crown jewel. The Bucs dominated from start to finish, winning 31-9 for Tom Brady’s seventh title and the first ever by a home team.
Whatever glimmer of hope the defending champion Chiefs had was wiped out by a series of drops and questionable calls in the first half. By the second half, it was clear that the Bucs were just better.
The K.C. defense couldn’t stop Brady and the band of veterans he recruited to Tampa. Rob Gronkowski, who has largely been a blocker in his comeback from retirement, had two improbable touchdowns in the first half.
Antonio Brown caught one on the Bucs’ last drive of the first half, Leonard Fournette ran in a long one in their first drive of the second, and the rout was on. After six Super Bowls that were close late, Brady finally won in a forgettable blowout.
Gronk, Brown and Fournette combined for just four touchdowns in all of 2019. Gronkowski sat out the year and Brown only played one game before multiple sexual assault allegations led the Patriots to cut him.
At 43, Brady has consistently looked better than he did in his final New England season. “Oh, we’re coming back,” Brady said after the win Sunday.
Bruce Arians, at 68 the oldest coach ever to win a Super Bowl, said he’d be back with Brady. “Hell no, I ain’t going anywhere,” Arians said. “I’m coming back, trying to get two.”
The mercenary squad was more effective than Andy Reid’s explosive offense. It turns out even Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce need the quarterback to be protected. Starting left tackle Eric Fisher blew out his Achilles in the AFC title game, and with right tackle Mitchell Schwartz already out for the season, it turned out to be a devastating blow. Edge rusher Shaq Barrett teed off on former Giants tackle Mike Remmers all day, backing up Jason Pierre-Paul’s pregame trash talk.
“I didn’t even know who that was,” JPP said of Remmers in the buildup to the game. “Man, I’m not going to lie to you. Is this a tackle that you’re talking about? Like I said, I don’t care too much about it. They got to figure that out.”
There was one reason to remember Remmers: He also turnstiled the Broncos pass rush in a February 2016 Super Bowl loss with the Panthers.
Mahomes was somehow only sacked three times — by Barrett and Ndamukong Suh — but he was running for his life from his first snap. He was the most-pressured QB in Super Bowl history while Brady was pressured just four times, according to ESPN.
final tally, via @ESPNStatsInfo:
Mahomes was pressured on 29/56 dropbacks–the most of any QB in Super Bowl history.
Brady was pressured on 4/30–the lowest of his SB career.
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) February 8, 2021
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Reid did the same thing he always does after a loss: refusing to blame the players, even if it was really obviously certain players’ fault. “I could have done a better job of putting our guys in better position,” Reid said. “I’m not going to lay it on the offensive line. When we lose, we all lose together on this.”
The heat led Mahomes to have one of the worst stat lines of his career, 26-of-49 for 270 yards, two picks and no touchdowns. And yet Mahomes nearly spun garbage into gold. Not once but twice he eluded a rusher and found a would-be open touchdown only for it to bounce off the receiver’s head. On 3rd & 11 late in the first quarter, Mahomes doinked a touchdown off Hill’s facemask. Then with the conclusion mostly set in the fourth, he scrambled on fourth down and made a spectacular, middle-infielder like throw that hit running back Darrel Williams in the face.
With Tampa’s defense holding Kansas City to field goals and punts, Brady only had to be solid, and he was clinical, winning his fifth Super Bowl MVP.
“He told us they weren’t very good at tackling,” Fournette said of Brady’s scouting report on the Chiefs defense. He was right; Fournette and Ronald Jones went for a combined 150 yards on 28 carries.
The view of Brady dominating in a Bucs uniform was surreal. Tampa has long been one of the saddest sacks in sports, not making the playoffs since 2007. These Bucs won three straight road playoff games to get a home Super Bowl, then crushed the defending champs.
But a lot else was familiar. Brady was 21-of-29 for three touchdowns and 201 yards in a short-passing game that heavily featured Gronkowski, who was Tampa’s leading receiver with six catches, 67 yards and two TDs after making just two catches in the first three playoff games.
And there was a healthy heaping of penalties that kept the chains moving for Tampa, too. Brady didn’t need the extra help on Sunday, but he got it. Same as it ever was.
