Super Bowl LIV is now set as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play the Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL in two weeks on February 7. The game will be shown by CBS.
The Buccaneers were the first of the two teams to advance to the Super Bowl on Sunday as they beat the Green Bay Packers 31-26 at Lambeau Field in an afternoon NFC Championship game. The Buccaneers never trailed the Packers in that contest.
Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady completed 20 of his 36 total pass attempts for 280 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions against the Packers. Brady was sacked just once on Sunday by the Packers defense.
Brady’s three touchdown passes on Sunday went to wide receiver Mike Evans, wide receiver Scotty Miller and tight end Cameron Brate. Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin led the team in receiving on Sunday with five receptions for 110 yards. Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette chipped in 55 yards and a touchdown on his 12 total carries in the team’s Sunday road win.
The Buccaneers defense was just good enough on Sunday on their way to sacking Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers five times in total. Outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett had three of those sacks and defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul was credited with the other two takedowns of Rodgers.
In a losing effort, Rodgers completed 33 of his 48 total pass attempts against the Buccaneers for 346 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. The Packers turned the football over two times in the game and the Buccaneers scored two touchdowns on their ensuing offensive possessions.
As for the Chiefs, they advanced to Super Bowl LV Sunday night by beating the Buffalo Bills 38-24 at home in the AFC Championship Game. The Chiefs trailed initially in Sunday’s game 9-0 but then scored 21 unanswered points by halftime.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed 29 of his 38 total pass attempts on Sunday against the Bills for 325 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. Mahomes was sacked just once in the game by the Bills defense.
Two of Mahomes’ three touchdown passes on Sunday went to tight end Travis Kelce and the other one went to wide receiver Mecole Hardman. Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill led the team in receiving on Sunday with nine receptions for 172 yards. Chiefs running back Darrel Williams chipped in 52 yards and a touchdown on his 13 carries. Hardman also had a carry good for 50 yards in the game.
While the Chiefs defense did give up a lot of yards to the Bills offense on Sunday, they managed to do a great job of keeping points scored to a minimum. Bills quarterback Josh Allen finished Sunday’s game having completed 28 of his 48 total pass attempts for 287 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Allen also had 88 yards rushing in the loss on seven attempts.
The Chiefs defense was able to limit Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs to just 77 yards receiving on six total receptions. The unit also sacked Allen four times on Sunday.
This will mark the second time that the Buccaneers franchise has played in a Super Bowl. Their last Super Bowl appearance came in January of 2003 and at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA against the Oakland Raiders. The Buccaneers beat the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII 48-21.
As for the Chiefs, this will be the fourth Super Bowl that they have played in. Their last Super Bowl appearance came last February and was a 31-20 victory against the San Francisco 49ers at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL. The Chiefs also previously won Super Bowl IV against the Minnesota Vikings on January 11, 1970 at Tulane Stadium on New Orleans, LA. The Chiefs also were in Super Bowl I and they lost that game to the Packers 35-10 on January 15, 1967 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA.
Several early Super Bowl LV lines have the Chiefs installed as 3.5-point favorites over the Buccaneers.
Super Bowl LV will also include former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive stars wide receiver Antonio Brown and running back Le’Veon Bell being on opposite teams. Both Brown, of the Buccaneers, and Bell, of the Chiefs, missed their team’s respective Conference Championship games on Sunday with knee injuries.
