Super Bowl LV recap - In a year of uncertainty, some things never change...

Bucs beat Chiefs 31-9, while Tom Brady ends any conversation of who is the greatest of all time.

Billed as one of the best quarterback matchups the game had ever seen, akin to that of Montana/Marino or Staubach/Bradshaw, Super Bowl LV looked to have all the makings of a classic. This however, was not to be, thanks to a stout playmaking Bucs defence, a clinical Tom Brady and a strangely undisciplined Chiefs team who could not get going the whole night.

Tom Brady with his three children, celebrating his 7th Super Bowl victory and his 5th Super Bowl MVP award.

Game Recap

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are Super Bowl Champions for the second time in their franchise's history, thanks to a suffocating defence and a 43 year old man by the name of Tom Brady. Even though Kansas City Chiefs' quarterback Patrick Mahomes was running for his life from the first whistle, the Chiefs did actually score first in the game, with Harrison Butker kicking a 49 yard field goal to go up 3-0 but it could have (and should have) been more, with Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill having the ball hit him in the face mask in the end zone... something which would turn out to be a running theme throughout the game.

After a three and out on their first drive, Tampa Bay took over with Brady going 75 yards in 8 plays, finishing the drive off by throwing a touchdown pass to long time friend and former New England Patriots teammate, tight end Rob Gronkowski with less than a minute left in the first quarter. Early into the second quarter, Brady got the Bucs into the red zone by leaning on the run with running back Ronald Jones II, then hitting wide receiver Mike Evans for 31 yards, his only catch of the night. The Bucs though, were not able to punch it in, with tackle Joe Haeg having a pass broken up by Chiefs' line backer Anthony Hitchens denying us a 'Big Man' touchdown in the Super Bowl. Then with 4th and Goal to go at the 1 yard line, instead of trying to run it in with bruising running back Leonard Fournette, they tried again with Jones who got stuffed the play before and then stuffed again, turning the ball over on downs.

While this could have changed the momentum of the game, the Chiefs just couldn't get into a rhythm and on a 3rd and 8, the usually sure handed tight end Travis Kelce, dropped a Mahomes pass and the ensuing punt was shanked for only 29 yards, setting up the Bucs with great field position.

Again, the Chiefs could have gained momentum back in the game, after a 3rd and 4 which was intercepted by safety Tyrann Mathieu, but was negated by a holding call. Then on another Harrison Butker field goal, the Chiefs lined up offsides, giving Tampa a free 5 yards and another first down. Brady wasted no time in capitalising on this and threw a second touchdown to Rob Gronkowski, a 17 yarder to give the Bucs a 14-3 lead. The Chiefs did manage to go 61 yards and put up another 3 points with a 34 yard field goal, but with only 24 seconds left in the half, Mike Evans drew two holding calls (one by Chiefs' corner Bashaud Breeland and another by Tyrann Mathieu in the end zone) to set up a touch down pass with only 6 seconds left to wide receiver Antonio Brown, another former, if only brief, Patriots teammate of Brady.

Half time: Buccaneers 21 - Chiefs 6

Bucs' tight end Rob Gronkowski celebrates with his legendary "Gronk Spike".

Chiefs' Ben Nieman stops Bucs' Ronald Jones II on a 4th and Goal.

Much like the start of the first half, Kansas City opened up with yet anther field goal, this time a 52 yard attempt to make the score 21-9 early, but these would be the last points the Chiefs would get in a night that Chief's head coach Andy Reid said was "a bad day to have a bad day".

Where the Chiefs could only manage field goals, the Bucs were answering with touchdowns, with Brady using Fournette in both the run and pass, while mixing in a 25 yard thrown down the middle of the field to Gronkowski. The drive was capped off by Fournette who ran it in from 27 yards out to give the Bucs a 22 point lead.

The Bucs defence, which had been stellar all night up to this point, really started to tighten the screws on the game and on a 3rd and 9, forced Mahomes out of the pocket and into a throw which was intercepted by Antoine Winfield Jr. Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles called a masterful game, never really getting out their Cover 2 look, making sure no one could get behind them deep and the Chiefs were not able to exploit anything underneath. This was in large part to Bucs' two line backers, Devin White, who was all over the field making tackles for a loss and Lavonte David, who did a great job covering Travis Kelce man to man and forcing a number of important incompletions (Kelce did finish with a Super Bowl record 133 yards receiving, however a lot of this came with the game already over). Todd Bowles is the only person to hold a Mahomes-led offense to zero touch downs in a game and in doing so, massively increased his head coaching stock for next season.

After a botched snap went over the head of Brady, Bucs' kicker Ryan Succop saw his only real action of the night and kicked a 52 yard field goal, to extend their lead to 31-9 going into the fourth quarter.

Even though Mahomes was running for his life from the very start of the game, he was still able to make magic happen but was let down by a number of his teammates. On a 4th and 9 play, Mahomes was chased out of the pocket (surprising!) and whilst laying almost vertically in the air, got a pass off to Damien Williams who was standing in the end zone. Unfortunately, Williams, like Tyreek Hill earlier in the game, had the pass hit him in the face and fall to the ground... The greatest Super Bowl play which never was.

This was *so* close to being a touch down and one of the greatest Super Bowl plays ever made.

From here on out, the Chiefs would not be able to mount any kind of comeback; turning the ball over on downs one more time before Mahomes tried to force a throw to Kelce in the end zone with less than 2 minutes to play. This was deflected and picked off by Devin White, ball game. Full Time: Buccaneers 31 - Chiefs 9

Mahomes was gracious in defeat, stating "They were the better team today. They beat us pretty good, the worst I've been beaten in a long time" which it was; Mahomes had not been beaten by two or more scores since college. Tampa Bay's head coach, Bruce Arians became the oldest head coach to win a Super Bowl at 68 years of age, but like Brady, he's not looking to hang it up anytime soon. Arians, when asked if he had any plans to retire after finally succeeding in winning the Lombardi trophy, said "No I ain't going anywhere, I'm coming back to try and win two, and then we'll see after that."

A legacy solidified and a legacy... postponed?

Many thought that if Mahomes could beat Brady, in what was technically a home game (the first time the host city has had their team playing in a Super Bowl) then at the very least, the door would be left open for when the question was asked "who is the greatest of all time?" That door however, has been slammed shut. Brady was efficient, if not spectacular, going 21-29 for 3 touch downs and 0 interceptions while Mahomes, for all the effort he put in and the *almost* spectacular plays he made, went 26-49 with 0 touch downs and 2 interceptions.

The 43 year old Tom Brady secured his 7th Super Bowl victory in 10 attempts and his 5th Super Bowl MVP (both NFL records), this time though for a different team in a difference conference. He also had to go through the number 2 ranked defence in Washington, Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints (who beat them twice in the regular season) and MVP Aaron Rodgers. The debate is over. It is not to say that Mahomes isn't one of, if not, the best quarter back in this league (he's coming off a Super Bowl MVP himself in Super Bowl LIV). In the off chance he ever gets to 10 Super Bowls and wins 7 of them at least (which I have heard some people say... like this is an everyday occurrence in the NFL) you can maybe start to slowly open that door ajar once more on the GOAT debate. Brady however, will always have Super Bowl LV in the head to head with Mahomes. Who knows what the future may hold; this may not be the only time we see these two greats face each other on the game's biggest stage. Mahomes is only 27 and Brady says he wants to play at least until he's 45 (though at this point, I don't think many would be surprised if he plays past that as well). All we know at this point is that he is returning next year, saying as much while up on the podium with a smirk on his face. "Yeah, we're coming back. You already know that." Should we ever be treated to this matchup again, let's just hope we get a closer game than we did on Sunday.

Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes meet on the field after the game.