The longer Tom Brady keeps playing, the more likely it is he’ll run out of fingers for Super Bowl rings.
Sunday night’s action in the US saw the Kansas City Chiefs book a return ticket to the Super Bowl while Brady’s Tampa Bay ensured they’ll be the ones with home-field advantage for the biggest show in American Football.
For the multiple-time Super Bowl MVP, it’s business as usual. He’s with a new team, in a new city, in a new conference, but he’s back in the most comfortable surroundings of the NFL’s showpiece event.
Having tasted Super Bowl glory no fewer than six times with New England Patriots, Brady toasted the NFC Championship victory last night at Lambeau field with coach Andy Reid, having jumped to Florida as a free agent this season.
#SBLV is going to be EPIC 🍿@PatrickMahomes | @TomBrady pic.twitter.com/Vmokmb4x1d
— NFL GameDay (@NFLGameDay) January 25, 2021
The Buccaneers have one Super Bowl championships to their credit, taking 2002’s crown against the Raiders, 48-21. Nearly 20 years on, they’re back with a bang having seen off Washington in the wild card playoffs 31-23, beating the Saints in the divisional playoffs 30-20 and now last night seeing off the Packers 31-26.
Brady put in a good shift against the Packers, connecting on 20 of 36 passes for 286 years with 3TDs in the mix, but did give up 3 INTs to allow Green Bay some breathing room. While Brady shone, Packers QB Aaron Rodgers had a game to forget, getting sacked five times by a Tampa Bay defensive unit hungry to become the first host team to play a Super Bowl championship.
The defeat for Green Bay was their fourth at the NFC Championship stage in the past seven seasons, leaving them without a Super Bowl appearance since their win in 2010.
The Chiefs and Mahomes are back
For the Kansas City Chiefs, it’s their second successive Super Bowl appearance having overturned the Buffalo Bills 38-24 with relative ease on Sunday night at the Arrowhead to seal the 2021 AFC Championship.
It’ll be two-in-a-row under head coach Andy Reid and QB Patrick Mahomes when they make the trip to Raymond James Stadium on Sunday 7 February. Last year, they sank the 49ers with a two TD turnaround in the final three minutes of the games. Mahomes, the Chief’s talisman, notched up 286 yards in the air, chalking down 2 TDs in the process to pick up last year’s MVP crown.
Mahomes himself was only cleared from the NFL’s concussion protocol on Friday, allowing him to play against the Bills on Sunday; Chad Henne making sure things stayed on track last weekend. Having been diagnosed with turf toe in his left foot, the Chiefs are waiting until the post-season to see if last year’s MVP will require surgery.
Mind you, he had no problem through for 3 TDs on Sunday night, Travis Kelce picking up two, Mecole Hardman another while Darrel Williamson and Clyde Edwards-Helaire rushed for 1TD apiece. Mahomes went 29/38 for 325 yards in the air, keeping his own running quiet with five yards from five carries.
With American Football’s biggest honour at stake next, there’s no doubt Kansas will be doing everything in their power to make sure he steps on – and stays on – the field.
The Chiefs have lost just twice this season, and last night showed why as Buffalo struggled to contain the explosive nature of the majority fo the KC plays. Likewise, the Kansas City defence kept a lid on the majority of Buffalo’s third downs and while they shipped two late scores, they had more than enough in the bank to see them comfortably on the plane to Tampa next month.
Brady v Mahomes
Brady, arguably the GOAT (greatest of all time) and Mahomes, aiming to be the greatest of the new generation, is a Super Bowl showdown that even the most casual of football fans will love watching in February.
Whether it spells the further fuelling or final curtain for the 43-year-old Brady or the cementing as a future hall-of-famer of Patrick Mahomes, viewers and fans will be in for a treat when the pair go head to head on the first Sunday in February.
