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A16 sports
Tuesday 26 January 2021

Old (Brady), young (Mahomes), different Super Bowl 55 awaits

By EDDIE PELLS In the two seasons since,
AP National Writer Kansas City has represent-
For Tom Brady, another trip ed the AFC.
to the Super Bowl — but this The Chiefs have done it
time, in a Tampa Bay uni- largely on the arm of Ma-
form. homes, though it's his head
And for his new team, the and his foot that have
Buccaneers, a first-of-its- been making more news of
kind home game, but with- late. He threw for 325 yards
out the usual home-field and led the Chiefs to a 38-
advantage. 24 victory over Buffalo on
To put a bow on this make- Sunday. He did it despite
it-up-as-we-go NFL season a bout with turf toe that
— a campaign upended flared up at the end of a
but never fully undone by week he spent in the NFL's
the coronavirus pandemic concussion protocol follow-
— it comes as no surprise ing a hard hit in KC's previ-
that there is no such thing ous playoff win over Cleve-
as a straightforward story- land. (Also a concern now:
line. Because of restrictions Pro Bowl left tackle Eric Fish-
in place due to COVID-19, er left Sunday's game with
Tampa Bay's home stadium an Achilles injury.)
will only be about a quarter Mahomes could join Bart
full when the Buccaneers Starr, Bob Griese, Terry
host the Kansas City Chiefs Bradshaw, Joe Montana,
on Feb. 7 in the Super Bowl. Troy Aikman, John Elway
The Chiefs opened as a and, of course, Brady on
3.5-point favorite. the list of QBs to win two in
The 43-year-old Brady will a row.
expand on his record by As for Brady? He's leading
playing in his 10th Super Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady reacts after winning the NFC championship NFL the Buccaneers to only their
Bowl, hoping to expand football game against the Green Bay Packers in Green Bay, Wis., Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. The second Super Bowl; the
on another record by win- Buccaneers defeated the Packers 31-26 to advance to the Super Bowl. Bucs won on their first trip,
ning a seventh title, but the Associated Press back in 2002. Brad Johnson
first one in his new home of But home-field advantage the game. Kelce are standouts for KC was the quarterback then.
Tampa Bay. won't mean as much as Most interview availabilities, and former Patriots tight But nobody would mistake
And 25-year-old Patrick it normally might. This will as they have all season, end Rob Gronkowski is on Johnson for Brady, who
Mahomes of the Chiefs will be the first Super Bowl not will take place on Zoom Brady's long list of options could join Peyton Manning
be trying for back-to-back played in front of a capac- from the teams' home- for Tampa. It is a rematch as the only other quarter-
titles, something no quar- ity crowd since the first one town practice facilities. of Kansas City's 27-24 win back to win a Super Bowl
terback has done since — — Kansas City vs. Green The farce that has become on Thanksgiving weekend with two franchises.
who else? — Brady, back in Bay at the LA Coliseum — the Super Bowl's "Opening in Tampa. In that one, Ma- It could happen the day
his 2003-04 heyday with the in 1967. Night" media session will homes threw for 462 yards after Manning gets the
New England Patriots. In a nod to how the pan- be a virtual affair, as well. — 269 of them to Hill — to call from the Hall of Fame;
The showdown will take demic has changed every- In short, teams will basically help the Chiefs build an Manning is newly eligible
place at Raymond James thing, the crowd for Ameri- treat this like a regular road early 17-point lead. this year and is a shoo-in to
Stadium in Tampa, Florida, ca's No. 1 sports spectacle game (or, in the case of This will be the second get in the night before the
where Brady's Bucs will be will be limited to 22,000 in the Bucs, a regular home high-stakes postseason game.
the first team in the 55-year the 75,000-seat stadium, game), and the Super Bowl matchup between Brady Soon enough, Brady will be
history of the Super Bowl to with vaccinated health- city will not much resemble and Mahomes. Brady was there, as well.
play on home turf. care workers getting 7,500 the overflowing party hub surgeon-like, leading New Clearly, though, he still feels
"Whoever would've thought of those precious tickets. it usually does as the big England to 524 yards in of- his home is on the football
a home Super Bowl for us? And even the visiting team game approaches. fense in a 37-31 overtime field.
But we did it," said Brady, — the Chiefs — won't be Despite all that, this has the win over the Chiefs in the "The belief he gave every-
who led the wild-card Buc- staying in a hotel all week, makings of a good match- AFC title game in January body in this organization,
caneers to a 31-26 win over the way both conference up, featuring the league's 2019. that this could be done,"
Green Bay on Sunday to champions usually do for top (Chiefs) and seventh- It gave New England its said Bucs coach Bruce Ari-
make it three straight road the Super Bowl. ESPN re- rated (Bucs) offenses, third straight trip to the Su- ans, when asked to explain
playoff wins on the way ported that Kansas City each with multiple ways per Bowl, and Brady's last what Brady's arrival meant
back home for the Super doesn't plan to arrive in to strike: Receiver Tyreek of nine as a member of the to the franchise. "It only
Bowl. Tampa until the day before Hill and tight end Travis Patriots. took one man."q