Sunday night, playing for the first hometown crowd in Super Bowl history and 7,500 health care workers, Brady and the Bucs defeated Patrick Mahomes and the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, 31-9, giving the Bucs their second Lombardi trophy. Brady was 21-of-29 for 201 yards and three touchdowns.
It was an incredible defensive performance and game plan from defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. The Bucs’ defense — making a quantum leap this postseason after being torched by Tyreek Hill for 269 yards and three touchdowns in Week 12 of the regular season — took Mahomes out of rhythm, pressuring him heavily without starting offensive tackles Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz. He was continuously throwing off-balance, with the Bucs’ defensive backs all over the ball, with Antoine Winfield Jr. notching a third-quarter interception. Mahomes was sacked three times, intercepted twice and held out of the end zone.
Three players Brady personally recruited to join him in Tampa — tight end Rob Gronkowski, wide receiver Antonio Brown and running back Leonard Fournette — all scored touchdowns, with Gronkowski catching two in the first half. Brady was already in rare company prior to Sunday, with his six championship rings tied with Michael Jordan, one of his idols. But Sunday night, he surpassed Jordan and Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. Now he’s tied with Nick Saban, Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth, to name a few. Many argued Brady took the biggest risk of his professional career, leaving the only team he’d ever known in the Patriots, the only head coach he’d ever known in Belichick and the only way he’d ever known: winning. He traded those things for a Bucs team that hadn’t been to the postseason in 13 years, hadn’t won a playoff game in nearly two decades and still owns the league’s worst winning percentage (.393).
The Bucs closed out the regular season on a four-game winning streak and haven’t looked back, winning three postseason games on the road — including trips to New Orleans and Green Bay to face Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers — before dethroning the Chiefs on Sunday night, becoming the fourth team in NFL history to win a Super Bowl as a road wild-card team. Now comes a new test for a team still adjusting to life in the spotlight: win back-to-back, something Brady did only once with the Patriots, in 2003 and 2004, and something the Chiefs fell short on in 2020. Brady will be in his second year of a two-year, $50 million contract, and this week he said he would “definitely consider” playing beyond age 45, which could extend the Bucs’ window to contend.
Gronkowski has already pledged his return. But they’ll need to re-sign Godwin, who becomes an unrestricted free agent. So too will pass-rusher Shaq Barrett, with whom they couldn’t get a deal done last offseason, forcing him to play under the franchise tag, and linebacker Lavonte David. The Bucs will have roughly $30 million in salary-cap space.The coaches and front office have been thrilled with receiver Antonio Brown. Can they re-sign him, and can he continue moving his life in a better direction without the structure of a season? His civil suit was moved to December 2021 due to the coronavirus. There’s also running back Leonard Fournette, whose 313 scrimmage yards heading into Sunday were the most of any player during the playoffs.