How Tom Brady and Tampa Bay Buccaneers Beat the Chiefs to Win the Super Bowl (Published 2021) (2024)

In addition to extending his record for Super Bowl titles by winning his seventh ring, Tom Brady also was named the Super Bowl’s most valuable player for a record fifth time.

When CBS’s Jim Nantz asked him to compare his most recent victory to his previous Super Bowl titles, Brady demurred. But with his three children at his side, he hinted that he was prepared to chase an eighth championship next season.

“Yeah,” Brady said about returning, “we’re coming back.”

A nearly flawless Tom Brady claimed his record seventh Super Bowl title on Sunday, winning a duel with his young rival Patrick Mahomes and burnishing his legacy as the greatest quarterback in N.F.L. history by leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Brady’s Super Bowl title — coming at age 43 and in his first season with the Buccaneers — joins the six he won as a member of the New England Patriots (2002, 2003, 2005, 2015, 2017, 2018). He now has one more win than both the Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the two most decorated franchises in N.F.L. history.

Oh wait, now the taunting is over, too.

Winfield breaks up a fourth-down pass intended for Hill, then pops up to taunt the receiver with his own celebration.

The Buccaneers’ defensive line is really after Mahomes now as the clock continues to roll. Jason Pierre-Paul was called for roughing the passer for a heavy hit after Mahomes got a throw off earlier in this drive, but Tampa Bay — knowing he has no choice but to drop back and pass — is just all over him on every play now.

After a brief delay, it’s Ndamukong Suh’s turn when a pass play takes too long to develop. Mahomes, trying to buy time, never sees him coming and gets flattened.

Expect a lot of Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette from now on, but this game — as advertised — turned on the quarterbacks.

Tom Brady is having another remarkable performance on the N.F.L.’s biggest stage, which is not surprising, but Patrick Mahomes has been poor, for lack of a better word, which is unexpected.

Brady has been almost flawless, completing 20 of 26 passes through the first three quarters, with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Mahomes was looking better on his most recent drive, but he is limping (turf toe) and has not led his team into the end zone.

After the Chiefs call a timeout to draw up … something, fourth down doesn’t go much better than third down did.

Mahomes runs for his life to his right this time and, tripped as he throws, heaves a 30-yard pass while parallel to the ground that is deflected at the goal line.

The Chiefs come out throwing in the fourth quarter and creep closer to the end zone. But after driving to the 11-yard line, a third-down play tells the story of their frustrating night: Mahomes winds up circling until he is chased back to the 30, and he ends up heaving a ball toward the end zone where it falls incomplete.

They will go for it on fourth down. They don’t have much of a choice.

Mr. Irrelevant holds a special place in the annals of N.F.L. esoterica. Every year since 1976, the last player in the draft is crowned with the title, which signifies they were good enough to be chosen but only on the bubble of the football purgatory known as free agency.

There have been 45 Super Bowls since Paul Salata, a former N.F.L. player, gave out the first Mr. Irrelevant award as a tongue-in-cheek celebration of perseverance and luck. But according to Salata’s daughter, Melanie Fitch, only two Mr. Irrelevants have played in the Super Bowl.

Brady just misses a touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone — his first miss after nine straight completions — and then chases down an errant snap for a big loss. But Succop bails out Tampa Bay by coming on and sneaking a 52-yard field-goal attempt over the crossbar.

The Buccaneers get points but not a knockout punch. Still, the former isn’t bad.

The Kansas City Chiefs, trailing 28-9 in the middle of the third quarter, look like they have a big hill to climb.

But let’s not forget that Tom Brady and New England Patriots were trailing the Atlanta Falcons, 28-3, in the third quarter of the Super Bowl four years ago.

And 19 points is the second biggest deficit Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has faced in the playoffs. His largest — 24 points — was in the playoffs last year, and he led the Chiefs back to a victory over the Houston Texans.