Jessica Coleman | Staff Writer
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won Super Bowl LV by defeating the Kansas City Chiefs, 31-9 at Raymond James Stadium on February 7 in Tampa, Florida.
The Buccaneers were the first team to play in the Super Bowl in their home stadium. In the stands were 7,500 vaccinated health care workers, 25,000 fans and 30,000 cardboard cutouts. The stadium appeared to be packed.
The matchup between Tom Brady, 43, and Patrick Mahomes, 25, established the largest age differential between two starting quarterbacks in Super Bowl history.
Brady threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns, including two to tight end Rob Gronkowski to surpass Joe Montana and Jerry Rice for the most TDs by any QB-receiver combo in postseason history. Brady won his seventh Super Bowl and earned his fifth Super Bowl MVP.
“I’m not making any comparisons [to my past championships],” Brady said in an interview with CNN. “Being down here and experiencing it with this group of guys is … every year is amazing, and this team is world champions forever.”
Bruce Arians, 68, became the oldest head coach to win a Super Bowl. As diversity and inclusion is a highly controversial topic within the NFL, the Buccaneers exhibited representation in many aspects. Arians, who is white, had a coaching staff of Black coordinators, Black assistant head coaches and two female full-time coaches. The Buccaneers have the most diverse coaching staff in the National Football League.
“It shows we’re good at our jobs as coaches,” Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles said in an interview with Yahoo Sports. “It gives younger people inspiration hopefully to see us as coaches and see that we can be one of these kinds of people and if we put our mind to it, anything is possible.”
Although the Buccaneers are accompanied by one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, they were projected as the underdog. Tampa Bay’s journey to Super Bowl LV was a challenge. The Bucs got past the Washington Football Team in a wild card game, the New Orleans Saints in the divisional round and the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game. The Buccaneers became the seventh wild card team to win the Super Bowl.
Brady surpassed his former team, the New England Patriots, and the Pittsburgh Steelers, who both won six titles. The Chiefs became the sixth defending champions to lose the Super Bowl.
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