This Sunday, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, the NFC Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face the AFC Champion Kansas City Chiefs in Superbowl LV. It’s going to be a titanic matchup and one that comes with all sorts of intriguing storylines. Let’s look at a few of those as we figure out who should come out on top in this struggle for athletic supremacy and bragging rights.

Patrick Mahomes

On Kansas City’s side of the ball, you have whiz-kid Patrick Mahomes, just twenty-five years old but already a one-time Superbowl Champion, after he helped lead the Chiefs to their first title in fifty years in 2020. A couple of weeks ago, in the tournament’s Divisional Round, Mahomes suffered a concussion and a foot injury. The doctors said the concussion was mild, and the turf toe injury was as well.

In the Conference Title game, Mahomes seemed fine. He didn’t seem phased by the minor concussion, and he was moving around on the injured foot with no problems.

You’d be hard-pressed to locate a better team leader than Mahomes. A young as he is, he’s a general, and he plays with confidence and poise contrary to his age. He can toss magician-like throws that seemingly no one else can, including his counterpart, Tom Brady.

Tom Brady

The Bucs got Brady during the offseason, and even if you don’t know the first thing about football, you probably at least know his name. He’s the GOAT, the Greatest of All Time, and his square-jawed visage is a part of Americana at this point.

He spent twenty years in New England and won six Superbowls there, cementing his place as the best ever to play the position. No other QB has more than four Superbowl wins on their resume.

Brady is forty-three, nearly double Mahomes’ age, but he’s not playing like it. He hasn’t quite put up MVP-like numbers this season, but he still looks to be in great shape, and he can still heave the ball downfield almost as well as he could during his prime.

In the NFC Championship showdown, a couple of weeks ago, he threw three picks alongside his three touchdowns. That’s an alarming stat, but you have to consider that none of those interceptions really cost the Bucs anything. He threw them to places on the field where they acted almost like punts, and they didn’t cost Tampa any points.

Rob Gronkowski

Rob Gronkowski is the Bucs’ tight end, and he came to Tampa and unretired when he heard Brady was making the move. It was a no-brainer. Gronk helped Brady win three of his Superbowl rings with New England, and the big tight end was only thirty when he retired, so you can be sure he still had some gas left in the tank.

Gronk hasn’t put up amazing numbers during his time in Tampa, but he’s always Brady’s deep threat. Even if Brady isn’t tossing him the ball, Gronk can still throw a formidable block to give his running back some room, or he can distract the defense so Brady can find his other receivers, Antonio Brown, Chris Godwin, and Mike Evans.

Travis Kelce

The Chiefs counter with Travis Kelce, their tight end, and one of their best offensive weapons. Kelce is another bruising route runner, a guy who anticipates contact and seems to enjoy it. 

Though he only has one ring at this point to Gronk’s three, you know he’s every bit as hungry to cement his legacy as Gronk is. He’s that big body the Chiefs need alongsidebruising running back Le’Veon Bell.

Gronk is sure to end up in the Hall of Fame in Canton one day, but Kelce would like to be there too. Denying the Bucs their second Superbowl Title in team history will go a long way toward making that happen.

The Bucs Defense Vs. Mahomes

Many pundits like to say that defense wins championships. You’ll hear that, again and again, leading up to games of this magnitude.

What that means is that a stifling defense can often beat a high-flying offense. Look at the Carolina Panthers vs. the Denver Broncos Superbowl matchup from a few years ago. The Broncos’ stout defense grounded Cam Newton and took away the running game, forcing an offense that looked like a powerhouse during the regular season to seem positively pedestrian.

If we’re looking at this game strictly from a defensive standpoint, the Bucs seem to have the edge. They have seasoned vets like Jason Pierre-Paul and Ndamukong Suh that should make Mahomes feel uncomfortable on every down if he can’t get the ball off within the first three seconds or so.

Also, Bucs Head Coach Bruce Arians is a defensive-minded guy. He spent years with the Steelers and helped guide them to a Superbowl XLIII win before moving on to Indianapolis and Arizona.

Who Wins?

This game opened in Vegas as Chiefs -3, meaning that the sportsbooks like the Chiefs as three-point favorites. That line has since moved to -3.5 on most betting sites.

The Chiefs are the defending champions, and they brought back almost the exact same team from their Superbowl win last year. They have the same coaching staff and players, and continuity helps win championships as much as defense does.

On the other hand, the Bucs are the first team in history to host a Superbowl in their own stadium. All the players have slept in their own beds these past two weeks leading into this game. They’ll have a home crowd rooting for them, albeit a smaller one than usual because of the pandemic.

This feels like it might go either way, and there’s nothing to suggest that either team should have a distinct advantage over the other. Still, while it’s hard to pick against Brady in the postseason, even the GOAT must give way to a young lion eventually. Expect the Chiefs to claim their second Superbowl win in a row when the dust settles.