Super Bowl Preview

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 Simon B

    It's the Saturday before the Super Bowl! For most North American sports fans, this is one of the biggest events of the year. Get together, eat some food, perhaps engage in a little recreational wagering, and watch two teams fight for the Vince Lombardi Trophy. When I think about it, last year's Super Bowl was the last major indoor gathering I had before things turned upside down.

    For a lot of people, it's really disappointing that the Super Bowl will have to be spent without the usual gang of friends or family getting together. But as we wait for some return to normalcy, there will still be a really interesting game Sunday night. And I have to commend the NFL for getting this season completed. There were a couple of speed bumps during the regular season, but getting to the point where they can hand out the Trophy in February, as usual, is pretty astonishing.

Getting Here

    Let's talk about the game. The Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had different aspirations coming into this season. KC was looking for a repeat of last year's championship, while Tampa was hoping Tom Brady could drag this team to the playoffs at the least.

    Patrick Mahomes was once again brilliant this season. KC's offense made so many unexpected or "trick" plays that we came to simply expect them. Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce have been excellent options for Mahomes to get the ball to, and they've proved to be really tough outs for the opponent's defense. Kansas City ran into few problems during the regular season and playoffs, and have played every regular-season game with poise and confidence, finishing up 14-2. They’re coming into this game looking like true champs. They finished the regular season 14-2.

    The Bucs are in a very interesting spot. Tom Brady proved he's far from being "too old" to compete, as he proved all doubters wrong by getting his team to the Super Bowl. Not many people had the Bucs in the final game. People looked at Brady’s move to Tampa thinking he was going to go there to end his career and slow down a bit. However, he’s defied all odds looking like a quarterback in his prime. This tells us: don’t say Tom Brady’s playing days are over until he says they are. This goes to show how good Brady really is, period.  no matter the age. Tampa won’t only rely on Brady though, the supporting cast could make or break them on Sunday. Leonard Fournette and Mike Evans' performances have been big reasons as to why they are in this game. Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady have shown the same chemistry they had in New England in Tampa, and their play has been the backbone of the Tampa Bay offense.

COVID-19's impact

    There are all the obvious ones: Fewer fans and no gatherings have put a damper on the energy the players feel in all the games this year, but their absence makes a massive difference in the capstone event of the year. This is the first time in the history of the league that a team is playing in their home stadium for the Super Bowl (with the Buccaneers in Tampa). It must be a crushing disappointment to players and fans alike that pandemic means that seating is limited to only  30% capacity I do like the fact that they are giving away free tickets to healthcare workers and essential frontline workers so they can attend the game, and I’m glad that many of them have been vaccinated, so things may be a little safer for everyone involved.

    As if this game needed any more drama, pandemic gave us an extra shot of suspense this week. . Adam Shefter, an NFL insider for ESPN, reported that over 20 Chiefs players and staffers, including QB Patrick Mahomes, were scheduled Sunday to get a haircut with the barber who tested positive for COVID. Fortunately, the Chiefs found out in time and cut short the barber’s services “...mid-cut…” It was a close call; a few of the team staff  (mostly coaches) and now we know why Receiver Demarcus Robinson and center Daniel Kilgore were placed on the covid/reserve list on Monday. Fortunately, the big players weren’t affected so the team definitely dodged a bullet there

Prediction Time

    I'm just going to cut to the chase. I'm taking the Chiefs 27-21. I can see this game being pretty high in scoring because both offenses are really good. The defensive lines on both sides are going to have some trouble containing both Mahomes and Brady respectively. At the end of the day, Mahomes is a lot more diverse and creative than Brady because of his ability to surprise the opposing defense with unexpected plays so that's where I give the Chiefs the advantage. Brady has had a ton of Super Bowl experience but Mahomes knows what it's like to play in the big game, too. Home field advantage may play a little role but not nearly as much as it would if COVID weren’t keeping 46,123 fans from cheering live and in person.I also see a situation where Mahomes is motivated to spoil Brady's "Super Bowl at home". Mahomes seems like the type of player to feed off the opponent's energy. 

    There are thousands of other bets to be made and there are some new pandemic edition bets to be made as well. The "which coach will lower his mask first" is pretty funny. If you're wondering who's the favorite for that one, Tampa's Bruce Arians are ahead with 2-1 odds. I'm not really going to focus on the betting side of the game though. I just want to see the best in the history of the game and the shiny new superstar battle it out on the biggest night in American sports.

The Wrap

    No matter what happens in the game, I think it's important that people enjoy it even if it may be socially distanced. Look on the bright side: I hope this will be the last football game affected by the pandemic -- and certainly the last Super Bowl -- for a long, long time... Here’s hoping both that vaccines get distributed widely by September...and that fans are wise enough to get them). Have some wings, bet on crazy things (if you like that kind of stuff), and enjoy a great game because that's what the Super Bowl is all about for fans. 

   Thanks for reading! I’d love your comments and questions. 

   Feel free to let me know what you'd like to read about in the "Contact Me" section in the sidebar!

Please like and share with friends, and take a moment to subscribe (Head to the sidebar and sign up in the "Subscribe" Section) so you’ll get all my regular pieces on the NFL as well as the post-game review after every Leaf game this season!

#SuperBowl55 #Superbowl2021 #SuperBowlLI #KansascityChiefs #TampaBayBucaneers #Chiefs #Bucs #RaymondJamesStadium #AndyRied #BruceAriens #AdamShefter #NFL #TomBrady #PatrickMahomes #TheWeeknd #SuperBowlCovid

Location: Toronto, ON, Canada

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