Tom Brady claimed his seventh Super Bowl ring, passing for 201 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throttled the Kansas City Chiefs, 31-9, in Tampa on Sunday, February 7 (Monday, February 8, Manila time).
Brady wasted no time putting the Bucs in position for their second Super Bowl title and first since the 2002 season by firing for 3 first-half touchdowns and a 21-6 halftime lead.
The early onslaught included a patented drive inside the final minute he capped with a one-yard strike to Antonio Brown with 6 seconds left. Rob Gronkowski grabbed two touchdowns, padding the postseason record for scoring connections from Brady to 14. Gronkowski had 6 grabs for 67 yards.
A 27-yard touchdown run in the 3rd quarter by Leonard Fournette, who recorded 89 yards on 16 touches, made it 28-9. That touchdown helped ice the outcome as the Bucs constantly pressured the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, who suffered his worst NFL defeat.
Kansas City settled for 3 field goals by Harrison Butker.
Mahomes finished just 26 of 49 for 270 yards. He had two interceptions, a pick by Antoine Winfield that led to a third-quarter Tampa Bay field goal and the second with a minute remaining by Devin White.
The 43-year-old Brady, who won 6 Super Bowl championships with New England, added to his age-defying legacy by engineering Tampa Bay to a title in his first season quarterbacking an NFC team. He received his fifth Super Bowl MVP award, adding to his own record.
Playing behind a patchwork line missing two starting tackles, Mahomes was hobbled by a lingering turf toe he injured in the divisional round. He scrambled for 33 yards. Travis Kelce led the Chiefs with 10 receptions for 133 yards. The Chiefs committed 11 penalties, 8 in the first half.
Making his 10th Super Bowl appearance, Brady engineered a touchdown in the 1st quarter of the game for the first time by tossing an eight-yard score to Gronkowski.
Brady, who went 16-for-20 for 140 first-half yards, added a 17-yard touchdown pass to Gronkowski after an offsides penalty against the Chiefs prompted Tampa Bay to take a field goal off the board.
Taking over with just 55 seconds left, he directed a 71-yard march aided by two pass interference calls against Kansas City. The second came in the end zone, allowing the Bucs a chance from the one-yard line, which Brady cashed by finding Antonio Brown with 6 seconds remaining.
Mahomes started 3-for-12 before finishing 9 of 19 for just 67 yards passing in the half. – Rappler.com
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