The National Football League Super Bowl 2021 is set for Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m., with fans, sports broadcasters and commentators gearing up for the championship between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs.
Though the coronavirus has brought setbacks such as the cancelations of games and players testing positive, the NFL will return for the 2021 Super Bowl at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
SportsLine, an online projection model, is tallying the Chiefs and Buccaneers statistics and predicting which team will take home the trophy. They’ve put the total score of the two teams at under 56.5 points because both teams received timely defensive performances during their conference championships, creating a common score among both teams.
The Chiefs have been on a roll since beating the Cleveland Browns in the divisional round. With a 14-2 season ranking, there was no doubt that the Chiefs would make it to the playoffs, or Super Bowl for that matter. ESPN’s Football Power Index set the odds of a Chiefs win at 52.1%.
Even after quarterback Patrick Mahomes II was put into a concussion protocol, playing the Buffalo Bills Jan. 24 was no different for Mahomes and his team. They were able to defeat Bills quarterback Josh Allen’s eight-game winning streak, clenching the spot in the championship a few hours after Tom Brady and the Buccaneers did the same in Tampa.
There are small concerns regarding whether the Chiefs can pull off another Super Bowl title. While the Buccaneers made a clean home-win against the Packers at the National Football Conference championship game, Mahomes has plenty of talent when it comes to holding their opponents.
ESPN NFL Nation reporter Kevin Seifert wrote about what each team would need to do to win.
“Even if the Buccaneers open an early lead, the Chiefs will be just a few strokes from getting back in the game,” Seifert said. “But the key will be whether they can hold off the Buccaneers’ defensive front. If they can give Mahomes enough time, he’ll carve up their secondary and just pour too many points on the fire.”
The Buccaneers, on the other hand, have a field home advantage. This is the first team in NFL history to be playing a Super Bowl on their home field, according to CBS. This brings predictions of a more victorious win rather than playing at a neutral home field
With a 11-5 season ranking, and coming in as a fifth seed in the NFC, Brady and The Buccaneers have built their way up to the championship. But CBS reporter Cody Benjamin is still projecting a Chiefs victory in an article he wrote.
“This figures to be close. Brady can not be counted out…at the end of the day, the Chiefs are the Chiefs, and as hyperbolic as dynasty talk may have been after their last Super Bowl win, the reality is [Kansas City] went half speed for much of 2020,” Benjamin said.
Benjamin went on to say the Chiefs have some of the league’s most explosive play-makers.
“If it’s fourth down at midfield, they’re not going to play it safe, unlike the Saints and Packers who matched up with Tampa Bay earlier this postseason,” he said. “They’re going to go for it all, and they, despite every effort from Brady, will do it again.”
Additional experts at ESPN were questioned on who they would rather take home the title. Many are split down the middle when it comes to picking between the Buccaneers and Chiefs.
“Chiefs. They have an answer for everything you do on defense…blitz, try to stop the run, switch up coverages, and they are wide awake after appearing bored for much of the regular season,” fantasy writer Mike Clay said.
Although the Chiefs are slightly favored, other sports analysts predict Brady and the Buccaneers will come through for one last game.
“Buccaneers. They’ve won seven [games] in a row to get here, and assuming they’ll have both safeties Antoine Winfield Jr. and Jordan Whitehead back, they’ll be at full strength defensively,” Buccaneers reporter Jenna Laine said.
With two talented rosters playing on Sunday, it’s still anyone’s guess as to who will clench the Super Bowl title.
