Super Bowl preview

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It’s been a hell of a ride.

As I sat on my couch and watched the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tear down the Green Bay Packers, absolutely annihilating my prediction for who would become Super Bowl champ this year, I realized something. What makes the game of football so interesting is it’s ever changing landscape and the ability to provide surprise after surprise through the regular season, as well as the playoffs. The high octane play of loaded offences and the steady dedicated work of well-maintained defences shows that any team can have a chance at any time to get a huge win. That is, and this brings me to my point, unless your team is going up against Tom Brady.

Look, I understand all the arguments people make regarding Mr. Brady and his success, and to those arguments’ credit, Tom Brady doesn’t do it on his own. There’s a solid defence, a talented offence, and a well-balanced coaching staff there to help him excel his game. However, counterpoint: it’s Tom Brady! You can make the argument that he wouldn’t be where he is without the talent that surrounds him, but he also wouldn’t be where he is if he himself wasn’t that talented. Whether it was against the up and coming Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl 53, the surging Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 49, or even “The Greatest Show on Turf”’s St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl 36, Brady gets the job done.

Now, heading into Super Bowl 55, Tom Brady is once again on the path to greatest as he pursues his seventh Super Bowl championship. In case you thought you read that wrong, you didn’t. Tom Brady is pursuing his seventh Super Bowl ring. What’s even crazier about Brady ‘the ageless wonder’ is that he came over from the AFC to the NFC in a division that several (what hesitate to call) experts said would be an actual challenge versus the division he was in. So how difficult was that division? Well he went 11 – 5 and ended up beating Drew Brees and the Saints in the playoffs so not very.

Honestly, it is absolutely mind-blowing to see what Tom Brady has accomplished throughout his career, silencing his critics every step of the way. He’s still get the mind, the arm, and the sheer dedication to play at the same level of players like that of Patrick Mahomes. Speaking of which…

From the ageless wonder, we move to the rising superstar that is Patrick Mahomes. Having won his first championship last year in Super Bowl 54, Mahomes and crew look to be the first team to become repeat Super Bowl winners since, well, Tom Brady and the Patriots in 2005 (well this is awkward). The thing is, Mahomes makes the game of football look really easy. I mean really, really easy. Granted, the addition of weapons like that of Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce and Le’veon Bell certainly help him make the game look easy, but as with Tom Brady, Mahomes himself has to be talented to actually use those weapons effectively.

Seriously though, Mahomes looks as if he’s playing on the easiest setting in Madden. This past Sunday, he took down a red-hot Buffalo Bills team by two scores in what I can only assume was a direct statement to the rest of the NFL, saying “don’t get in between me and my second Super Bowl.” The win silenced online critics who felt Mahomes wouldn’t be ready to play due to a concession he suffered during his game against the Cleveland Browns. Not so critics, not so.

Anywho, with both contenders set in this up and coming Super Bowl 55 match-up, I’m sure you’re curious as to who is going to come out on top. Well I don’t know myself. I can certainly make a prediction like every other sports analyst out there and act like I knew the whole time if they win. So, my prediction for Super Bowl 55? I’m going to have to go with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Why? Well, despite the obvious reasons (because it’s Tom frickin’ Brady), there are a couple of other things that sway my decision. One, the veteran status of players on the Buccaneers team makes me nervous for Kansas City fans. If there’s one thing anybody knows about NFL veterans and their football IQ, it’s that it weighs into big games significantly. Mahomes and Kansas City may have youthful enthusiasm but the Brady Bunch brings well-aged intelligence into the big game. Second, big pressure situations are what players like Rob Gronkowski and Tom Bady are used to, and there is no bigger than that of the Super Bowl. While Mahomes has won a Super Bowl, he hasn’t won one with stakes like this. Going into the big game against the greatest quarterback of all time is one thing, but going in and trying to be the first repeat champion in 16 years is a whole other thing altogether.

All in all, regardless of the outcome, this will be a game for the ages (at least that’s the hope).

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