This historic NFL season is coming to an end, and on February 7, Super Bowl 55 will take place between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. It will no doubt bring us an exciting game with six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady taking on one-time Super Bowl Champion, and one-time MVP Patrick Mahomes. 

Fueled by a strong offense, and a Super Bowl-winning, MVP quarterback, the Chiefs are looking to win back to back Super Bowls after coming off a smooth win over the Bills in the AFC Championship game, and a 14-2 record in the regular season that earned them the first seed in the AFC and a first-round bye in the playoffs. The Kansas City Chiefs’ road to victory will rely on them protecting their quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, who some even call the next GOAT. If the Chiefs’ offensive line can give him time, Patrick Mahomes will tear up the Buccaneers secondary and put up too many points for even Tom Brady. 

The Buccaneers have arguably the greatest quarterback of all-time, Tom Brady, as well as  strong offensive threats Chris Goodwin, Mike Evans, and Rob Gronkowski. Additionally, for the first time in Super Bowl history, they will also hold a home-field advantage. Their season was not as strong as the Chiefs and went 11-5 in the regular season, earning them the fifth seed in the NFC. Nonetheless, this did not weaken the Bucs at all as they went on to win the Wild Card round, Divisional round, and NFC Championship game handily. The Buccaneers, however, will need Tom Brady to tighten up for the Super Bowl after throwing three interceptions against the Packers in the NFC Championship game. In order for the Buccaneers to win, they will either need to slow down Mahomes, or try and “out offense” the Chiefs secondary.        

There are varied opinions on who will win the big game but as of January 24, ESPN’s Football Power Index has predicted the Chiefs winning with a 52.1% chance (by 0.7 points). There are numerous predictions even in our own PDS community. Senior Josh Colon stated, “As of right now I’m taking the Chiefs just because their offense is pretty much a cheat code. However, I wouldn’t count out the GOAT on the other side in Tom Brady. If anyone is to pull off the upset on the Chiefs it’s TB12 but as of right now the Bucs are still considerable underdogs.” Others like freshman Harrison Epstein argue, “The Bucs are going to be the clear winner. He’s Tom Brady, no one is going to stop the GOAT.” Regardless of who wins, we are all in luck as it will for sure be a great game. We will just have to wait and see if the GOAT prevails or gets dethroned.