Super Bowl LV takes place this Sunday as defending champions Kansas City Chiefs face Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Brady will be making a record 10th Super Bowl start – more than 31 of the 32 franchises in the NFL.
The Chiefs were pre-season favourites and aside from the Baltimore Ravens overtaking them for a brief period during the opening weeks of the season, have remained favourites throughout.
Andy Reid’s side weren’t overly convincing throughout the season nor in their Divisional Round victory over the Cleveland Browns. However, they looked impressive in overturning a 0-9 deficit to comprehensively beat the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship.
Tampa Bay will be the home side for the first time in Super Bowl history as the Raymond James Stadium hosts this weekend’s game. These two teams actually met here in week 12 in which the Chiefs won 27-24. They were up 17-0 at the end of the first quarter with Tyreek Hill notably breaking an NFL record for 203 receiving yards in one quarter.
Tyreek Hill is 12/1 to be Super Bowl LV MVP
Tom Brady heads into the Super Bowl with a staggering 6-3 record, but failed to convince in a narrow NFC Championship victory over the Green Bay Packers, in which you could argue Aaron Rodgers bottled it.
Brady threw 3 interceptions in his final 10 pass attempts in that game.
Meanwhile, Patrick Mahomes is 7-0 coming off a bye in the NFL, which is what essentially they are doing.
Chiefs will be missing Left Tackle Eric Fisher after tearing his achilles in the AFC Championship. A big blow. Receiver Sammy Watkins is questionable with a calf injury but did full practice on Friday and can be expected to play. Mahomes already has Hill, Travis Kelce, Mecole Hardman and Demarcus Robinson to target, as well as Le’Veon Bell coming out of the backfield, but Watkins would be a further bonus.
Receiver Antonio Brown missed the NFC Championship with a knee injury but returned to full practice on Thursday and can be expected to start the Super Bowl.
The only other doubt for Tampa Bay is tight end Cameron Braite. Brady could do with as many targets available as possible for Sunday.
Kansas City and sides from the AFC have looked a lot better than the opposite conference this season so we have to back the Chiefs to win this one.
Best bet: Kansas City Chiefs to win Super Bowl
