Three things to note from the Bucs-Chiefs Super Bowl

By ROBERT BELARDI

OPINION

The outcome of Super Bowl LV was not even close to what the odds were. 

The Kansas City Chiefs went into last Sunday's showdown favoured by three points. The over-under was 56. 

And the end result was nowhere near those numbers as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers trumped the Chiefs 31-9 at Raymond James Stadium for their second Super Bowl win in franchise history. And the seventh for a guy by the name of Tom Brady. 

Looking back at this tilt, there are a few things that vividly stood out.

Here are three things to note from Super Bowl LV. 

Chiefs Offensive Line Was

Hurting 

Patrick Mahomes threw for 270 yards and two interceptions. Sunday became the first time with Mahomes as quarterback that the Chiefs failed to score a touchdown in a game. And I believe the majority of this had something to do with the Chiefs missing their two pro bowl lineman Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz up front. 

According to @ESPNStatsInfo, Mahomes dropped back before a pass 56 times and was pressured 29 times. The Chiefs only pressured Brady four times. This is the largest differential in Super Bowl history. 

Mahomes was running for dear life. He scrambled so much it became normal. That is also a credit to a Tampa Bay Buccaneers defence that has been exceptional over the course of this postseason. 

It even took Mahomes to acrobatically dive and throw the ball near the ground to hit Darrel Williams square in the helmet. Chiefs receivers couldn't catch anything. 

Nothing was going Mahomes' way. The o-line couldn't protect him and the Bucs forced Mahomes way out of his comfort zone. 

Rob Gronkowski May Be The Greatest Tight End Ever 

With Tom Brady winning his seventh Super Bowl on Sunday, he surely cemented himself as not only the greatest quarterback to ever play but also one of the greatest athletes in North American history. 

But don't forget about his buddy that he throws “tuddies” to. That man's name is Rob Gronkowski. 

When Tom Brady signed with Tampa Bay, Gronkowski came out of retirement to join the Buccaneers and his former New England teammate. 

Already with three Super Bowl rings to his name, he was heavily rewarded with a fourth last Sunday. 

Gronk caught six of seven targets from Brady for 67 yards and two touchdowns. 

Brady and Gronkowski have a total 14 touchdowns in the postseason, two more than the next quarterback-receiver tandem in Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, according to ESPN's NFL Primetime panel. 

But this time it gets better. Gronk now has five career Super Bowl touchdown catches good for second all-time and he became the first player this past Sunday, to have a reception in five different championship games as per ESPN's NFL Primetime panel once again. 

He also joins Jerry Rice as the only other player in NFL history to have multiple touchdown receptions in multiple Super Bowls, according to the NFL. 

The 6'6 tight end, may have also cemented a legacy of his own. 

Buccaneers Defence Better Than We Thought 

In their historic post-season run, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defence was conceding on average 19.5 points per game, according to ESPN. 

The defence had been giving up 350 yards a game; good for sixth best amongst all teams in the postseason.  

But when it mattered most, the Bucs defence got it done. And it's because of players such as Devon White, Lavonte David, Jason Pierre-Paul, Ndamukong Suh, Vita Vea and Shaquil Barett.

Of course, as mentioned, Kansas City could not stop the Bucs defence from getting to Mahomes.

No team could stop them from getting to the quarterback in the entirety of the postseason. 

The Bucs defence accumulated eight sacks in four games. 

They stifled the Chiefs on the ground and forced the game through the air which made it difficult especially when Mahomes was in distress.