Clash of quarterbacks awaits in Tampa Bay
LEFT: Tom Brady (12) of the Buccaneers looks for an open receiver during the regular season game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on November 23, 2020 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Spo
The winning quarterbacks in three of the past four Super Bowls will get together late on Sunday afternoon at Raymond James Stadium in one of the marquee matchups of the National Football League season.
However, that’s about the only similarity that Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady have right now.
Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are royalty, brilliant in the spotlight and on everyone’s short list for a potential trip for a return trip to Florida’s Gulf Coast in early February for Super Bowl LV.
On the flip side, Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are limping along- two games out of the division lead, lost twice to its main divisional rival and 1-3 in prime time games. And while the Super Bowl will be in their home park, there are about four or five other teams from the NFC who would probably be favored ahead of the Buccaneers right now.
That’s what makes Sunday’s game (4:25 p.m., CBS) so fascinating. If the Bucs win, they will vault back into that conversation. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are needing to keep pace with the Steelers in the AFC’s hierarchy.
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The sports betting information
On FOXBet.com Sportsbook, the Chiefs were three point road favorites with a money line of -162 (A $162 bet would pay out $100.) The Bucs are a +135 (a $100 bet pays $135.) The over under is 56.
Against the number this year, the Chiefs are 6-4 while the Bucs are 5-6. There are all kinds of CustomBets, Alternate Totals, BetBoost and the new “Build A Prop” for you to choose from on FOXBet.com. Check it out today.
The history
The Buccaneers lead the series 7-5, but that’s now always the best indicator of how the game will go since the two teams play so infrequently. (The last game was in 2016 in Kansas City, which the Buccaneers won 19-17.) In the head to head matchup between the two quarterbacks from when Brady was in New England, both sides won one regular season with Brady winning the 2018 AFC Championship game in the only post-season matchup.
The storylines to watch
The Chiefs are in a battle to get the lone first-round bye in the AFC playoffs and home field advantage. There are two issues, however, for Kansas City. One, Pittsburgh keeps right on winning and will be favored to win every game the rest of the way. Meanwhile, Kansas City still has hurdle games against Tampa Bay, at Miami and at New Orleans coming down the stretch. Still, Mahomes was at his MVP best on Sunday night at Las Vegas when he drove Kansas City down the field to score a game-winning touchdown in a 35-31 win over the Raiders. Travis Kelce was on the other end of that pass and he’s having another stellar season.
On Monday night, the Buccaneers suffered another prime-time loss when they fell to the Rams at home. At 7-4 and down two games to the Saints, who have effectively a three-game edge because of two head to head wins, Tampa Bay may be looking more for an NFC Wild Card spot than home field advantage through the NFC. Brady has thrown for almost 3,000 yards and has a slew of weapons- Rob Gronkowski, Mike Evans, Antonio Brown and Chris Godwin in particular- but also has thrown nine interceptions. Bruce Arians needs to blend things together quick or Tampa will go from potential Super Bowl team to possible fringe wild-card team.
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