Oh, you wanted a story? You wanted the Buffalo Bills to play for the championship? You wanted someone other than Tom Brady in the Super Bowl? You wanted an underdog to root for? Tired of seeing the Kansas City Chiefs boat race teams with that human cheat code of an offense they have? You wanted the (likely) league MVP, Aaron Rodgers, in the biggest game of the year? Well – I have some bad news for you. You’re going to be extremely disappointed – ‘greatness’ overcame ‘the story’ this season.
We live in a day and age when people seem to resent greatness. Folks call Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots “cheaters,” as if DeflateGate helped the Pats build a dynasty that spanned nearly two decades. In reality, they just don’t like that one team is taking home the hardware so often. They turned on LeBron James when he joined the Miami Heat. As long as I can remember, there’s been a sect of Americans that flat out hate the New York Yankees. The idea being that you can win….just don’t win too much. Through that lens, maybe this Super Bowl showdown between the Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looks “boring” or “uninteresting.” I don’t know – I’m just spitballin’ here after reading all these takes about Brady and the Chiefs paying off the refs.
But, whether you’re sick of Brady or just think the Chiefs are going to mow down the Bucs, hear me out – there’s a lot of history in this game, and that makes this quite the intriguing match-up.
First of all, there’s Brady chasing history – this is his 10th Super Bowl appearance. He’s already won six, which is already the most in NFL history by a starting quarterback. But, this one would be particularly sweet. For nearly two decades, analysts tried to pinpoint who was more responsible for the Patriots success: Brady or Belichick. Regardless of where you stand on that debate, the optics present a somewhat redemptive narrative for Brady – he’s finally surrounded by elite receiving talent, and he’s taken the Bucs back to the Super Bowl. This was among his greatest seasons, and it should’ve removed all doubt that he’s the greatest of all time.
On the other side of the match-up, you have a guy in Patrick Mahomes, who certainly looks like the solid future of the position. Last night, he played in his third AFC Championship game in his third year as a starting quarterback. He was the MVP in 2018, won the Super Bowl last year. Football writers across the country are practically salivating at the prospects of all the ‘Brady vs. Mahomes’ headlines heading into this game.
How about a guy like Mike Evans? Since entering the league in 2014, Evans has been one of the best and most consistent wide receivers in the game. This year, he became the first receiver in the history of the NFL to start his career with seven consecutive thousand-yard seasons. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m a fan of the greatest at their position winning as they deserve to. I want to see guys like Evans playing on the biggest stage of them all.
Then, there’s the tight ends in this game – two of the greatest to play the position in NFL history (you guys have to be tired of reading the phrase “NFL history” at this point) – Rob Gronkowski of the Bucs and Travis Kelce of the Chiefs. These are the two all-time postseason leaders in receiving touchdowns by tight ends. Gronk has 12, while Kelce has nine. Like the quarterbacks in this game, you have the greatest of all time on one side, and a guy who could challenge for that mantle on the other.
The Chiefs offense, ingredients all mixed together, feels historic in its own right. How do you stop this offense when Mahomes, Kelce, and Tyreek Hill are all firing on all cylinders? How do you attack it? Even when the Patriots were winning all of those Super Bowls, they didn’t have such a collection of superstars. Some of those Pats teams were gritty, defensive teams that would just grind teams down in the playoffs. But, they never looked as unstoppable as this Chiefs offense does. Take the Bills, for instance – the Chiefs rattled off 21 unanswered points, and it looked like the Bills were cooked…like they were just holding on for the ride the rest of the game. This Chiefs team is amazing. What we could be witnessing is the birth of a new dynasty – because I don’t know how you see this nucleus of Chiefs players and don’t think they’re unstoppable. I don’t see how you stop this team.
Finally, we have to talk about the head coaches – Bruce Arians has been one of the greatest offensive minds in the NFL for the last 15 years. Arians won a couple of Super Bowl rings with the Steelers – one in 2005 as wide receivers coach, one in 2008 as offensive coordinator. But, he’s never won one as a head man. He’s a two-time AP NFL Coach of the Year, and he got the Arizona Cardinals to the NFC Championship after the 2015 season. He took a year off in 2018, before returning to football to coach the Bucs in 2019, in what now looks like apart of a brilliant play to land Brady in free agency. Talk about a guy who looks to cement his place in the upper echelon of NFL coaches with a Super Bowl ring – the stakes are as high for Arians as anyone.
For a long time, Andy Reid was practically the Dan Marino of head coaches. One of the greatest to ever do it, but for one reason or another, could just never hoist that trophy at the end of the season. Talk about a lifer getting the career validation that a championship brings with it – his winning the Lombardy Trophy last year just may have solidified his spot in Canton. It was one of the greatest moments of Super Bowl LIV. To see what he’s done to turn the Chiefs into a perennial contender is nothing short of spectacular. Like Arians, Reid is one of the greatest offensive minds of the last 20 years.
The Chiefs haven’t had to come back to win every game this postseason. It’s a little different from 2019 in that regard. It’s been much more impressive, and now, they have the chance to win back-to-back Super Bowls. That would be the first time that’s happened since the 2003-04 Patriots. That ’04 team beat Reid’s Eagles to get that one. Weird how so many of the storylines for this game tie into one another, huh?
Don’t you see, folks? The greatness is the story in Super Bowl LV.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
Check out the SoBros Shop. Become a Patron. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Watch on YouTube.
