Opinion: Penalties and Power on Display at Super Bowl LV

Quarterbacks+Tom+Brady+%28left%29+and+Patrick+Mahones+%28right%29.+Image+courtesy+of+Sporting+News.

Quarterbacks Tom Brady (left) and Patrick Mahones (right). Image courtesy of Sporting News.

Kalani Buggs

Does anybody know what was on Sunday, February 7, 2021? I do. It was the SuperBowl! That’s right, the SuperBowl! The Tampa Bay Buccaneers faced off against the Kansas City Chiefs. The battle of the two top quarterbacks in the league between Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady was supposed to be a showdown. It ended up being a blowout in the Buccaneers’ favor.

In “Chiefs-Bucs Super Bowl LV rapid reaction: ‘Run It Back’ campaign falls just short”, Paul Sweeney stated “Running it back will have to wait at least another year for the Kansas City Chiefs. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are Super Bowl champions after defeating Kansas City 31-9. The Chiefs finish the 2020 season just one win shy of completing their title defense”. The Chiefs had the best record in the NFL and were the favorites to win but fell short due to the Buccaneers’ craftiness and Brady’s greatness. I think that it was an okay game because I feel like it could’ve been better if the referees weren’t making bad calls and flags against the Chiefs. At the end of the game, the Chiefs had 11 penalties! For a Super Bowl game, that is a lot.

ERHS sports fan Samuel Attasafoh thought that “the game could’ve been officiated a little better because there were times when they made some petty calls against the Chiefs. I also think they should’ve let them play and be more physical because it’s the Super Bowl and everyone wants to win so it’s going to be an aggressive game”. Samuel is right. In an intense game like this, the referees should’ve been a little laid back with the penalties due to the fact that it is a championship game and the two teams are going to play extremely hard in order for them to get the win. But at the same time, I also think that the Chiefs got outcoached and outplayed. Patrick Mahomes was running for his life on every offensive play due to the game planning that the Buccaneers’ coach solved in order to stop Mahomes. So, Tom Brady and the Buccaneers were just simply the better team.

ERHS athlete Joshua Fleming thought that the “Buccaneers played to their full potential. They were on the right side of all the calls, they scored over 30 points, they caught multiple interceptions, they got to the quarterback; everything was going great for them. Tom Brady played well because of the solid foundation in their offense and the amount of time he had in the pocket”. To be fair though, the Chiefs didn’t have their usual offensive line to protect Mahomes due to injuries, which is a reason why they had a harder time scoring. Patrick Mahomes had a good game considering he was playing with a foot injury. He ran and threw for 270 yards total while Brady had 201 yards and threw three touchdowns. Brady was clearly the better player and received the Super Bowl MVP. All in all, this game will go down in the books as historic due to two future hall of famers battling it out, in which Brady got the win this time. But don’t worry, Mahomes will be back next season to try and reclaim his throne as Super Bowl MVP.