Super Bowl LV: Kansas City Chiefs v Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Live! | Sport

The Raymond James Stadium will be at a third of its capacity today, with a third of the tickets given to health professionals to recognize their tireless and vital work during the pandemic.

Unlike the stadium, Tampa’s bars will be busy today despite the pandemic. They are allowed to operate at 100% capacity as long as customers are seated and masked. You can read more about the city’s prep for the game here:

The Buccaneers today have a home edge and the most successful quarterback of all time, but they face a terrifyingly dangerous attack led by arguably the most talented NFL player of all time. How do they win? Our writers share their views:

Shorten the game. The Bucs have proven that they can switch between a number of styles this season. They can win with their exceptional defense. They can trust Tom Brady to get stuck in a firefight. Against the Chiefs, while it won’t be that entertaining, they’ll have to rely on the run game to extend the drives against a weak Chiefs front to control the scoreline. Get Brady to the final stage with a chance of winning the game, that should be the plan. Oliver Connolly

Sic Jason Pierre-Paul, William Gholston and Ndamukong Suh about the Chiefs’ backup tackles. First, mix it up a bit. (The transfers to Leonard Fournette & Co are so predictable.) And taking advantage of every opportunity to connect with receivers in the field, a point of attention for Bruce Arians all season. If Antonio Brown is looking for a time to shine, this is it. Andrew Lawrence

Brady’s does not want to participate in a throwing match with Mahomes at this point in his career. His edge will lie in his experience. He doesn’t want to be a pure game manager here, he’ll have to connect some long balls to win, but if he focuses on making the right play over trying the big game, his team has a solid chance . Hunter felt

Tampa must play to their strengths and blitz early and often. They have the pedigree – nine sacks and two wins against Rodgers this season – and can slow Mahomes by attacking an offensive line that lacks both starting gear. You risk dying from a thousand Tyreek and Travis-shaped cuts, but Todd Bowles has to be brave to cut Kansas City’s score. Graham Searles

You can read more game predictions here:

Little-known 576-year-old quarterback Tom Brady starts today for the Buccaneers, so we asked another hall of famer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to write about playing in your 40s (OK, Brady is 43). These are the fantastic results:

“I was 42 when I retired from the Lakers. After 20 seasons, I had a lot of NBA records and very little hair. Some of those records have since been broken, others have yet to be broken at a time to be determined. I did learn some lessons about being a middle-aged athlete in a league where the average age is 26, which is also the age of the average NFL player. Some of those lessons were about playing, others about playing a player – two very different things.

“Playing professionally against well-trained athletes who are 20 years younger is a challenge. The track appears much longer, the legs appear heavier, the hoop appears smaller. Then you come face to face with what philosophers call the mind-body problem: the relationship between the mind’s consciousness and the stubborn bag of flesh that is your body. “

You can read Kareem’s full column here:

Joe Biden has been interviewed by CBS about the Super Bowl. The president is asked if he thinks we can watch next year’s game in front of a full stadium.

“It is my hope and expectation … that we can watch the Super Bowl with a full stadium [in 2022]. He also advises people not to join Super Bowl parties this year: “If you watch, be careful,” he says.

He is also asked if he would rather be thrown at him by Mahomes or Brady (Biden was a receiver at the time). He chooses Mahomes who, he notes, has some ‘potential’, a mild understatement. Then Biden remembers being a politician and says they are “both great quarterbacks”. A change from its predecessor that would likely have nominated itself as the greatest player of all time.

The run-up to this game was overshadowed by a terrible one car accident involving Chiefs linebackers coach Britt Reid as a result of which a child was in serious condition. And the latest news is not good:

Britt Reid is the son of Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, so who knows how he must be feeling now (and that’s before we get into the injured kid’s parents).

Britt Reid is also in hospital with unspecified injuries and, according to a police report, said he had two or three drinks on the night of the accident.

Miss the day when players could smoke on the sidelines? (LEGAL NOTE: The Guardian does not endorse smoking, even with low tar content.) Then take a walk through our gallery of Super Bowls past (also featuring the Giants dressed up as Shirley Temple, which is as scary as it sounds):

Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce has appeared on CBS talking about its offensive coordinator, Eric Bieniemy.

“I think it’s disrespectful that he hasn’t found a job as a head coach yet,” said Kelce. “But I’ll reap the benefits of him being here every year and we’ll just keep making the Super Bowl while we have him.”

Bieniemy is one of the masterminds of one of the most explosive crimes in NFL history. And yet, despite the lack of coaches of any color in a league where the majority of players are black, Bieniemy has failed to land a job as the head coach, while MANY guys who look like Sean McVay are in charge of teams.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is asked about the NFL’s lack of black coaches. He says he takes the issue “very seriously” and admits that the competition “didn’t do as well as we wanted”. It’s easy to blame Goodell and HQ – and there’s plenty to blame the Commissioner! – but the fact is, the white billionaires who own NFL teams are the ones who choose not to hire black coaches.

Andrew Lawrence has more about the coaching situation in the NFL below:

Hello and welcome to reporting on [checks Roman numerals] Super Bowl 55, between the reigning champions Kansas City Chiefs and hometown Tampa Bay Buccaneers (the first team to play in their home stadium in Super Bowl history). Normally the Guardian would be in the stadium, but with the pandemic this year, the NFL could only promise us a desk in the media center in the stadium parking lot, so we’re in front of the TV too. It doesn’t matter, let’s face it, NFL is better on TV than live anyway.

The most obvious question is: who is going to win? Four of our writers had their opinions, and their thoughts are below:

Chiefs 31-24 Buccaneers. The Brady and Bowles combo is about as good as you can hope for when trying to knock the Chiefs off their sticks. No one is able to stop the Chiefs, but all the Bucs need is a defense that slows down Mahomes-Andy Reid’s machine, even for a few ball possession. Tampa has the talent and staff to implement such a plan. I have the Bucs giving Brady a shot at the last possession, but they are just short. The Chiefs’ attack power, even with all of Bowles’s goodness, is just too overwhelming. And even when plays do break, no one is better off-script than Mahomes. The Chiefs are going back-to-back and Mahomes is taking home a second consecutive MVP. Oliver Connolly

Chiefs 30-29 Buccaneers. As bare as Mahomes figures to be on the edge, you could easily see the Bucs defense forgetting the QB’s wheels until it’s too late. Whether it’s picking up a piece of yardage or buying time to shoot darts at Cheetah & Co, Mahomes will eventually take their heart. Andrew Lawrence

Chiefs 34-17 Buccaneers. Look for the teams to keep it close for a while, but by the fourth quarter, the Chiefs will be in charge and make their way with one of those Mahomes bursts where he rattles two touchdowns in an instant. Hunter felt

Chiefs 30-33 Buccaneers. I said it mid-season and I’ll say it again, Tom Brady and the Bucs will win the Super Bowl. Choosing against Brady is a silly message, especially now that he’s an underdog. Six titles and the fact that your team isn’t a favorite is a testament to how good the Chiefs are, but Brady has the final say with a last-minute drive and possibly where QB really is the best. Same time next year, Tom. Graham Searles

You can read the predictions in full below: