Kansas City Chiefs Collapse in Super Bowl 55
The Kansas City Chiefs lost Super Bowl 55 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by a score of 31-9, a truly lopsided contest. Patrick Mahomes & co. struggled to get the offense going all night, failing to put a single touchdown on the board during the contest.
Tom Brady recorded an immaculate performance for Tampa Bay, completing 21-of-29 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions en route to his seventh Super Bowl championship. The Buccaneers were relentless on defense, constantly forcing their way into the Chiefs backfield to pressure Mahomes. The pressure was certainly felt by the former MVP as he threw two interceptions and surrendered three sacks in the loss.
Kansas City defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-24 during their lone regular-season meeting. This makes the lopsided Super Bowl outcome even more surprising given the high-powered Chiefs offense. The offense didn’t come through for the Chiefs in the big game, with only tight end Travis Kelce eclipsing the 100-yard mark.
Kansas City wasn’t able to convert on third down throughout the contest, with their first successful conversion happening with 5:04 remaining in the fourth quarter. The lack of success on third down led to many stalled drives and wasted opportunities to put points on the board. Further exacerbating these issues was a complete lack of execution by Kansas City in the red zone, going 0-3 during their red zone opportunities.
The Chiefs struggled to play disciplined all night, recording 11 penalties for a total of 120 yards and severely hamstringing their efforts to stay in the contest. Many of these penalties were at key moments in the game. Most notably, a negated interception by Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu on third down in the second quarter due to a holding call away from the play. This was only one of the many miscues the Kansas City Chiefs made during the contest. The errors were too much to overcome, and the Mahomes magic ran out at the worst possible time. Altogether, this resulted in a huge loss for the favored squad and another feather in the cap for Tom Brady, further cementing his legacy as the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.
The Chiefs look poised to continue their dominance in the AFC going forward, and only time will tell how they respond to this ugly loss on the biggest stage. The Super Bowl hangover may be lurking for Kansas City, but a revenge tour is equally likely.