After quarterback Tom Brady left the New England Patriots to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season, most Patriots fans were upset with him. However, it seemed like Brady had a lot of support from New England fans in Super Bowl LV. At Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL, The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9.This recent Super Bowl was different from usual games with a limit on the amount of fans allowed to watch the game and a social-distanced halftime performance by the Weeknd.

Patriots fans were upset when Brady first decided to leave the team because they knew the 20 year dynasty might be coming to an end. Throughout Brady’s 20 seasons with the Patriots, he went to the Super Bowl nine times and won six of them. Fans knew it would be tough to find a quarterback to replace Brady because he is often referred to as the “Greatest Quarterback of All Time.” There is no clear reason for Brady leaving New England but an article by PatriotsWire talks about the Patriots having a tight salary cap and not being able to give Brady a good deal. It also explained how Brady’s 2019 season with the Patriots was one of his worst statistically, and the Buccaneers would have a much better offensive line for him to work with. The Buccaneers signed former Patriots players Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown, who Brady already had experience playing with. Also, the Buccaneers head coach, Bruce Arians, gave Brady the freedom of calling his own plays in games.

During the first quarter, the Chiefs kicked a field goal and the Buccaneers got a touchdown making the score 7-3. Brady threw an eight yard pass to Gronkowski and he ran it into the endzone, making history with the 13th Brady-to-Gronkowski touchdown pass of their postseason careers, the most in NFL history. In the second quarter, Brady threw another touchdown pass to Gronkowski and one to Brown as well. The Chiefs got one more field goal before halftime making the score 21-6. 

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Weeknd had to figure out a way to perform a socially-distanced halftime show. The Weeknd, a 30-year-old Canadian singer and songwriter, performed most of the show in the stands beneath a giant video screen. There were background dancers socially distanced in the stands and later spread out across the field for the last song. They were dressed as robots and others wore head bandages, both of which covered their mouths so it would be COVID-safe. The Weeknd sang “Starboy,” “The Hills,” “Cant Feel My Face,” “I Feel It Coming,” “Save Your Tears,” “Earned It,” “House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls,” and finally “Blinding Lights” for his last song. Because of COVID-19, there were only 22,000 fans in the audience compared to the 65,000 the stadium can hold. There were also 30,000 cardboard cutouts, to make it look like there was a larger crowd.

Early in the third quarter, the Chiefs made another field goal, but still struggled to get a touchdown. On the other side, the Buccaneers continued to drive up the field and running back, Leonard Fournette, ran a 27-yard touchdown. After the Chiefs got the ball back, their quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, threw an interception, leaving the Buccaneers with the ball just past midfield. The Buccaneers kicked a field goal making the score 31-9 at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Buccaneers strong defensive line continued to pressure Mahomes and the Chiefs could not get down the field. Neither team ended up scoring any points in the fourth quarter and the game ended with the Buccaneers winning 31-9. 

Brady completed 21 of the 29 passes he threw compared to Mahomes who only completed 26 of the 49 passes he threw. The Buccaneers defense dominated Patrick Mahomes and his offensive line with a whopping 54 percent quarterback pressure rating, meaning that for more than half of all snaps Mahomes took, he was pressured by a Buccaneers defender. Brady now has more rings than any other NFL team, and he became the first NFL player to win titles in three different decades, along with breaking even more Super Bowl records than he had before. But Brady is not done yet; he has another year left on his contract with the Buccaneers and says he is looking to play until he is 45, and maybe longer if it is possible.