Kansas City Chiefs was looking to lead Kansas City to consecutive Super Bowl titles As defending Super Bowl Champions, the Kansas City Chiefs recorded an NFL-best record in 2020 under eighth-year head coach
Andy Reid. Other than a 40–32 loss against the
Las Vegas Raiders in week 5, their only defeat was by a 38-21 score in the final game of the season against the
Los Angeles Chargers, when they rested most of their starters because they had already clinched the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. This appearance was the Chiefs' fourth trip to the Super Bowl. They lost
Super Bowl I (1967), but won Super Bowls
IV (1970) and
LIV (2020). Kansas City's offense ranked first in the NFL in yards (6,653) and sixth in points scored (473). Quarterback
Patrick Mahomes made the Pro Bowl for the third consecutive season, throwing for 4,740 yards (second in the league) and 38 touchdowns, with only six interceptions, while also finishing the season as Kansas City's second leading rusher with a career high 308 yards and two scores. His main target was Pro Bowl tight end
Travis Kelce, who caught 105 passes for 1,416 yards and 11 touchdowns, making him the NFL's second leading receiver and setting a new league record for receiving yards by a tight end. Pro Bowl receiver
Tyreek Hill had 87 receptions for 1,276 yards and 15 touchdowns, while also rushing for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Mahomes also had receivers
Demarcus Robinson (45 receptions for 466 yards),
Mecole Hardman (41 reception for 561 yards and 360 return yards on special teams), and
Sammy Watkins (37 receptions for 421 yards). The team's leading rusher from 2019,
Damien Williams, opted out of the 2020 season due to
COVID-19 concerns and because his mother had recently been diagnosed with Stage IV cancer. In his place, rookie running back
Clyde Edwards-Helaire stepped up to fill the void, rushing for 808 yards and four touchdowns, while also catching 36 passes for 297 yards and another touchdown. Tackle
Eric Fisher led the Chiefs offensive line, earning a Pro Bowl selection. However, he was forced to miss the Super Bowl after suffering a torn achilles tendon in the AFC championship game.
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, a starting guard for the 2019 season, was first NFL player to announce he would not play the season because of COVID-19, instead working as an
orderly at a Montreal long-term care facility during the pandemic. On special teams, kicker
Harrison Butker made 25-of-27 field goals, including all four of his attempts from over 50 yards. The Chiefs defense was ranked 16th in the league in yards allowed (5,733). The Chiefs defensive line was led by Pro Bowl selections
Chris Jones (7 sacks and two forced fumbles) and
Frank Clark (6 sacks). Linebacker
Anthony Hitchens ranked second on the team with 78 tackles. Kansas City's secondary was led by Pro Bowl strong safety
Tyrann Mathieu (68 tackles, six interceptions, and one fumble recovery) and free safety
Daniel Sorensen (91 tackles, three interceptions, and two forced fumbles). The team also recorded only three winning seasons since 2008 and had gone 7–9 the previous year. During the 2020 off-season, the Buccaneers chose not to re-sign quarterback
Jameis Winston, whom they selected
first overall in
2015. To replace Winston, they made arguably the biggest off-season acquisition by signing 20-year veteran
Tom Brady, one of the NFL's most decorated players. The signing marked the first time that Brady would play for a team other than the
New England Patriots, where he was considered the offensive engine of the franchise's
dynasty. Tight end
Rob Gronkowski, Brady's teammate in New England and considered one of the greatest in his position, was lured out of retirement and acquired through a trade with the Patriots. Further off-season acquisitions included running back
Leonard Fournette, running back
LeSean McCoy, and placekicker
Ryan Succop. In the
2020 NFL draft, Tampa Bay bolstered their offensive line by selecting tackle
Tristan Wirfs 13th overall. After Week 6, they signed accomplished, but controversial wide receiver
Antonio Brown, who had been out of the league for over a year. Tampa Bay's offense was ranked seventh in league yards (6,145) and third in points scored (492). The 43-year old Brady threw for 4,633 yards and 40 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and rushed for three touchdowns. His main targets were
Mike Evans who caught 70 passes for 1,006 yards and 13 touchdowns,
Chris Godwin who caught 65 passes for 840 yards and seven touchdowns, and Rob Gronkowski who caught 45 passes for 623 yards and seven touchdowns. Brady also had other receivers to go to with
Scotty Miller (33 passes, 501 yards and three touchdowns), Antonio Brown (44 catches, 483 yards and four touchdowns), and
Cameron Brate (28 catches, 282 yards and two touchdowns).
Ronald Jones was the team's leading rusher with 978 yards and seven touchdowns, while also catching 28 passes for 165 yards and another touchdown. Leonard Fournette also added 367 rushing yards and six touchdowns, while also hauling in 36 passes. Kicker Ryan Succop ranked sixth in the NFL with 136 points, making 28-of-31 field goal attempts. Tampa Bay's defense was ranked sixth in the league in yardage allowed (5,234). The defensive line was anchored by defensive ends
Ndamukong Suh (six sacks) and
William Gholston (20 quarterback hits and eight tackles for loss). The line was also aided by edge rushing outside linebackers
Jason Pierre-Paul, the team's lone Pro Bowl selection (9 sacks, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries), and
Shaquil Barrett (eight sacks and two force fumbles). The team also had linebackers
Devin White (140 tackles and nine sacks) and
Lavonte David (117 tackles and three forced fumbles). Cornerback
Carlton Davis led the team with four interceptions, while rookie safety
Antoine Winfield Jr. added 94 tackles, one interception, and three sacks.
Playoffs The Chiefs won the
AFC West division title for a fifth consecutive year and the top seed in the AFC playoffs with a league-best 14–2 record. After clinching a first-round bye, the Chiefs defeated the
Cleveland Browns 22–17 in the Divisional round to send them to their third straight
AFC Championship Game. They then won 38–24 over the
Buffalo Bills for their second straight
Lamar Hunt Trophy. However, the victories proved costly. In the divisional round, quarterback
Patrick Mahomes suffered a
turf toe injury before being removed in the third quarter due to a
concussion. The former continued to afflict Mahomes entering the Super Bowl, with him required to undergo toe surgery after the game. Additionally, left tackle
Eric Fisher departed the conference championship with a torn Achilles, forcing him to miss the Super Bowl. The loss of Fisher compounded the Chiefs' offensive line troubles, as right tackle
Mitchell Schwartz had been lost earlier in the season with a back injury. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers finished as the fifth seed and second place in the
NFC South with an 11–5 record. They were the first team under quarterback
Tom Brady to reach the playoffs as a
wild card. In the wild-card round, the Buccaneers defeated the
Washington Football Team 31–23, to advance to the divisional round against the
New Orleans Saints, who had swept them in the regular season. The Buccaneers then defeated the Saints 30–20 to advance to the NFC Championship Game. The Buccaneers then upset the top-seeded
Green Bay Packers in the
NFC Championship Game 31–26 advancing to the Super Bowl. The Buccaneers became the fifth team to win three away games en route to the Super Bowl. They also became the first team to make the Super Bowl as a Wild Card team since the
2010 Green Bay Packers. The Buccaneers became the first team to play and win a Super Bowl in its home stadium, and only the third to play in their home metro area (alongside the
1979 Los Angeles Rams and
1984 San Francisco 49ers). This was the final Super Bowl in the 16-game schedule era, which began with the
1978 NFL season. The following season, the NFL went to a 17-game schedule.
Pre-game notes The Buccaneers were the designated home team for Super Bowl LV, as the home team alternates between the two conferences annually. The fact that the Buccaneers were designated as the "home" team in their home stadium was a coincidence. As the designated home team, the Buccaneers elected to wear their white jerseys with pewter pants. The Chiefs wore their red jerseys with white pants. Even though the game was played in the Buccaneers' home stadium, the league treated this as a neutral site game. The Buccaneers were only allowed to fire the cannons from the stadium's signature pirate ship for player introductions and after the end of the game, but not during every scoring play and when the offense enters the
red zone as they usually would. In addition, the stadium decor including the replica pirate ship sails were accordingly changed from Buccaneers' logos to those promoting the Super Bowl. Gambling establishments had the Chiefs as three-point favorites and projected 57 points scored. The Chiefs and Buccaneers played each other during the regular season. The Chiefs won the Week 12 game in Tampa, 27–24. This marked the 14th time the Super Bowl featured a rematch of a regular season game and the first time this has happened since
Super Bowl XLVI in
2012. This was the first time that both Super Bowl starting quarterbacks –
Patrick Mahomes and
Tom Brady – have won the
AP NFL MVP and
Super Bowl MVP awards; as Brady is Mahomes' senior by 18 years, some billed the matchup as comparable to
Michael Jordan versus
LeBron James. Since the Buccaneers reached the Super Bowl, Tampa was nicknamed "Champa Bay", as all three of the area's major professional sports teams had made their league's championship round during the past five months; A few months prior, the
Tampa Bay Lightning had won the
2020 Stanley Cup Finals, while the
Tampa Bay Rays had advanced to but lost the
2020 World Series. With Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians aged 68 and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid aged 62, Super Bowl LV set the record for the oldest combined age between both coaches. Chiefs linebackers coach
Britt Reid, the son of head coach Andy Reid, was involved in a car accident on February 4, 2021. Two young children were injured in the crash. The younger Reid admitted to consuming two to three alcoholic drinks and being on
Adderall, a prescription medication, while driving. He did not coach in the game. In addition to becoming the first team to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium, the Buccaneers became the first non-
California team to play in a Super Bowl in their home state. The previous instances of teams with a home-state advantage were the
Oakland Raiders (
Super Bowl XI at
Pasadena and
Super Bowl XXXVII at
San Diego),
Rams (
Super Bowl XIV at Pasdena) and
49ers (
Super Bowl XIX at
Stanford). ==Broadcasting==