The LA Rams celebrate a thriller win over Tampa Bay and Tom Brady. While the veteran star, 41, has to think about another season, the City of Angels dreams of the Super Bowl.
Tampa. Tom Brady and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers are dethroned. The defending champions of the National Football League (NFL) failed in the second round of the playoffs on Sunday. The Buccaneers lost 27:30 to the Los Angeles Rams in a dramatic game at home on Sunday. A remarkable race to catch up by Brady and Co. ultimately went unrewarded. The decision brought a field goal from Rams kicker Matt Gay with the game clock running out.
While the Rams can continue to dream of participating in the final on February 13 in their own stadium, this time the Super Bowl will take place without Brady. The 44-year-old led Tampa to equalize with 42 seconds to go after trailing 3:27 in the middle of the third quarter. But the Rams hit back again. Quarterback Matthew Stafford twice found his top receiver Cooper Kupp, Gay sank the ball from 30 yards.
Brady is denied his eleventh Super Bowl participation this year. The quarterback legend has already won the trophy seven times. Whether he wants to take the chance of an eighth again in the coming year is an open question. Brady has repeatedly emphasized that he can imagine playing professional football at the age of 45. However, it is not certain that the most successful player in NFL history will continue his career.
The Buccaneers had struggled for a long time against the Rams, who had been massively upgraded this season. In a game in which both sides made mistakes in the final quarter, the guests had the staying power. The Rams are now moving to their own stadium. They will host the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football Conference (NFC) finals next Sunday (12:40 a.m. Monday night). The Super Bowl LVI will also take place in their new SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
Meanwhile, the Kansas City Chiefs are just one win away from making their third straight Super Bowl appearance. In a dramatic duel with the Buffalo Bills, the Chiefs won 42:36 after overtime on Sunday evening (local time) and will play next Sunday’s AFC Conference Final against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Both Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Bills’ Josh Allen put in near-perfect performances and played big part in an elusive finale, with 25 total points, three lead changes and an equalizer in the last two minutes of regulation. Only Mahomes’ pass to Travis Kelce in extra time decided the game. With 13 seconds left in regulation, the Chiefs were three points down and 75 yards from the end zone. “It was a crazy game,” Mahomes told CBS. “We will play this team many times in games like this. With this quarterback and these coaches…”
Allen had four touchdown passes and 329 yards after passes and 68 yards when he ran with the ball himself. Mahomes had three touchdown passes and 378 yards from throws, plus one rushed touchdown and 69 yards on the ground. Gabriel Davis had four touchdowns for the Bills, setting an NFL playoff record. Neither team lost the ball – the level of the game was extremely high.
After winning in February 2020 and losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a year ago, the Chiefs are now only missing one win against the Bengals around quarterback Joe Burrow for entry into the Super Bowl in Los Angeles on February 13. Should the Chiefs and 49ers play for the championship, it would be a repeat of the Super Bowl from two years ago, which Kansas City won in Miami.
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