Super Bowl to feature 2 of best QBs in NFL history

Tom Brady will be the oldest quarterback to start a Super Bowl when he leads the Buccaneers into the Feb. 7 game against the Kansas City Chiefs at age 43.

He will be opposed by Patrick Mahomes, who became the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl MVP last year and whose father is just 50.

It will mark the first time the winners of the last two Super Bowls have met in the NFL’s championship game.

At the rate the 25-year-old Mahomes is going, it could also prove to be a battle of the two best quarterbacks in NFL history when all is said and done.

They have met four times before, with each team winning twice. None of those games have been decided by more than seven points, including the Chiefs’ 27-24 win at Tampa Bay in November, the last time the Buccaneers suffered a defeat.

Mahomes may not have the longevity of his counterpart, but he’s not shying away from the competition.

“We just have to be ourselves,” he said. “I trust my guys over anybody. We’re just going to go out there and be who we are.”

Mahomes already has his eyes on all of Brady’s records, even though Brady continues to put more and more distance between himself and the field every year.

This will mark the 10th time he has played in the Super Bowl and he will be just the fourth to do so for two teams, the second to do it in each conference. The game at the Bucs’ home of Raymond James Stadium will mark the first time a team has played the Super Bowl on its home field.

It was the goal Brady had in mind when he left New England after winning nine AFC titles and six Super Bowls in two decades with the Patriots to sign with the Buccaneers in the offseason.

“This is the ultimate team sport and we’ve had a lot of people work really hard over the course of a period of time to get to this point,” he said. “Now, a home Super Bowl for the first time in NFL history, I think, puts a lot of cool things in perspective. Any time you’re the first time doing something, it’s usually a pretty good thing. Now we’ve just got to go have a great two weeks…and be ready to go.”

With the talent of Mahomes and experience and skill level of Brady, defense could end up being the deciding factor in the game.

That edge should go to the home team, though the Bucs have been installed as a 3-point underdog. Tampa Bay’s defense flexed its muscle on Sunday, forcing two turnovers and sacking Aaron Rodgers five times.

“I thought they were spectacular,” Brady said, “and they’ve been that way all year. It’s a great front, great linebackers. They play their butts off in the secondary.”

That ferocious front may also have an easier time getting to Mahomes should left tackle Eric Fisher miss the game as appears the likely result of an Achilles’ injury suffered on Sunday.

“It doesn’t look too good,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of the injury to Fisher, who ranked No. 14 out of 81 qualifying tackles this season, according to Pro Football Focus.

Kansas City’s defenders weren’t nearly as consistent this season, though they have shown an ability to step up their game when it has mattered over the last two postseason runs.

The Chiefs’ defense was markedly better down the stretch last year as Kansas City won the Super Bowl after an awful start. The unit once again rose to the occasion on Sunday.

Key to the success on Sunday was an ability to generate pressure, a factor that is vital to slowing down Brady.

Kansas City pressured Buffalo’s Josh Allen on 47 percent of his dropbacks, including 10 of his 12 third-down attempts.

A repeat of that performance would go a long way toward giving the Chiefs a chance to repeat as champions.

Oddsmakers don’t expect much resistance, however, when the league’s top two passing offenses meet in two weeks.

The total opened up between 57 and 57.5 points, the second-highest total ever posted on a Super Bowl game, behind only the 58 for the Patriots and Falcons in 2016.

Both teams will now have a brief opportunity to celebrate and then get to work on a gameplan for the title game with two weeks to prepare.

The Bucs will do so from a practice field with a clear view of the stadium where the Super Bowl will take place.

“We can dream about (the Lombardi Trophy) looking across the street for two weeks,” Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians said.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.