The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game Sunday, 31-26, to advance to Super Bowl 55. Later Sunday night, reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs took home the AFC Championship with a 38-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills, securing a place in a second straight Super Bowl.
Super Bowl 55 is scheduled to be played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, becoming the first time in The history of the Super Bowl that one of the competing teams will play in the home stadium.
The last time an NFL team competed in the home stadium was in 1966, when the Packers defeated the Cleveland Browns at Lambeau Field, a season before the start of the Super Bowl era.
Twice in Super Bowl history, California teams have played in the same city as their home court, but in a different location. The Los Angeles Rams, then called the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum at home, played at the Rose Bowl in Super Bowl 14. The San Francisco 49ers played at Stanford Stadium in Super Bowl 19, but their home games were played at Candlestick Park.
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Tampa Bay defender Tom Brady, who played with the New England Patriots for 20 seasons, led Tampa Bay to his first Super Bowl appearance since winning it in 2003. So far this season, it has been his only Super Bowl appearance. of Tampa Bay in the history of the franchise. Brady will appear in the 10th Super Bowl, having already won six, both high marks for any player in NFL history.
The Buccaneers started on Sunday with a hot start, taking the lead at 21-10 at the break. However, the offense broke out in the second half, due in part to Brady’s three interceptions. But with just over 2 minutes left in the game and facing a 4 down from the opponent’s 8-meter line, the Packers chose to hit a goal rather than go for a touchdown, which would have made a two-point tie conversion. They never recovered the ball, as Bucs’ offense got two more first downs in the possession that followed.
“It’s been a great trip so far,” Brady said after Sunday’s game. “I put work at stake. The boys just hugged everything, really, when [head coach Bruce Arians] I got here last year. A lot of great things happened, a lot of wonderful young players. I just made a decision. I liked coming to work every day with this group of boys. ”
Brady will face Patrick Mahomes, who won the Super Bowl MVP title after leading the Chiefs to a 31-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 54. The next game will be the biggest gap of age of the opposing defenders in the Super History of the bowl, because Muhammad is 18 years, 1 month and 4 days younger than Brady.
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The Chiefs faced an early 9-0 deficit in the AFC Championship, after a stifled point gave Buffalo the ball at the 3-yard line. The Bills, already with 3, scored a touchdown in the first game of the unit, but missed the extra point. After that, the chiefs’ offensive came to life, scoring 21 points in the second quarter, while their defense kept the bills at just three points. The Bills would not score another touchdown until the 4:08 mark in the fourth quarter.
After an unsuccessful conversion of 2 points, Buffalo woke up with 17. They managed to recover an onside shot, but the next possession rose to just another goal, reducing the advantage to 14, with just over three minutes left in the game. The bosses then assembled a unit of eight games, including three knee bends, to run the time and ensure victory.
Super Bowl 55 is scheduled to be played on Sunday, February 7 and will be broadcast on CBS.
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