The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Have Made a Huge Decision Ahead of Super Bowl 55 (but Not Really)
As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers prepare to play just their second Super Bowl in franchise history, their first in 18 years, there are obviously plenty of decisions to make.
For instance, what’s the best plan of attack for the defense as they prepare to try and slow down Patrick Mahomes and that vaunted Kansas City Chiefs offense? Do they blitz more than usual? Do they double Travis Kelce? And on offense, who does Tom Brady target in the Chiefs secondary? Does Rob Gronkowski get more touches? With Leonard Fournette playing so well lately, does he get the football a little more? As Journey would tell you, it goes on and on and on and on.
But it seems that the Buccaneers have at least already made one important decision leading into Super Bowl 55. Okay, so it’s not really that important whatsoever but the team has announced what jerseys they’ll be wearing at Raymond James Stadium on February 7.
The Tampa Bay Bay Buccaneers had their best regular season in 15 years
When Tom Brady signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last March, expectations for the franchise changed dramatically. But that’s what bringing in a six-time Super Bowl champion will do. Sure, there were doubts that the 43-year-old could duplicate the success he’d had in 20 seasons with Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.
But as the Pats struggled throughout the season and failed to make the postseason for the first time since 2008, which just happens to be the year Brady missed all but 12 minutes after tearing both his ACL and MCL in Week 1, TB12 went out and head one of the best statistical seasons of his career for the Bucs, completing 65.7% of his passes for 4,633 yards and 40 touchdowns, the second-highest TD total of his career.
But it wasn’t just Brady that had a great year as the team got big contributions from a vast number of players on both sides of the ball. The Buccaneers defense was ranked in the top 10 in just about every major category, which helped Tampa Bay to an 11-5 record, their best mark in 15 years.
They finished second in the NFC South behind the New Orleans Saints but made their first trip to the postseason since 2007 and then went on to win their first playoff games since winning Super Bowl 37 following the 2002 campaign.
The Bucs won all three of their postseason games on the road
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered the NFL playoffs as the No. 5 seed in the NFC and first matched up with the Washington Football Team, who won the NFC East with a 7-9 record. Despite having the better record, Tampa Bay was on the road for wild-card weekend but went into FedEx Field and earned a hard-fought 31-23 victory.
In the divisional round, the Bucs matched up with Drew Brees and the Saints, who had defeated them twice in the regular season, including a 38-3 beating back in Week 9. But the Tampa Bay defense stepped up and forced four turnovers, three of which Tom Brady and the offense turned into touchdowns to give the Buccaneers a 30-20 road victory.
Next up were Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game at Lambeau Field and the Buccaneers again took care of business away from home. Tampa Bay jumped out to an early lead, took an 11-point advantage into halftime, and led 28-10 early in the third quarter. Green Bay fought back as the second half wore on, a half in which Brady threw three interceptions, but the Bucs hung on for a 31-26 victory and earned a trip to Super Bowl 55.
It’s actually a little funny that it took three wins on the road to get a home game as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be the first team in history to play the title game in their home stadium.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have revealed their uniform choice for Super Bowl 55
So now for that all-important decision on what uniforms the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will wear for Super Bowl 55. Drumroll, please…
It actually looks like someone leaked the info so the Bucs decided to just go ahead and announce that they’ll be going with the white jerseys and the pewter pants for Super Bowl 55. Back when they won their first title in Super Bowl 37, they were wearing red, which is what they were wearing in their wild-card matchup with Washington before going to the white/pewter combo for their victories over the Saints and Packers.
So with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wearing white, that means we’ll be seeing the Kansas City Chiefs in their red jerseys at Raymond James Stadium, which is what they were wearing a year ago when the defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 54.
Stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference
