The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are headed to Super LV after outdueling the Green Bay Packers 31-26.
Although Tampa Bay had a 28-10 lead midway through the third quarter, Green Bay had plenty of chances to take control.
Aaron Rodgers and the Packers rallied back to make it a 23-31 game with under five minutes remaining.
They put together a long drive, and they couldn’t convert first, second nor third down tries inside the 10-yard line.
Coach Matt LaFleur made the decision to take the field-goal instead of going for it on fourth-and-goal, and that decision ended up costing the Packers in the end.
Green Bay did not get the ball back even though they had all three of their timeouts including the two-minute-warning.
Tom Brady and the Bucs drained the remaining two minutes and nine seconds by getting two first-downs and converting another by drawing a pass interference call.
Tampa Bay’s defense was led by Shaquil Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul combining for five sacks as they ended the Packers seven-game winning streak.
Green Bay has now lost in the NFC title game in four out of the last seven seasons.
Rodgers went 33 of 48 for 346 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. He’s now 1-4 in conference championship games as the starting quarterback for Green Bay.
The Bucs built a 21-10 lead in the first half. Brady threw a beautiful touchdown to Scotty Miller with only one second remaining in the second quarter.
That was one of the biggest plays throughput the game because it gave the Bucs some breathing room going into the half.
The Buccaneers also capitalized off the Packers turnovers. Aaron Jones fumbled the ball early in the third quarter and gave the Bucs great field position to score another touchdown.
At that point in the game, the Bucs had an 18-point lead, and it was enough for the Bucs to hold on and win the game, despite Brady throwing three interceptions in the second-half of the ball game.
Brady threw for 280 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
His team will become the first team to play a home Super Bowl game in NFL history. He’s won six championships and entered nine Super Bowls with the New England Patriots, and now he’s heading to his 10th with his new team.
The Buccaneers, as a team, did something quite remarkable; they won three straight road games and beat three teams that all won their respected divisions.
This will be their first time playing in a Super Bowl since they defeated the Oakland Raiders 48-21 back in 2003.
Brady adds another statistic to his resume by becoming the oldest quarterback to start in a Super Bowl (43 years old). Him and his troops will take on the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, on February 7th.
