TAMPA, Fla. — The strangest of NFL seasons ended in the most familiar way.
Tom Brady lifting the Lombardi Trophy.
It was a win for the aged, as the 43-year-old Brady outplayed Kansas City superstar Patrick Mahomes, 18 years his junior.
Brady threw for three touchdowns in a 31-9 victory, collecting his record-extending seventh Super Bowl win, with the first six coming in New England.
It was the first time in the Mahomes era the Chiefs lost by double digits; his last such defeat came in 2016 at Texas Tech. The Chiefs were denied their bid to become the first back-to-back champions since Brady achieved that with the New England Patriots in 2003 and '04.
This marked the second Super Bowl victory for the Buccaneers, the first team to play the game in its home stadium. "Champa Bay" lived up to its nickname, adding a Super Bowl victory to a Stanley Cup and World Series appearance against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the last six months.
Brady, the NFL's most celebrated free agent of the offseason, threw two of his touchdowns to old buddy Rob Gronkowski, his star tight end in New England.
The Buccaneers pulled away in the third quarter, building on their 15-point halftime lead by outscoring Kansas City, 10-3.
Tampa Bay headed for the locker room at halftime with a 21-6 lead and three touchdown passes by Brady — two to Gronkowski, and a third to receiver Antonio Brown.
Not only did Kansas City fail to get in an offensive rhythm, but the Chiefs were penalized eight times for 95 yards in the half, breathing life into all three of Tampa Bay's scoring drives.
The Buccaneers scored a touchdown at the end of the first quarter, when Brady threw underneath to Gronkowski, who ran 8 yards into the end zone. It was the first time in 10 Super Bowls appearances that Brady directed a touchdown drive in the opening quarter.
It was the 13th Brady-to-Gronkowski touchdown in the playoffs, more than any other quarterback/receiver combination in NFL history. The duo had been tied with San Francisco's Joe Montana and Jerry Rice.
Brady hit Gronkowski for another touchdown in the second quarter on a drive kept alive by a couple of huge defensive penalties on the Chiefs. A defensive holding call wiped out an interception by safety Tyrann Mathieu on third down, and as the Buccaneers were settling for a field goal, an offsides call on Kansas City gave Tampa Bay another first down. On the next play, touchdown.
The final score of the first half was set up by a pass interference call in the end zone with 10 seconds to play. On the next snap, Brady threw a low fastball to Brown for a touchdown.
