The Super Bowl 55 battle featuring the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers occurs on Sunday from Raymond James Stadium, the home of the Buccaneers.
The theme heading into "The Big Game" has been focused on Tom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes — the GOAT vs. the heir apparent — looks to be a highly entertaining game and one for the ages.
Kansas City opened as -3.5-point favorites, and the line has stayed still with the over/under at 56.5.
Can Mahomes lead the Chiefs to back-to-back championships? Or does Brady win his seventh Super Bowl and help the Buccaneers to their first Lombardi Trophy since 2003?
The staff at DAZN News listed their picks for Super Bowl 55 below and explain why they went in that direction.
Super Bowl 2021 predictions: Expert picks for Chiefs vs. Buccaneers
Location: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Fla.
Kickoff time: 6:30 p.m. ET
TV: CBS
Point spread: Chiefs -3.5
Over/Under: 56.5
Moneyline: Chiefs -165, Buccaneers +140
Steven Muehlhausen: Yes, Super Bowl 55 has been centered on Brady vs. Mahomes. We will see a shootout. But the game is going to come down to which defense can stop the other quarterback?
Mahomes lit the Bucs up for 462 yards and three touchdowns in the Chiefs 27-24 victory in Week 12. Brady was no slouch either, throwing for 345 yards and three touchdowns. The Chiefs defense stopped Brady enough to win as they forced the six-time Super Bowl winner into two interceptions.
With tackle Eric Fisher out, will Shaquil Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul be able to get to the elusive Mahomes like they did Aaron Rodgers in the NFC Championship game when they combined for five sacks on the Packers quarterback? The Tampa secondary is their weak point, so they will need Barrett and Pierre-Paul to play how they did against the Packers.
It's going to come down to the end game. Who would you rather have when you need a game-winning drive to win the Super Bowl? It's hard to go against Brady. The Buccaneers will get enough stops to allow Brady to pull one more trick out of his hat.
Prediction: Buccaneers 38, Chiefs 35
Rudi Schuller: As my colleague notes above, the hype has centered squarely on Brady vs. Mahomes — and with good reason.
Brady is arguably the best quarterback of all time, and as a 43-year-old he has a chance to add yet another ring to his ridiculous collection. Mahomes is seen as the most obvious successor to Brady, and on Sunday he'll try to do something that even the GOAT couldn't: claim back-to-back Super Bowl MVP awards.
A lot will depend on how well the Bucs' defense can contain whatever Mahomes conjures up, but as mentioned the Chiefs pivot had a field day against Tampa Bay back in Week 12.
Nothing has really changed since then to make me believe that Mahomes won't once again run rampant, and even with Brady doing his best to give the fans at Raymond James Stadium a home trophy celebration it's hard to see anything but a true passing of the torch here.
Prediction: Chiefs 35, Buccaneers 28
Liam Happe: If you ask Green Bay Packers fans, they'll tell you that they defeated themselves more than Tom Brady defeated them in the championship game.
I expect far more productivity from the living legend in the big game — the average performance in the prior contest will no doubt motivate him to be his usual self this time around — but I also expect the game as a whole to serve as a 'passing of the torch' of sorts from Brady to Patrick Mahomes.
While my score prediction is less exciting than Steven and Rudi's, this should be a great game nonetheless. I believe the Chiefs will show their superiority in the second half and see out another pivotal victory.
Prediction: Chiefs 28, Buccaneers 14