Tom Brady made the Super Bowl for the 10th time in his career with a 31-26 win Sunday over the Green Bay Packers. But for the first time since his first-ever championship appearance, he’ll be an underdog.
The Kansas City Chiefs opened as 3-point favorites over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — marking the second time in Brady’s career in which he won’t be favored to win the Super Bowl when reaching the big game. Brady, of course, won six championships with the New England Patriots and has led the Buccaneers to the final round after joining them this past March.
There’s a good reason why the Chiefs are favored, however. Kansas City is looking to repeat as champions and has quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the former MVP who was again stellar in Sunday’s 38-24 win over the Buffalo Bills.
The Chiefs also not only finished the season with the better record, but they also beat Tampa Bay head-to-head with a 27-24 win in Week 12.
Still, count out Brady at your own risk. The 43-year-old hasn’t been a Super Bowl underdog since the Patriots upset the St. Louis Rams to cap the 2001 season — Brady’s first championship. In that game, New England was a 14-point longshot.
There’s also time for the line to change. In 2015, some sportsbooks had the Seattle Seahawks open as a 1 1/2-point favorite over the Patriots, but the line became a “pick ’em” shortly after opening.
That didn’t happen this time.
Brady is 6-3 all-time in the Super Bowl.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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