NFL: Takeaways from Super Bowl LV

1. Tom Brady and a good defense continues to be a championship recipe: Tom Brady is now a 7-time champion after appearing in his record 10th Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 7. If you have Brady and a high level defense, 20 years of evidence says you're automatically going to be in title contention. This season was no different as Tampa Bay relied on Brady to lead the offense, while Todd Bowles molded Lavonte David, Jason Pierre-Paul, Devin White, and company into a complete defensive unit.

2. Patrick Mahomes isn't the one to blame but he needed to be better: Patrick Mahomes struggled in his second Super Bowl start but it wasn't his fault (for the most part). Kansas City was without two starting offensive lineman including left tackle Eric Fisher, and Mahomes was forced into escape-mode for the majority of the night. The Buccaneers racked up three sacks, five tackles for loss, and 10 quarterback hits, while Mahomes threw for 270 yards and two interceptions in the 31-9 loss.

3. Officiating had an impact but so did Andy Reid's clock management: Unfortunately the officials had an imprint on the game as they threw a flag on the Chiefs on four key plays in the late second quarter, including one that resulted in a Tyrann Mathieu pick when the Bucs were up 7-3. It's hard to blame the refs when Andy Reid made a crucial mistake as well, calling a timeout with 44 seconds left which allowed Brady to find Antonio Brown for a one-yard TD and a 21-6 halftime lead.

4. Antoine Winfield Jr. is already an elite defensive back: There's a lot of players on Tampa Bay's defense that made major strides in the playoffs including a pair of pending free agents in Shaq Barrett and Lavonte David but Antoine Winfield Jr. already looks to be one of the best defensive backs in the league. The rookie had six tackles, two pass deflections, and one interception in the win, as he helped limit Tyreek Hill to seven catches for 73 yards and just 7.3 yards per target.

5. It's more likely Kansas City gets back to the Super Bowl next season: Both of these teams have a handful of notable free agents including Lavonte David, Leonard Fournette, and Rob Gronkowski for Tampa Bay, and Bashaud Breeland, Daniel Sorensen, Sammy Watkins for Kansas City. With that said, the Chiefs should have a better chance to play in Super Bowl LVI because they're younger and have proven sustained success in recent years but Brady and the Bucs aren't going away.

Photo Credit: Bucs Nation.