Super Bowl LV

The Buccaneers' victory over the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV became the epitome of a storybook performance, including the final indignity for Kansas City. With 1:35 on the clock, Devin White dropped into zone and intercepted a pass near the goal line intended for Travis Kelce, allowing Tom Brady and the Bucs' offense to run out the rest of the clock in victory formation. The captivating display by Tampa Bay, including Tom Brady winning a title in his first season with a new club post-Patriots and a punishing defense that did now allow the Chiefs to reach the end zone (first time since Patrick Mahomes had taken over as the starter in 2018), became patented as the matchup that made the heralded Chiefs look mortal.

Then defensive coordinator Todd Bowles put on a masterclass, crushing the Chiefs' aura. Throughout the battle, Mahomes ran for his life. He was sacked three times, hit eight and was pressured on 29 of 56 dropbacks – the most in a Super Bowl at the time. In retrospect, Mahomes likely had more yards reversing the field and running backwards behind the line of scrimmage then yards gained. Bowles utilized a two-deep shell coverage to limit big plays over the top by Tyreek Hill and handled the run with a light box. He used spies on Mahomes with Devin White, Shaq Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul and engineered a three-by-three system early on to confuse Mahomes. In that scheme, there were three safeties deep with two ends and the nose up front with two linebackers down near the line. Then in fire zone, he would send a different five with some players dropping. On the back end, the unit switched between man and zone based on the Chiefs' formation structure and tendencies gleaned from film study and clip cut-ups on their placement of Hill and Travis Kelce.

Coverages were disguised at the snap to look one way and switched based on alignment sets, motions and route concepts. The linebackers patrolled the underneath area of the field and Lavonte David was placed primarily on Kelce, matching his physicality at the top of routes. The unit showed pressure early on with a 3-3. The Bucs were sharp in all three phases of the game, transfixed on hoisting the Lombardi Trophy inside Raymond James Stadium.

"What I loved about our gameplan was that we had total confidence in it," said Future Hall of Famer Rob Gronkowski on the ‘4th and South’ podcast hosted by Jarvis Landry and Leonard Fournette. "It wasn't like we would practice it on that Tuesday leading up to the game and then Wednesday comes and we are getting worried, 'Oh if this guy comes, we are going to change this up. You are going to flare out here.' I have been a part of Super Bowl runs where we started scrambling late in the week and it is eh, 'Let's just stick to our gameplan.' We really stuck to our gameplan and it was the same exact script that we were working on for two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl and we executed those plays like we did the whole time that we were practicing. That is when I felt that we were going to handle them pretty well, was just the practices leading up to the Super Bowl…We were flawless over the final two weeks and everything came together."

According to both Gronkowski and Fournette, the Bucs had no mental errors during the final week leading up to the Super Bowl performance. The momentum pendulum had swung in the Bucs favor as the team fought though a hellacious playoff stretch to reach the pinnacle. Brady and the Bucs became the first team to beat three former Super Bowl MVP quarterbacks on the way to the crowning moment, defeating Drew Brees at Caesars Superdome – the squad that had been Tampa Bay's kryptonite – Aaron Rodgers at Lambeau Field and Mahomes in successive games. At the time, Tampa Bay was just the seventh wild-card team to win it all and the first since 2010. In all four victories, the Bucs scored at least 30 points – the first to accomplish that feat in NFL annals. That game marked just the third time in Chiefs' history that they failed to score a touchdown in a playoff game. The Bucs were not going to be denied and in that magical game that punctuated an engrossing 2020 slate, the final pieces of the puzzle came together.

"I would say the 2020 Bucs, I think that team was probably the best skillset team that I have ever been a part of in my career," described Gronkowski.

Future with Rueben Bain Jr.

Each year, the spectacle that is the NFL Draft achieves unpredictability. Its fickle nature is what creates intrigue, feeding the nature of the beast and the apex of the draft's influence. For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a dream scenario unfolded in 2026. Rueben Bain Jr., a consensus top-10 talent amongst mocks, fell to the Bucs at pick 15 due to his smaller frame and short arms. The aforementioned perceived knock did not become a deterrent for the Bucs, who jumped at the opportunity to take the versatile, power rusher. Bain plays with a violent, relentless disposition and forklifts blockers with ease. He knocks blockers off-balance with heavy hands and holds his own at the point of attack. The Bucs made a concerted effort to take players with a nasty temperament on the field and Bain checked the box.

"Usually that first pick sometimes takes on that – his personality and the way that he prepares and works and loved football and is addicted to it – it kind of bleeds into the whole class so could not find a better person to lead that class," described Jason Licht on the Pat McAfee Show. "Everybody has a prototype and we kind of viewed him as a problem."