Ladies and gentlemen, we have made it. Super Bowl Sunday is here.

It feels like just yesterday that we were all worried how the NFL would make things work during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Yes, it wasn’t a smooth ride.

We settled for Monday night doubleheaders, Tuesday night matchups and even had to watch the Lamar Jackson-less Baltimore Ravens take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in just the second NFL game to be played on a Wednesday since 1950.

As a matter of fact, the NFL played a game on every day of the week this season, something that has never happened in the modern era.

Moral of the story -  It wasn’t easy, but I hope everyone enjoyed the wild ride that it was.

As for this game, we couldn’t have asked for much more.

Tom Brady, the winningest Super Bowl quarterback of all-time, taking on Patrick Mahomes, a man who is on the fast-track to becoming one of the game’s legends at the age of 25.

Brady, 43, will be taking the field in his 10th Super Bowl. Meanwhile, Mahomes enters this game with a remarkable 6-1 record in his playoff career.

Vegas like the Chiefs to win this game, and I can’t find any reasons to go against that.

Let’s take a deeper look into this game and, at the end, I’ll share an alternate line that I think has a good chance of cashing in this matchup.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Kansas City Chiefs -3.5, O/U 56.5

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED

First it was Drew Brees, then Aaron Rodgers and now, the toughest test of them all, Patrick Mahomes.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will become just the ninth team in NFL history to face three Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks in a single postseason.

Of those nine teams, only the 2009 New Orleans Saints were successful in winning the Super Bowl when they knocked out Kurt Warner (Divisional), Brett Favre (NFC Championship), and Peyton Manning in the Super Bowl.

This Tampa Bay defence has been phenomenal in the playoffs, forcing seven turnovers in their three games and holding all three of their opponents to under 28 points.

This defence will need to force a few turnovers in this game if Tampa Bay wants a chance to win Sunday, because the offence, although led by Tom Brady, hasn’t been as dynamic in the postseason as they looked down the stretch of the regular season.

Following their Week 13 bye, the Bucs averaged 37 points and 357 passing yards per game; those totals have dropped to 30.6 points and 276.3 passing yards per game in the playoffs. 

And, I believe those numbers would be even lower if it weren't for the play of the Bucs’ stellar defence.

Six of the team’s 10 touchdowns in the playoffs have come off turnovers.

In the NFC Championship, this was on full display late in the first half and early in the third quarter.

Green Bay possessed the ball, down just four points late in the first half.

With the Packers getting the ball to start the third quarter, they appeared prime to score at the end of the first and get the ball back with a chance to take over the game.

Instead, an interception in the second quarter and a fumble to start the third led to a 14-0 swing in favour of Tampa Bay.

And we saw something similar on full display the previous week as well.

In the Saints game, the Bucs scored three touchdowns, with all three coming off turnovers.

Tampa Bay will now face a Chiefs team that is firing on all cylinders. Their only turnovers in the playoffs have come from their backup quarterback, and a muffed punt.

If Tampa Bay is going to win the game, they will need to run-and-gun with the Chiefs, something they haven’t been very good at this season.

The Bucs went 3-4 this season when giving up 27 or more points in a game; their losses were to the Saints twice, Rams in Week 11 and Chiefs in Week 12, and their wins came against the Chargers, and twice to the Falcons – both non-playoff teams.

BACK TO BACK

To the surprise of nobody, the Kansas City Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl.

After avoiding an upset in the Divisional Round, the Chiefs steamrolled the Buffalo Bills 38-24 to advance to their second straight Super Bowl.

The Chiefs’ brilliance was on full display in their matchup with the Bills as the team quickly erased a 9-0 first-quarter deficit, and had full control of the game by halftime.

Patrick Mahome has been special since he entered the league, and yet he’s somehow been even better these playoffs.

The quarterback has been under centre for 15 drives in the playoffs.

The team has punted just once.

Those 15 drives resulted in seven touchdowns, four field goals, one missed field goal, one end of half, one end of game and one punt.

Meaning, the Chiefs have scored points on 73 per cent of Mahomes’ drives these playoffs, a number way higher than their rate of 56.25 in the playoffs last season.

Speaking of playoff success, Mahomes knows a lot about that.

In seven playoff games, he is 6-1 straight up with 17 touchdowns and just two interceptions.

He’s also added four touchdowns on the ground and has rushed for 15 first downs in those seven games.

Simply put, don’t bet against this guy when it matters most.

Another big reason for success has been the play of Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill.

They have been as unstoppable as any receiving duo this postseason, combining for 509 receiving yards.

And they are just the third duo to combine for 500 receiving yards in a two-game span within a single postseason.

With the two just 91 yards short of combining for 600 receiving yards, they could become just the third duo to reach that mark in postseason history.

They would join Chris Hogan and Julian Edelman on the 2016 Patriots and Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad on the 2003 Panthers.

The Chiefs defence has done their job as well, surrendering just 41 points over their two playoff games and forcing three turnovers.

 The Pick

 By now, it should be pretty obvious that I like the Chiefs in this game.

 I simply think this offence is too much for any team to handle, and seriously doubt that Brady and his unit can keep up with Mahomes and this historically great offence.

With that being said, I love the Chiefs at -3.5.

Let’s GET WEIRD

It’s the final game of the NFL season, and I’m searching for some added value.

This worked out well for me last season when the Chiefs were a small favourite, and I’m ready to double down on it this season in Super Bowl LV.

Let’s look at some alternative lines.

 I like anything up to -6.5 in this game, in some spots you can get that number at +140.

 If you’re feeling really adventurous, maybe consider them to really send a message and lay 10 points at +240.