QB Tom Brady and the 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers went from 7-5 on the Sunday after Thanksgiving to Super Bowl LV champions in a little more than two months.
En route, they reeled off eight straight wins, including four in the postseason — the final three as short underdogs as they vanquished (in order) Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints (30-20), Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers (31-26) and Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs (31-9).
The Chiefs had their sights on becoming the league’s first back-to-back champs since Brady and the 2003-04 New England Patriots, but after they took an early 3-0 lead, the Bucs scored 31 of the game’s final 37 points to notch the second-most decisive Super Bowl win in the last 20 years.
Can Tampa Bay repeat in Super Bowl LVI Feb. 6, 2022, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.?
BetMGM Sportsbook has posted its 2022 Super Bowl odds. We’ll examine where the Bucs stand, and then detail some of the historical hurdles Tampa Bay faces in returning to the top.
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Odds to win 2022 Super Bowl
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Monday, Feb. 8, at 6:40 p.m. ET.
Usually, the reigning champs are the favorites to repeat, but that’s not the case in BetMGM‘s Super Bowl LVI odds. The Bucs check-in with the third-best chance on the list at +1000 (10-1). Here’s a quick glance at the top 10:
- Chiefs +600
- Packers +900
- Buccaneers +1000
- Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams +1200
- San Francisco 49ers +1600
- Saints +1800
- Seattle Seahawks +2200
- Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Tennessee Titans +2500
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The Bucs are one of three teams with 10-1 or better odds, but they face some key personnel questions this offseason with a number of key free agents including WR Chris Godwin, LBs Lavonte David and Shaq Barrett, TE Rob Gronkowski, DT Ndamukong Suh and RB Leonard Fournette.
The most important piece, though, has already indicated he will be back.
Brady said without hesitation in Sunday night postgame interviews he will return for his 22nd season at age 44 to play out the final season of his current two-year contract and chase ring No. 8. A contract extension could even be forthcoming this offseason.
Buccaneers face rugged road to repeat in 2022 Super Bowl
Outside of the three Super Bowl LVI favorites, there looks to be plenty of competition with 11 other teams with 25-1 odds or better.
Of the previous 54 Super Bowl champs, only eight have managed to repeat. Here’s how the last 20 Super Bowl winners have fared the following season:
- Seven failed to make it back to the playoffs.
- Five made it to the postseason but failed to win a playoff game.
- Four won at least one playoff game but fell short of returning to the Super Bowl.
- Three made it back to the Big Game but wound up losing.
- And the ’03-04 Patriots repeated as Super Bowl champs.
In all, 12 of the previous 54 Super Bowl winners returned to the Roman Numeral stage the following season, and only the aforementioned Elite Eight managed to repeat.
Brady’s (new) Bunch gets the next crack at joining the exclusive club.
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Bucs Wire:
- Bucs made Mahomes run backwards, sideways for 468 yards
- How Tom Brady played the role of Jon Gruden in Bucs’ second Super Bowl run
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