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Last year I put the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. That was a smart pick.

Last year I put the Bears in the game with them. That was devastatingly less smart.

This year’s Super Bowl prediction started with a basic premise. After this jilted, bizarre off-season and with an uncertain season to come, who do I trust most to endure? Veteran coaches. Reliable quarterbacks. That’s who. Story as old as time.

I think the Ravens are gonna be good but I don’t trust Lamar Jackson to hold up physically. I think the Titans are gonna be good but I don’t trust Ryan Tannehill to repeat his 2019. I think the Bills are gonna be good but Josh Allen isn’t ready to win multiple playoff games. That puts Andy Reid and Pat Mahomes – the best coach/quarterback duo in the sport – on pace to grab the now PIVOTAL number one seed and find themselves in Tampa come February.

And they’ll be playing a road game.

The Bucs were a good football team in 2019. You just might not have noticed because their quarterback threw 30 interceptions and essentially tossed away their entire season. Bruce Arians replaced that turnover machine with the best to ever play the position. No, I don’t expect Tom Brady to light up the stat sheet but his intelligence and professionalism, paired with Arians’ strategic acumen, will be exactly what this franchise needs.

Also, Tampa’s defense was top half of the league statistically and fifth in takeaways last year. That’s the hallmark of a Todd Bowles defense. They don’t have enough talent to be dominant on that side of the ball but they have the right mentality. The offense will drive Tampa. But the defense will do what they need to do.

Kansas City. Tampa Bay.

Reid. Arians.

Mahomes. Brady.

Your Super Bowl 55 prediction.