UNITED STATES—The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have home advantage in their favor when they hope to prevent the Kansas City Chiefs from lifting a second straight Super Bowl in 2021.

Super Bowl LV will be the first of its kind to see a team contest the NFL crown at their home stadium. This will be the third time that Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, hosts the biggest game in American football, though it’s the first time the Buccaneers have featured in any of those fixtures.

Chiefs talisman Patrick Mahomes, 25, will attempt to make his side the first back-to-back Super Bowl champions since 2004-05, with Kansas City tipped as -165 favorites to do so by Caesars sportsbook. It just so happens the New England Patriots were the last team to manage that feat, and Tom Brady—who lines up opposite Mahomes in Tampa—was the man calling those shots 16 years ago.

Now 43 years of age and hoping to increase his record tally of six championship rings, Brady is also targeting his fourth Most Valuable Player award in what will be his 10th Super Bowl  appearance (also a record), per Super Bowl LV previews.

Quarterback counterpart Mahomes remains the betting favorite to be crowned this year’s MVP at +100 odds, but it says a lot about Brady’s relentless consistency that he’s so close behind:

 

Kansas City receiver Tyreek Hill is the nearest player to that pair at +900 odds, nine times the price of Mahomes and more than four times what Brady returns.

The Buccaneers may not have the usual amount of spectators present to cheer them on at their home venue, but the relief and saved stress of not having to travel for the game is surely of major benefit to Tampa Bay. Add a veteran winner like Brady to the mix, and Bruce Arians’ squad could end up making their +145 underdog odds look more and more misplaced.

Canyon-News.com examined how Tampa Bay could still be found at odds as high as +1600 as recently as December. Following a 31-26 win over the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship (the second time they’ve bested Green Bay this season), that price looks ludicrous in retrospect.

The Chiefs, on the other hand, have remained frontrunners from start to finish. The defending champions won their first Super Bowl in half a century last year and now look as though they’re hoping to make up for lost time with two in as many seasons.

Aside from his QB, Kansas City coach Andy Reid has thrived thanks to offensive weapons like tight-end Travis Kelce, rookie running-back Clyde Edwards-Helaire and the irrepressible Hill, whose 17 regular-season touchdowns was the joint-third-highest total in the NFL this season.

Tampa Bay may have been dark horses to make it to this stage when the 2020 campaign got underway, but there’s now little doubt in both these teams as deserved finalists to contest Super Bowl LV. Old champions meet new as Brady battles Mahomes—18 years his junior—hoping to win his first Super Bowl with a team not called the Patriots, though both teams will require all their stars at the peak of their powers to emerge with the Vince Lombardi Trophy in their possession.

Super Bowl LV Moneyline Odds

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: +145

Kansas City Chiefs: -165