What can the rest of the NFL learn from Super Bowl LV?

Super bowl LV was one that will be remembered for decades. It was a game which the underdog came in and completely roughed up the favorite. It was a game where the old dog taught the young one some lessons. And it was a game where we all saw once again, that defenses win games. We could spend this post marveling at the greatness of Tom Brady, but instead we will discuss how the outcome of this championship game will affect the rest of the league, and what other teams can learn from it.

The trend in the NFL, as of late, has been to grab up a dual threat quarterback and surround him with weapons on offense. There has been success in this category in Baltimore with Lamar Jackson and also in Kansas City with Patrick Mahomes. Both these teams and players have had success, seen playoff runs, even MVP’s, but one aspect to this model is flawed. When spending quite literally millions of dollars on your offense ($500+ million in fact for the Chiefs), you sacrifice an important part of your football team, the defense. What the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have done should be a template for the league. They spent several years building a solid defense, and a star studded front five. They then went out, drafted young talent in the line backing group and secondary, then matched them with a defensive guru in Todd Bowles, who would have won Super Bowl MVP if he was eligible. The team then took a splash last offseason with signing a seasoned veteran at quarterback with plenty left in the tank. This signing then attracted free agent talent such as Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown and Leonard Fournette, just to name a few.

One could argue that the Buccaneers won because of who was under center. But you must look towards the other side of the ball when you say this. The Tampa defense locked up the best offense in the entire NFL. They shut down Tyreek Hill, were all over Travis Kelce, and got at Mahomes like he was the turkey at thanksgiving dinner! Yes, the game would’ve looked different if Jamies Winston was their star back, or Josh Rosen; but the Bucs found the perfect balance of offense and defense to win this game, and win it decisively.

So what can the rest of the league learn from this? Well, to put it simply, don’t be too conservative in the offseason. The Bucs took criticism last offseason when signing a “washed” Brady and overspending on “overrated” talent afterwards. But Tampa Bay and Bruce Arians knew they had the skeleton of a championship team, but just needed the flesh to hold it all together. That flesh was found during the summer and that flesh led them to the playoffs. That flesh took them into Washington and past the number two defense in the league. That flesh took them into the New Orleans super dome and against future hall of famer, Drew Brees. That flesh took them to Green Bay to defeat MVP, Aaron Rodgers. And finally, that flesh led them into the Super Bowl for his tenth appearance, and resulting in his seventh ring. Though there isn’t any other Tom Brady in the NFL, and probably never will be, this is a lesson that teams can learn from. Playing the long game doesn’t always work out, and hopefully this offseason we’ll see a little more desperation from teams, and some more massive moves.