Tampa Bay’s victory in the NFC championship was one for the aged.
Outdueling Aaron Rodgers set up the ageless Tom Brady (OK, he’s 43) to become the oldest player ever to play in a Super Bowl.
Bruce Arians, 68, earned a shot at becoming the oldest head coach ever to win a Super Bowl after he outcoached 40-year-old Matt LaFleur in the Bucs’ 31-26 victory at Lambeau Field on Sunday.
The Bucs’ victory over the Packers that sent them home to Raymond James Stadium for Super Bowl 55 against defending champion Kansas City came down to two pivotal calls, one by each coach.
The first one came with 13 seconds left in the first half following a Green Bay turnover when Arians summoned his punt team back to the sideline and sent Brady and the offense back out to go for it on fourth-and-4 from the Green Bay 45.
“We didn’t come here to not take chances to win the game,” Arians explained.
Brady hit Leonard Fournette for 6 yards with 8 seconds remaining and Tampa Bay leading 14-10.
On the next play, cornerback Kevin King inexplicably allowed Scotty Miller to race past him in single coverage and Brady hit his receiver for a 39-yard touchdown with 1 second left for a 21-10 halftime lead.
“We were going to try to heave it like a Hail Mary type thing,” Miller said. “They played me pretty much man-to-man and my guy didn’t get too much depth, so I was able to just run right by him. Then Tom put a great ball on me like he always does. It was a special moment. I don’t even know if I could have dreamed of it as a kid. It’s just so crazy.”
“Yeah, it was man coverage. Definitely not the right call for the situation,” LaFleur said.
The aggressive move by Arians was in line with what the Bucs’ coaching staff had promised the players.
Offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich “told us all week we’re going to be aggressive, we’re going to go at them, we’re going to take chances,” Miller said. “That’s what we do. We’ve got so many playmakers. We’ve got Tom at the helm.
“It was a risk at the time,” Miller added, “but there was only 13 seconds left, so if we ran a play and didn’t get it, we probably waste six (seconds). Then they probably have to throw a Hail Mary as well, so why not us do it?”
The second critical call was LaFleur’s head-scratching decision to kick a field goal rather than go for the tying touchdown and 2-point conversion on fourth-and-goal from the 8 with 2:05 remaining and the Packers trailing 31-23.
With a spot in the Super Bowl on the line, he chose to put the game not in the hands of his All-Pro quarterback who’s the MVP favorite, but in those of his defense.
