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Pro Football Hall of Fame kicker Morten Andersen will be tuning into Super Bowl LV like the rest of NFL fans all across the world. When you have a matchup for the ages featuring two all-time great quarterbacks, how could you not?
Andersen, who played in the league for 25 years from 1982 to 2007, holds the NFL record for regular-season games played (382), and he ranks second in league history in field goals (565) and points scored (2,544). He was a member of the 2003 Kansas City Chiefs team that finished with a 13-3 record and made an appearance in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs, before falling, 38-31, in a shootout to Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts at Arrowhead Stadium.
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That season, the Chiefs had one of the most prolific offenses in NFL history.
Running back Priest Holmes had 27 rushing touchdowns, quarterback Trent Green threw for 4,000 yards and 24 scores, kick return specialist Dante Hall had four kicks returned for TDs, and Kansas City had two Hall of Famers on the offensive line -- Will Shields and Willie Roaf -- as well as Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez.
That Chiefs team came up just short, but the 2020 version has a chance to win back-to-back titles. In order for Kansas City to slow down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Andersen believes the key will be getting pressure on future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady.
Kicker Morten Andersen (L) of the Atlanta Falcons hugs head coach Dan Reeves after making the winning 38-yard field goal in overtime against the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship game 17 January at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, MN. The Falcons won the game 30-27. (Photo by JEFF HAYNES / AFP)
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"If they [Kansas City] can get pressure on Brady, and he throws a couple of bad picks, that could favor the Chiefs," Andersen told Fox News on Thursday. "Where he’s trying to throw it into double-coverage, and it’s a floater. We’ve seen it before [against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship]. Defense is not something you really talk a lot about with these two teams, but the Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo did have success when he was with the [New York] Giants. They beat the [New England] Patriots. Maybe he has a few surprises up his sleeve scheming against Brady. It worked in 2007. But it’s a different year, a different Brady."
The Buccaneers, on the other hand, need to run the ball successfully with running backs Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette in order to keep Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ high-flying offense off the field.
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"I think they need to possess the ball, and don’t turn the ball over crucially, especially in the red zone," Andersen said. "They need to keep Mahomes on the sideline, use play-action passing. They need to run the ball on the Chiefs’ defense. Ball possession. I think that’s their key, mixing in run and pass. I just see more of a balanced attack from Tampa than I see from the Chiefs. No question, Mahomes can throw for 400 yards. I don’t think we’ll see that from Brady, but he can still throw for 300 yards and still win the game. Give the ball to Fournette, and see what happens."
Andersen believes it’s going to be "a helluva game." And he expects a shootout between two of the best quarterbacks in all of football.
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"I actually have it 35-32, Kansas City. That’s where I see it," Andersen said. "I think Kansas City wins it. I think Patrick Mahomes repeats… I really think it’s going to be offensive firepower and two contrasting stars where you have Mahomes throwing it to Travis Kelce, hitting Tyreek Hill, and running. His usual freelance stuff. And then you have Tom Brady and the play-action pass, more methodical, although Brady can throw the deep ball. But using the tight ends, running back by committee a little bit. Neither team had a 1,000-yard rusher. There were a couple of guys close, but I think Brady wants to possess it, keep Mahomes on the sidelines. And the Chiefs know if they have to come from behind, it doesn’t scare them. They get chunk yardage."
Brady and the Bucs will square off against Mahomes and the Chiefs on Sunday night in Super Bowl LV.