Participants,

First, congrats go out to Comeback Kid, who did come back to capture his 6th trophy in stunning fashion!  From worst to 1st, just as he had claimed last week!

Super Bowl 55 Recap
Well, to say the least this game was a real shocker!  The slightly favored Chiefs failed to score a TD for the 1st time since QB Mahomes was behind center.  That’s… 55 games.  And for the Bucs, well they made life miserable for the KC offense all night long.  The final score (31-9) was indicative of the game, and now we have Champa Bay (or should it be Tompa Bay?) as Super Bowl winners.

As The Commish had predicted in his update to all Participants late last week, the Bucs were going to win this game.  Based on several key facts, the prediction held up:

• KC was playing without its 2 starting offensive tackles, which opened up the floodgates for the Bucs dynamic defensive ends to put on the pressure
• A defensive strategy to double-team WR Tyreek Hill paid off handsomely
• The Chiefs hadn’t played against a team with that strong of a running game
• The G.O.A.T.

The Chiefs also didn’t help themselves, as they were penalized 11 times, many of them keeping Tampa Bay drives alive.  Bucs QB Brady was barely touched all game (did he get any grass stains on his jersey?), while Chiefs QB Mahomes was scrambling for life many, many times.

Kudos to the Bucs for winning the title for the 1st time in 18 years and for Brady winning his 7th ring.  Gronk (with 2 TD catches) has officially retired from being retired.

HSBT Final 2021 Standings
Does anyone listen to The Commish?  Well, 2 of you did and one of them walked away with the trophy.  Again, congrats to Comeback Kid for staging the largest comeback in HSBT history (356 points).  Immediately following his win for trophy #6, I had an opportunity ask him about this record-breaking effort.  “I knew I had to go big and for the Bucs if I had even a remote chance of a decent finish.  Never did I believe that I would go from the bottom to the top.  I’m sure glad I heeded The Commish’s advice on picking the Buccaneers.  Now I’m now ready to start my own dynasty and will be anxious to have the trophy in my hands very shortly.”

We set several new records during the playoffs and those will be published at a later date in the not too distant future, once they are confirmed.  As for the Participants, here are your final standings (and point totals) for the 2021 season:

• Comeback Kid (782 points) – A marvelous comeback from 356 points down to capture the trophy by 36 points.
• Buffalo Bill (746 points) – Another stinging finish that could have been avoided if he had picked the Bucs to win.
• 2021 Winner (718 points, good for the Bronze Chicken Wing) – Just fell short and probably would have won had Comeback Kid picked the Chiefs.
• Henrico FiveOh (643 points) – The 20-point effort in the Super Bowl was not good enough to catapult him into the winner’s circle.
• Pete the Terp (613 points, good for 5th place) – What a pick for the Super Bowl game (KC 10, Tampa Bay 6)! After the first score the game (Chiefs 3, Tampa Bay 0), he held the lead by over 1,000 points, just to see it slowly erode as the game continued.
• Ben the Butler (584 points) – Another consistent effort and it is good to have him back in action after a 2-year absence.
• Greg the Great (521 points, good for 7th place) – Not a stalwart year, but he had other things on his mind during the playoffs (like a sizable home remodeling effort and the arrival of their 4th child, daughter Keira!!) A great year for him, but not in the HSBT…
• JTB (497 points) – Way too many goose-eggs, including the Super Bowl game. Like a worn-out pair of shoes, he’s going to do some sole searching in the off-season.  He started out 6-0 after Super Wild Card Weekend and ended up 6-7.

Henrico FiveOh will be getting the trophy engraving updated then shipped to Comeback Kid as soon as possible.  I hope everyone had an enjoyable time participating in the 33rd edition of the HSBT.  Look for my updated stats and new records email.  Summer training camps are 5 short months away.

Until then I remain,
~~ The Commish