Repeat as Super Bowl Champion a Daunting Task
Winning a Super Bowl is a difficult feat and repeating is even harder. We saw that again with Tampa Bay beating Kansas City, 31-9 in a shocker of a score but not a result.
The Buccaneers were only a three-point underdog, so this was expected to be close, but defense put constant heat on Patrick Mahomes all game.
This win had a local feel, especially for Temple sports fans.
Tampa Bay head coach Bruce Arians got his head coaching start at Temple and was there for six seasons from 1983-1988. Arians still has great affinity for Temple and was there during spring practice a few years ago.
The Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles was a former star at Temple. He is also a former assistant coach with the Eagles, serving as secondary coach in 2012 before becoming the interim defensive coordinator for the final 10 games.
Bowles also played eight seasons as an NFL defensive back.
Bowles, who was a head coach for four seasons with the New York Jets before coming with Arians to Tampa Bay, interviewed for the Eagles coaching job that recently went to Nick Sirianni.
Tampa Bay’s special teams coach Keith Armstrong played for Arians at Temple.
Running backs coach Todd McNair (who attended Pennsauken) and cornerbacks coach Kevin Ross (a Paulsboro graduate) also played for Arians at Temple. Safeties coach Nick Rapone coached was an assistant under Arians at Temple. Quarterbacks coach Clyde Christianson also was an assistant at Temple under Arians.
And of course, there was the local tie with Kansas City, where head coach Andy Reid had the same job for 14 seasons with the Eagles.
Reid cemented his Hall of Fame status with last year’s Super Bowl win over the San Francisco 49ers.
And that brings us back to the first point – how difficult it is to repeat as Super Bowl champion.
This was the 55th Super Bowl and there have been several repeat champions, but not recently.
In fact, to show how quickly things change in the NFL, the Eagles won their first Super Bowl title following the 2017 season and three years later they replaced head coach Doug Pederson.
The last team to repeat as Super Bowl champion was New England, which won titles after the 2003 and 2004 seasons. The second of those wins was a 24-21 triumph over the Eagles.
A major reason why it is so difficult to repeat is due to the salary cap. Teams often have to play their stars so much that they are unable to keep other key players and fit them under the cap.
The 1994 season was the first that a salary cap was introduced in the NFL. That came after Dallas had won its second consecutive Super Bowl.
Since then, only Denver, which won Super Bowls after the 1997 and 1998 seasons, and the aforementioned New England Patriots, are the only teams to repeat as champion.
No team has ever won three consecutive Super Bowls.
What this shows is how quickly things change in the NFL. A team that may not be a contender one season, could be the next.
The Eagles are banking on that.
They went from Super Bowl champions to produce two ensuring playoff teams before this season’s 4-11-1 debacle.
Now everybody will be wondering if Tampa Bay can repeat. With 43-year-old quarterback Tom Brady earning his seventh Super Bowl win and seemingly hungry for more, nobody should discount the Bucs.
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Then again, a repeat title would likely be even more impressive than the great run that Arians team made this season.
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Then again, a repeat title would likely be even more impressive than the great run that Arians team made this season.
© SouthJersey.com 2021. All rights reserved. This article or parts thereof may not be reprinted or reproduced by any other party without the express written consent of SouthJersey.com. For more information, please call 856-797-9910.
To receive special deals directly from SouthJersey.com, subscribe here.
For more Local Sports features, visit our South Jersey Sports page.
Author: Marc Narducci
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