Key takeaways from the NFL conference championships

Super Bowl LV is set, after Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs advanced past the conference championships Sunday.

The marquee matchup Feb. 7 will pit the "G.O.A.T.," Brady, against the kid (aka the baby goat), Mahomes. The former will play in his 10th Super Bowl, while the latter is on his way to his second championship tilt in his third season as a starter.

Most of the headlines will surround these two ahead of Super Bowl Sunday, but there were plenty of other intriguing storylines surrounding the AFC and NFC title games. As we look ahead to the Chiefs vs. Bucs, let’s examine the key takeaways from conference championship weekend.

The Bucs defense is the true star in Tampa Bay

The Bucs offense is loaded with talent, but Tampa Bay’s defense has been the driving force behind the team’s last two playoff victories.

Following a three-interception outing against Drew Brees in the Divisional Round, the Bucs forced two more turnovers against Green Bay, which Tampa's offense converted into scores both times.

The Bucs lead all playoff teams with 41 points off seven takeaways.

The pass rush was also dominant in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game. Outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett sacked Rodgers three times and joined Warren Sapp as the only other Bucs player with three or more sacks in a playoff game.

Jason Pierre-Paul recorded two sacks, and linebacker Devin White once again shined as the team’s leading tackler. His 15 tackles set a single-game franchise playoff record. He also recovered a fumble for the second straight contest.

Second-year cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting made history, as well. With his interception of Aaron Rodgers, Murphy-Bunting joined Aeneas Williams, Ed Reed, and Jason Sehorn as the only players in the Super Bowl era with an interception in each of their first three postseason games.

Bills can't get past Chiefs offensive line

For all the success Tampa Bay enjoyed against Green Bay’s offensive line — which played without Pro Bowler David Bakhtiari — it will need an even better performance against Kansas City’s.

In Sunday’s AFC Championship Game, the Chiefs offensive front allowed just one sack and three quarterback hurries against the stalwart Bills defense. That protection allowed Mahomes to comfortably complete 29 of 38 passes for 325 yards and three touchdowns.

On the down side, Kansas City lost Pro Bowl left tackle Eric Fisher in the fourth quarter, after he went down with an Achilles injury that will sideline him for the Super Bowl.

Once Fisher exited the game, Mike Remmers switched from right tackle to left, Andrew Wylie slid down from right guard to right tackle, and Stefan Wisniewski stepped in at right guard.

Chances are this is the lineup Tampa Bay will see on Feb. 7.

Travis Kelce is the gold standard at tight end

In his heyday in New England, Bucs tight end Rob Gronkowski set the benchmark for excellence at tight end.

Today, Travis Kelce is the gold standard.

On Sunday, the Chiefs veteran gashed the Bills defense. He pulled down all but two of his 15 targets for 118 yards and two touchdowns in Kansas City’s 38-24 win.

Kelce’s 13 receptions tied a playoff record for tight ends, held by Kellen Winslow and Shannon Sharpe, and also set the reception record for an AFC Championship Game.

The six-time Pro Bowler had the benefit of going up against a Bills defense that surrendered the second-most yards to tight ends (993) during the regular season.

The Bucs ranked 17th in yards surrendered against tight ends (832) and were tied for seventh in touchdowns allowed (nine).

Trying to shut down Kelce will be a main focus of Tampa Bay’s defense in Super Bowl LV, but fixating on the star tight end won’t be enough to stop the Chiefs.

As Kansas City reminded us Sunday, Tyreek Hill is just as much of a danger for any opposing defense. The receiver tallied a game-high 172 yards on nine catches, including one for a 71-yard gain.

That isn’t good news for the Bucs, whose two starting safeties (Antoine Winfield Jr. and Jordan Whitehead) are currently injured.

Brady an underdog on home turf

Brady’s 39-yard touchdown pass with a second left in the second quarter left fans gawking at halftime — until they saw his second-half performance.

With the Bucs up 28-17 in the third quarter, the 43-year-old quarterback threw an interception on three consecutive drives, which allowed Green Bay to cut the deficit to five points.

Luckily for Brady, his defense — playing with backup safeties at this point, no less — went three and out after his second and third interceptions.

The Bucs left Lambeau Field with a 31-26 triumph and became the first No. 5 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in a conference championship game.

The team will now make history in Super Bowl LV, as the only team to play the game at its home stadium, but will head in as a 3.5-point underdog — rare territory for Brady.

Only one other time in Brady’s record-setting 10 Super Bowl appearances has he entered the matchup as an underdog. That occurred back in 2002, his first season as a starter, when New England defeated the Rams as a 14-point underdog in Super Bowl XXXVI.