Buccaneers make history as first team to play Super Bowl in home stadium
TAMPA, Fla. - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are coming home for the Super Bowl, the first team in NFL history to be able to make that claim.
With their 31-26 win over the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship, the Bucs earned a spot in Super Bowl LV, which is being played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, the Bucs’ home stadium, on February 7.
They’ll face the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, who held off Buffalo in this evening’s AFC Championship.
Since the dawn of the Super Bowl era in 1967, no team has played a Super Bowl in its home stadium. And while the stadium won’t be full – capacity will be capped at 22,000 fans due to the COVID pandemic – the NFL has said many of the invited fans will be health care workers from Central Florida, likely making the game feel like as much of a home game as any that the Bucs have played this season.
But just reaching the game in not enough for the team – they want to make history as the first team to win the Super Bowl in their own house.
"So many teams don't get a chance because they don't get the Super Bowl in ther home stadium. It was obviously a goal of ours to start this season," head coach Bruce Arians said after the game. "But getting to the Super Bowl wasn't what our goal is. Our goal is to win it."
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Here’s a look at the other NFL teams that made the playoffs the season their home stadiums hosted the Super Bowl and came up short:
— Minnesota, 2017
Coming off the "Minnesota Miracle" at home against New Orleans — Stefon Diggs hauled in a 61-yard touchdown pass from Case Keenum on the final play — the Vikings traveled to Philadelphia for the NFC title game and got shellacked 38-7. Eagles backup Nick Foles threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns, a sign of things to come in the Super Bowl against New England.
— Houston, 2016
The Texans won the AFC South and were the No. 4 seed heading into the AFC playoffs. They beat Oakland in a wild-card game but lost 34-16 the following week on the road to Brady and New England. It was quarterback Brock Osweiler’s final start for Houston. Brady went on to win his fifth of six championships, this one in come-from-behind fashion after trailing Atlanta 28-3 late in the third quarter.
— Miami, 1998
The Dolphins were the No. 4 seed in the AFC and beat division rival Buffalo at home to open the playoffs. They barely showed up the following week in Denver, getting smoked 38-3 by a team that featured four future Hall of Famers: quarterback John Elway, running back Terrell Davis, tight end Shannon Sharpe and safety Steve Atwater. Another Hall of Famer, Dan Marino, threw a pair of interceptions. Elway and the Broncos went on to claim their second straight championship.
— Miami, 1994
The Dolphins were the No. 3 seed four years earlier with the Super Bowl set to be played at Joe Robbie Stadium. They beat Kansas City to open the playoffs and traveled cross-country to face San Diego in the divisional round. Miami led 21-6 after Marino’s third TD pass of the day just before halftime. But it was all Chargers from there. They scored 16 unanswered points in the second half, including the go-ahead touchdown with 35 seconds remaining. Pete Stoyanovich missed wide right from 48 yards out on Miami’s final play. San Diego went on to beat Pittsburgh in the AFC title game before losing to juggernaut San Francisco in the Super Bowl in Miami.
— Miami, 1978
The Dolphins lost to Houston at home in a wild-card game, ending any chance they had of returning to the Orange Bowl for the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh beat Dallas for its third Vince Lombardi Trophy in five years.
— Miami, 1970
The wild-card Dolphins lost at Oakland 21-14 in the opening round of the AFC playoffs and ended up watching Baltimore beat Dallas in Super Bowl 5 at the famed Orange Bowl in Miami.
PHOTOS: Buccaneers’ NFC Championship win over Green Bay
Head coach Bruce Arians of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates with his team team after their 31 to 26 win over the Green Bay Packers during the NFC Championship game at Lambeau Field on January 24, 2021 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Rever
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.