Long-time NFL reporter Peter King, who writes for Pro Football Talk and NBC Sports after decades with Sports Illustrated, predicted the Buccaneers becoming the first team in NFL history to play in and host the Super Bowl, as Super Bowl LV will be played in Tampa Bay on February 7, 2021.

In his Football Morning In America column on ProFootballTalk.com, King has the Bucs beating the Baltimore Ravens, 30-26, in Super Bowl LV. Baltimore won its first Super Bowl in franchise history – Super Bowl XXXV – at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa following the 2000 season.

King has Tampa Bay, a sixth-seed wild card team, beating the Saints in New Orleans in the NFC Championship Game, 23-17. He has Baltimore as the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs over the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, which are the No. 2 seed, and sees the Ravens beating the Tennessee Titans, 27-22, in the AFC Championship Game.

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

King lists three reasons for picking Tom Brady and the Buccaneers to win it all this year.

1. Brady. King lists Jameis Winston’s 30 interceptions and the Bucs’ NFL-high 41 turnovers last year, and states how Brady has thrown 30 interceptions in his last 64 games, and how Tampa Bay’s turnovers will likely be cut in half this season. King also says that aside from Patriots receiver Julian Edelman, the Bucs have five weapons – tight ends Rob Gronkowski and O.J. Howard, and wide receivers Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Scotty Miller – that are better than any New England had in the passing game in 2019. And Tampa Bay’s running game, with Ronald Jones II and Leonard Fournette, will be at least as good as the Patriots’ ground game from a year ago.

2. It’s honestly not that big a leap from 7-9 to the conference title. King discussed how the Bucs had won four games in a row in December, holding those teams to just 21 points a game, before dropping the last two games at home to Houston and Atlanta. Winston’s six interceptions, including a pair of pick-sixes, in those two games led to two one-possession losses. Tampa Bay would have won 10 games with an efficient offense in 2019. King says that the Bucs winning 10 or 11 this year is not hard to envision.

3. Winning in January on the road. King discusses how Brady has already done it twice at Pittsburgh when he was with the Patriots, and he won on the road in January at Kansas City by out-dueling Patrick Mahomes. King says that with the Bucs being a wild card team, Brady and Co. would need three January road wins to make the Super Bowl – possibly at Seattle, Dallas and New Orleans.

King also has Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht as his Executive of the Year, stating: “Signed Tom Brady. Traded for Ron Gronkowski. Pilfered Leonard Fournette. Good enough for me.”

Read all of King’s analysis on the Bucs and the rest of the 2020 playoff predictions in his latest Football Morning In America column.