Super Bowl 2021 rosters: Starting lineups for Chiefs, Buccaneers; key role players filling in due to injuries

With Super Bowl LV hours away, these are the players who'll compete for the title

By Bryan DeArdo

Feb 7, 2021 at 3:30 pm ET • 6 min read

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Super Bowl LV is about to kick off, and the two rosters of the Super Bowl teams are filled with an all-star cast of players. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs will bring a whole lot of talent to Raymond James Stadium. The G.O.A.T., Tom Brady, who'll be making his 10th Super Bowl start, will be going toe to toe with reigning Super Bowl MVP and 2018 league MVP Patrick Mahomes, who is after his second title in as many years. This will be the first Super Bowl pitting the previous two Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks against one another -- but those are just the two headliners; there are a lot of other great players in Chiefs-Bucs for Super Bowl LV.

It almost goes without saying that this Super Bowl will go down as one of the best QB matchups in NFL championship history. Mahomes is trying to join Brady, Bart Starr, Bob Griese, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach, Jim Plunkett, John Elway, Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning and Eli Manning as the only starting quarterbacks to win multiple Super Bowls.

Super Bowl LV is almost here, and you can watch it for free on the CBS Sports App.

Brady, meanwhile, is one win away from joining Peyton Manning as the only quarterbacks to lead two different franchises to a Super Bowl victory.

It's time to take a comprehensive look at both teams' rosters, as well as more information on this year's Super Bowl. While the quarterbacks are the headliners, the Buccaneers and Chiefs have a slew of other talented players who helped get their respective teams to the big game. For some other fast facts every fan should know before kickoff, click here.

How to watch

Super Bowl LV will be played in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 7, with the game slated to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on CBS and you can watch it for free on the CBS Sports App.

Here's a rundown of each team's rosters, starters and key players.

Kansas City Chiefs

This year's Chiefs team won a franchise-record 14 games during the regular season. After outlasting the Browns in the divisional round before coasting past the Bills in the AFC title game, the Chiefs will now try to become the first repeat champion since Brady's Patriots won back-to-back titles in 2003-04.

Kansas City's offense was again paced by Mahomes, who threw 38 touchdowns against just six interceptions during his 15 regular season starts. In Sunday's win over the Bills, Mahomes overcame a turf toe and spending nearly a week in the NFL's concussion protocol to throw for 325 yards and three touchdowns. Per usual, Mahomes' favorite targets on Sunday night were receiver Tyreek Hill (nine catches, 172 yards) and tight end Travis Kelce (13 catches, 118 yards, two touchdowns). The Chiefs' running game was led most of the year by rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire, whose ankle/hip injury kept him out of Kansas City's divisional round win over the Browns. Kansas City's offensive line suffered a scare on Sunday night when longtime starting tackle Eric Fisher left the game with an Achilles injury. Martinas Rankin would likely replace Fisher if he cannot play in the Super Bowl.

The Chiefs' defense includes three Pro Bowlers in defensive end Frank Clark (six sacks, eight tackles for loss), defensive tackle Chris Jones (7.5 sacks, two forced fumbles), and strong safety Tyrann Mathieu (six interceptions, nine passes defensed). Free safety Daniel Sorensen (91 tackles, three interceptions, two forced fumbles) and cornerbacks L'Jarius Sneed and Bashaud Breeland have also been key cogs in the Chiefs' defense.

Here's the rest of the Chiefs' starting lineup on both sides of the ball, as well as key backups and other players who have seen action in the postseason:

Offensive starters

QB: Patrick Mahomes

RB: Clyde Edwards-Helaire

WR: Tyreek Hill

TE: Travis Kelce

LT: Eric Fisher

LG: Nick Allegretti

C: Austin Reiter

RG: Andrew Wylie

RT: Mike Remmers

Defensive starters

LDE: Tanoh Kpassagnon

LDT: Chris Jones

RDT: Derrick Nnadi

RDE: Frank Clark

LB: Anthony Hitchens

LB: Damien Wilson

LCB: Charvarius Ward

RCB: Bashaud Breeland

FS: Daniel Sorensen

SS: Tyrann Mathieu

Specialists

K: Harrison Butker

P: Tommy Townsend

KR/PR: Mecole Hardman

Key reserves

RB: Darrel Williams

RB: Le'Veon Bell

WR: Sammy Watkins

WR: Demarcus Robinson

FB: Anthony Sherman

LT: Martinas Rankin

LDE: Alex Okafor

RDE: Mike Pennel

ILB: Ben Niemann

OLB: Willie Gay

CB: Rashad Fenton

FS: Juan Thornhill

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The first team that will play a Super Bowl in their home stadium, the Buccaneers are also just the fourth wild-card team since 1990 to advance to the Super Bowl. The previous three teams (the 2005 Steelers, 2007 Giants and 2010 Packers) went onto win the Super Bowl. After a 7-5 start, the Buccaneers have won seven straight games since their Week 13 bye. Tampa Bay won its final four regular season games before recording playoff road wins in Washington, New Orleans and Green Bay.

Tampa Bay's offense has been led by Brady, who at age 43 is showing no signs of slowing down. In his first three playoff games as a Buccaneer, Brady threw seven touchdowns and three interceptions while becoming the franchise's career leading in postseason touchdown passes. In Sunday's 31-26 win over the Packers, Brady threw touchdown passes to Mike Evans, Scott Miller, and tight end Cameron Brate. Brady also completed a 52-yard bomb to Chris Godwin, who caught a team-high five passes for 110 yards. Leonard Fournette contributed with 74 all-purpose yards that included his eye-popping 20-yard touchdown run. The Buccaneers' underrated offensive line includes 2020 first-round pick Tristan Wirfs, who has started in each of his first 20 NFL games.

The Buccaneers boast a defense that finished eighth in the NFL in points allowed during the regular season. The unit is led by Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, linebackers Shaquil Barrett, Lavonte David and Devin White, and rookie free safety Antoine Winfield Jr. Barrett and Pierre-Paul had a combined five sacks of Aaron Rodgers on Sunday, while White's 15 tackles paced both teams. Winfield, who missed Sunday's game with an injury, forced a critical fumble of Saints tight end Jared Cook during Tampa Bay's divisional round win over New Orleans.

Here's a look at the rest of the Buccaneers' starting lineup, along with several key reserves who have made an impact this season:

Offensive starters

QB: Tom Brady

RB: Ronald Jones

WR: Mike Evans

WR: Chris Godwin

TE: Rob Gronkowski

LT: Donovan Smith

LG: Ali Marpet

C: Ryan Jensen

RG: Aaron Stinnie

RT: Tristan Wirfs