TAMPA — Make it Sweet Seven for Number 12.

Tom Brady, the future Hall of Fame quarterback who joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a season that was largely altered by the coronavirus pandemic, won his seventh Super Bowl in 10 trips as the Bucs defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, 31-9, Sunday night in Super Bowl LV. 

Brady found his old New England Patriots teammate, Rob Gronkowski, for two touchdowns against a Chiefs team that won last year's Super Bowl but couldn't overcome a series of self-inflicted mistakes at Raymond James Stadium.

Brady was named the game's Most Valuable Player, completing 21 of 29 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns. He did not throw an interception - and after the game, he made it clear this game was different from those in his New England days.

“I’m not making any comparisons,” Brady said. “Experiencing it with this group of guys is amazing.”

The Bucs made history by being the first team to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium, winning it for Coach Bruce Arians, who arrived in 2019 to help steer Tampa Bay back to respectability.

With an 11-5 season, three road playoffs win and the franchise's second Super Bowl title in the coach's second season, consider it done.

“This really belongs to the coaching staff and our players. I didn’t do a damn thing,” Arians said after he was handed the trophy.

About 25,000 fans, the most allowed under Florida's COVID-19 guidelines, sat surrounded by cardboard cutouts in the NFL's best attempt to make the Super Bowl feel normal after a year that was anything but.

Outside the stadium, there was a carnival-like atmosphere across Himes Avenue from the stadium, as gawkers, hawkers and football fans alike milled and grilled.

Soon enough, they'd be watching their team dominate the defending champions.

The result was a bitter pill to swallow for a Kansas City team that beat a strong Buffalo Bills team in the AFC Championship game and seemed primed for another Super Sunday.

Brady's seventh Super Bowl victory — his previous six came in New England - denied Kansas City's young superstar QB, Patrick Mahomes, his second title.

Brady signed a $50 million, two-year contract with Tampa in March. The Buccaneers hadn’t reached the playoffs since 2007 and hadn’t won a postseason game since Jon Gruden led Tampa over Oakland in Super Bowl 37.

The Chiefs led once — 3-0 in the first quarter — before Brady and Gronkowski put Tampa ahead 7-3. Another Brady-Gronk touchdown followed as the frustrated Chiefs were called for several penalties in the secondary.

Tampa led 21-6 at the half, but Kansas City opened the half with a strong drive. Alas, it ended in a field goal to make it 21-9.

Moments later, the Bucs' Leonard Fournette scored to make it 28-9, and Kansas City's dream of a repeat championship started to fade away.

For Mahomes, the dynamic QB who has won the hearts of fans across the country for his style of play, it was mystifying.

“Obviously I didn’t play the way I wanted to play,” Mahomes said. “What else can you say? All you can do is leave everything you have on the field. I feel like the guys did that. ... They beat us pretty good, the worst I’ve been beaten in a long time.”

Despite the home-field advantage, it wasn’t until Brady hooked up with Gronkowski for a 21-6 lead that fans chanted: “Let’s Go Bucs!” They were roaring in the fourth quarter.

“I’m so proud of all these guys,” Brady said. “We had a rough November (the Bucs lost three straight) but we came together at the right time. We knew this was gonna happen. We played our best game of the year.”

There were plenty of red-clad Chiefs fans doing the tomahawk chop for part of the first half until the Bucs made it a rout.

“I didn’t see it coming at all,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “I thought we were going to come in and play these guys just like we’ve been playing teams, and it didn’t happen that way. I give them credit on that.”

Brady’s New England teams won their titles by a combined 30 points, an average margin of five per victory. A 13-3 win over the Los Angeles Rams two years ago had been the most lopsided score until this one.

The warmer climate suited Brady perfectly. He passed Michael Jordan for more championships and it doesn’t seem he’s ready to slow down. He already said he might play past age 45.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.