Before Super Bowl LV on Sunday evening, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden called for a moment of silence to status the more than 440,000 Americans who have died of COVID-1 9. While they struck the right tone in thanking health care workers and honoring those we’ve lost, that the President and First lady of the United States were also compelled–on a Super Bowl broadcast–to memorialize so many taken by a atrocious sicknes, was a scene both poignant and unimaginable.

The CBS broadcast of video games then cut to the sidelines of Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla ., where spectators examine cheering gang noise: there were nearly 25,000 love, including some 7,500 vaccinated health care workers, in attendance. This awkward transition was followed by an NFL promo in which an actor playing Vince Lombardi walked through the street of America, delivering inspirational names.” The road has been rough, the loading, heavy ,” he said as a pair of distraught health care workers shared a grip. At the end, a holographic edition of Lombardi gave a speech on the field scoreboard.

It all felt peculiar. Despite the best efforts of all involved, from players to TV creators, things were off all night.

At the top of the establish, CBS play-by-play man Jim Nantz talked about how we “unify” to watch the Super Bowl; a Jeep commercial, starring a brooding Bruce Springsteen, labeled America the ” Reunited Regime of America .” Nantz likewise include an indication that a trio of epic Capitol police officers, and the family of slain patrolman Brian Sicknick, were clients at the game. But no single play can serve as a panacea for what ails the nation. And rather than joining with friends around dishes of nachos at Super Bowl soirees, so many people watched the game in isolation.

Something everyone can agree on: the game failed to live up to expectations. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers walloped the Kansas City Chiefs, 31 -9, to give 43 -year-old Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady, in his first season playing in Florida, his seventh occupation Super Bowl entitlement. The ageless Brady, who too triumphed his fifth Super Bowl MVP honor, was brilliant, especially in the first half when he accomplished 16 of 20 elapses for 140 grounds and three touchdowns, causing the Bucs a 21 -6 produce( Brady finished 21 -2 9 with 201 grounds and zero interceptions ).

Many scholars saw this game as a enact of the light. Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes, aged exactly 25 and winning his first Super Bowl a year ago, is Brady’s clear heir apparent. Watching him dally is a typically joy, but this time his competition was a nightmare. The high-octane Chiefs failed to score a touchdown, and Mahomes finished 26 -4 9, with 270 grounds and two interceptions. Tampa Bay deserves full credit for its defensive game plan: Mahomes rarely met open receivers all darknes, and the Buccaneer’ pass rushed had him routinely flowing for his life.

But the Chiefs also stank. Mental lapses defiled their try. In the first half, the Chiefs were whistled for eight disadvantages, expensing them 95 yards; the Bucs had just one retribution for five yards. It seemed every time Mahomes tried to work his trickery, scaping followers, doing his signature sidearm sheds on the run, KC receivers would drop the ball.

So Mahomes will have to wait for his coronation. Brady is ending meanwhile barriers–he’s now won more Super Bowls after his 37 th birthday than he had before it. He said he’ll be back for a 22 nd season.

As the clock curve down, Nantz noted that the Tampa Bay’s observance would previous” well into the morning .” Maybe that’s true for the team, but for spectators this play was a muted defendant. Let’s hope for a return to Super Bowl spectacle in the years ahead.

Read more: time.com