Super Bowl Sunday is fast approaching in what is primed to be a shootout. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers face off against the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs. Both teams have high powered offenses, the Chiefs being led by the best QB in the league Patrick Mahomes and the Bucs by Tom Brady.
Tampa Bay or “Tompa Bay” as it’s been referred to as since Brady as joined. With the Bucs getting into the Super Bowl it would make this Bradys’ 10th Super Bowl appearance. Whether you like it or not, and whether it’s due to luck or skill, ten trips to the big game is not only unheard of, it’s incredibly impressive.
On the opposite side of the field you have Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. One of the younger QBs in the league also happens to be it’s most talented. He won’t see a second MVP trophy this season due to the Chiefs slowing down towards the end of the year, but that doesn’t discredit his talent level in the slightest.
This matchup is about as close as you can to a passing of the torch moment that you can get. Brady nearing the end of his seemingly endless career, while Mahomes is only getting started. It feels crazy to say that Mahomes is just getting started but at the age of 25 he already has an MVP trophy and a Super Bowl to his name. It’s a tall order to challenge Bradys’ individual championship mark of six, however if there was one person who could not only catch up to it and subsequently pass it, it’s Mahomes.
Both offenses are loaded with talent. The Chiefs have proven multiple times that if you let them take control for as little as three minutes they might bury the game before you can even blink. Bucs defenders are going to have to pick their poison or come up with the greatest scheme known to man to slow down Hill, Kelce and Hardman. Andy Ried and Eric Bieniemy have designed an offense that nobody in the league has figured out how to consistently slow down. If you somehow manage to cover Tyreek Hill, then Kelce is going to be open, commit too hard to the passing game then they’ll put Hardman on a jet sweep and he’s past you in the blink of an eye. When it comes to stopping the Chiefs offense, there are no good answers. Only hopes and prayers.
On Tampas’ side the Bucs have one of the best WR duos in the NFL. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin aren’t quite on Hill and Kelce’s respective levels, but if you give them the chance they will burn you. One thing the Bucs offense can say that the Chiefs can’t is that they can run the ball. Leonard Fournette is in full playoff lenny mode at the moment and it doesn’t look like he’ll be slowing down anytime soon. After leaving Jacksonville last season his workload has decreased dramatically. It’s proving to work wonders because Fournette is playing some of his best football in the most important time of the year.
The Bucs are going to need Brady to play much better than he did against the Packers in the NFC title game. The Packers failed to take advantage of three INTs which is not luxury that the Bucs can count on against the Chiefs. If you put the ball in the Chiefs’ offense with a chance to put you in the dirt, they will not hesitate to do so with a smile on their faces.
The Chiefs will be missing two players after a close contact with COVID thanks to their barber. WR Demarcus Robinson and center Daniel Kilgore will both be out for the game. It can’t be a good feeling missing out on the biggest game of your career because you wanted a haircut. Sammy Watkins is also questionable for Kansas City. These players aren’t massive to the Chiefs game plan but the Bucs can’t say the same for some of injury concerns they have going into Sunday. Jason Pierre Paul did not practice this week, and WR Antonio Brown, LB Lavonte David, S Jordan Whitehead, S Antoine Winfield Jr. all were limited participants this week in practice.
All things considered, this Super Bowl should be great. Two high-powered offenses are going to take the field Sunday and hopefully give everyone a game to remember. As a Packer fan, I hope the Bucs lose by a million, respectfully. So sit on the couch on February 7th, get some wings and bet on the coin toss.
Oh, and The Weeknd is performing the halftime show, so stay tuned.
Image courtesy of CNN.