Ice_Ice_Brady
where black is the color where none is the number
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2006
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I've said all year that Mahomes scares the bejesus out of me. Before talking about how the Bucs have their work cut out for them, let's just clarify that every team in the NFL, and bascially every modern NFL defense, would be looking at similar problems. Their ability to adapt is what makes them tough to stop, as they can destroy you with deep or west coast-style, short pass and huge chunk gains. It isn't even Mahomes arm strength that poses the biggest problem; it's his great understanding of risk:reward, how to buy time in the pocket, and his ability to consantly make the right reads in almost every situation. Couple that with his talent and crazy skill players he has, and you're just not going to look at a defense and say "yeah, that will play right into our hands."
There are a couple of things that may be advantageous to the Bucs, which is along the lines of what I said about the Saints and Packers. The Bucs don't rely on an elite cornerback and then fill in the rest of their secondary with JAGS. Because that is literally the worst matchup against the Chiefs. You saw yesterday how Tre'Davious White was owned by both Hill and Kelce; he couldn't match up with either one for entirely different reasons. And since he was completely owned, it made things even worse of the rest of the secondary.
Tampa does not have a great corner, but again, that might not be the worst thing. The reason I liked them against the Packers is because they have a handful of adequate corners, none of whom are really liabilities. Obviously the health of their two starting safeties will be key here, but they actually have pretty good depth there as well. They may be able to take minimal damage from selling out with schemes to slow down Kelce and Hill, much like how against the Saints (Thomas) and Packers (Adams) they didn't get absolutely gashed.
Mahomes did absolutely annihilate them mid-season, though, so I can't say I'm that optimistic. However, the Bucs will be returning Vea (huge) and now Fisher is out along with Schwartz; that's two really good tackles, and their line is in shambles. That will help.
I'm not sure how much shutting down the running game will help against the Chiefs. Obviously somewhat, but like the Patriots Dynasty 2.0, the idea of just going what works and throwing the ball all the time, mixing in the run as a changeup, is in play. Unlike the Saints (absolutely) and the Packers (quite a bit more than perception), the Chiefs do not rely on the run that much and setup the run through the passing game. They also have a great short passing game that acts a run game, which concerns me and is a big question mark of whether or not Tampa's swarming front 7 will be able to take advantage of that or if Reid will make them pay constantly for overpersuing (really concerned about that last point...KC is very good with misdirection plays.)
I just don't see any way they hold Kansas City to less than 24 points. It seems you can play a damn good defensive game against the Chiefs and pressure Mahomes pretty often, but the Chiefs are still going to gash you a bunch of times.
There are a couple of things that may be advantageous to the Bucs, which is along the lines of what I said about the Saints and Packers. The Bucs don't rely on an elite cornerback and then fill in the rest of their secondary with JAGS. Because that is literally the worst matchup against the Chiefs. You saw yesterday how Tre'Davious White was owned by both Hill and Kelce; he couldn't match up with either one for entirely different reasons. And since he was completely owned, it made things even worse of the rest of the secondary.
Tampa does not have a great corner, but again, that might not be the worst thing. The reason I liked them against the Packers is because they have a handful of adequate corners, none of whom are really liabilities. Obviously the health of their two starting safeties will be key here, but they actually have pretty good depth there as well. They may be able to take minimal damage from selling out with schemes to slow down Kelce and Hill, much like how against the Saints (Thomas) and Packers (Adams) they didn't get absolutely gashed.
Mahomes did absolutely annihilate them mid-season, though, so I can't say I'm that optimistic. However, the Bucs will be returning Vea (huge) and now Fisher is out along with Schwartz; that's two really good tackles, and their line is in shambles. That will help.
I'm not sure how much shutting down the running game will help against the Chiefs. Obviously somewhat, but like the Patriots Dynasty 2.0, the idea of just going what works and throwing the ball all the time, mixing in the run as a changeup, is in play. Unlike the Saints (absolutely) and the Packers (quite a bit more than perception), the Chiefs do not rely on the run that much and setup the run through the passing game. They also have a great short passing game that acts a run game, which concerns me and is a big question mark of whether or not Tampa's swarming front 7 will be able to take advantage of that or if Reid will make them pay constantly for overpersuing (really concerned about that last point...KC is very good with misdirection plays.)
I just don't see any way they hold Kansas City to less than 24 points. It seems you can play a damn good defensive game against the Chiefs and pressure Mahomes pretty often, but the Chiefs are still going to gash you a bunch of times.
