The 2020 Super Bowl pregame thread

[carmelo15]

I was specifically watching him during the game because I wondered how he would look coming off of an ankle injury. He was driving linemen five yards into the backfield. He is definitely a difference maker and helps the pass rush immensely.

no coincidence that he returns and JPP/Barret look like all pros again

 

[carmelo15]

 

[The Brandon Five]

Tampa should have taken them to OT last time , but Tom threw a dumb pick on the 2nd play of a drive. Game over. Hopefully past isn’t prologue.

Sorry, that was the Rams game

 

[The Brandon Five]

Ok, so I guess I was noticing Vea having success against the guards more than the center...but the point remains that KC is now much weaker on the interior than GB was and Vea should be even stronger after two weeks.

 

[BobDigital]

One of these things is not like the other:





So how has KC been able to defend the passing game so well? Someone else mentioned that they tend to get away with a lot of holding, grabbing, etc.

They don't have anyone in that secondary with sub-4.4 speed,. so Scotty Miller might come in handy. The Bucs have Dean who has 4.3 speed (might want to have him cover Hill rather than Davis who got burned for the 75 yarder in their regular season meeting).

I think that stat is a bit misleading. Part of it might be scheme, but i think the bigger part is the have led so much all year and have forced teams to throw deep on them when they knew it was coming. Most teams don't get the advantage of knowing a team is going to throw deep on them. And KC has mostly be front runners all years in the 2nd half of games. But teams feel forced. Particularly at the end of games, teams have felt forced to throw it into multiple DBs in bad spots. I think that has a lot to do with it. Along with the fact that they don't have anyone who is particularly easy to pick on among their DBs. Another part of it is they are such good front runners with their pass rush. Their pass rushers besides Chris Jones aren't all that good most of the time, but when they know a pass is coming they tend to do better.

Add that is with some fortunate bounces and playing teams at the right time and I think that is likely what happened. I'm not saying KC's DBs are trash, cause they aren't. But they don't have anyone who is all that close to being a pro bowler back there either.

 

[Brewskies]

The MVP QB wins and he deserves it.

 

[TB12TheGoat]

Buccaneers' Jordan Whitehead: Should be ready for Super Bowl

Buccaneers' Jordan Whitehead: Should be ready for Super Bowl

www.cbssports.com

i want to see him knock the **** out of Kelce

 

[TB12TheGoat]

anyone else think Brady is going to try and get Gronk a touchdown if they’re inside the 10?

 

[oceansizer]

Not a surprise to me TB is an underdog. If Tampa wants to win it should play a perfect game - none of previous ones were. No stupid drops by WRs and RBs. I do not believe they have enough tools to stop Hill and Kelce therefore Buccaneers' offense is obliged to score as many points as it possible. Without a defense help it is rather impossible to win that battle. Constant pressure on Mahomes and creating turnovers would be the crucial element. I know it is easy to say but I also believe Tom's experience will win.

 

[Lagaffe_07]

Not a surprise to me TB is an underdog. If Tampa wants to win it should play a perfect game - none of previous ones were. No stupid drops by WRs and RBs. I do not believe they have enough tools to stop Hill and Kelce therefore Buccaneers' offense is obliged to score as many points as it possible. Without a defense help it is rather impossible to win that battle. Constant pressure on Mahomes and creating turnovers would be the crucial element. I know it is easy to say but I also believe Tom's experience will win.

I think the TB defense will be able to keep KC under 30 pts

 

[TB12TheGoat]

i hope the whole bucs team gets a huge chip on their shoulder since they’re going to hear everyone gas up the chiefs for 2 straight weeks. just like they did for the 01 rams, 07 patriots, 13 broncos

 

[Uptown]

 

[Uptown]

I do wonder about the KC DBs. They are all pretty good, but there isn't a single match that really favors them one v one. For instance

Charvarius Ward has a PPF grade the last 2 years of 69.5(2019) and 64.8 (2020)
Breeland grades 48.3 and 67.7
Fenton grades 74.1 and 70.4 (but he faces #3 WRs... also a 2nd year player btw)

As for safeties

Mathieu grades 75.3 and 64.1
Sorensen grades 61.0 and 50.1
Thornhill grades 71.5 and 52.8 (sophomore slump maybe?)

From the little I've seen, I find these grades reasonably accurate.

While they have faced some good passing offenses, i don't feel like they've been tested yet on the right day by one. They played the Texans but that was week 1 and I hate to use that as any kind of data point. They played the Bills twice, but I don't think the Bills seemed ready to go in either game and couldn't hold it together. In the first one they just got run on all day. (46 rushes for 245 yards) and just couldn't get it together. In the AFC they got a huge break but couldn't keep the momentum, it was almost like they were happy to be there. Taking a FG instead of going for it to end the half... It seemed like plays were there to be made, but they just couldn't figure it out and get out of their own way. Something about the Bills playing KC just gives them the shakes perhaps? I don't know.

KC just feels like a team with DBs who have managed to not get caught by a good passing offense that finally clicks against them. Could be wrong. It isn't that they are bad. But no one on their team can man WRs like Evans or Godwin. Certainly their LBs vs TEs are a bad match up. It just feels like this defense has been a little fortunate this year compared to the talent they have. I could be wrong.

What about KC CB L’Jarius Sneed? Any grade on him? IMHO, he has been their best corner; or at least has the talent/makeup to become the best. Obviously, he’s a rookie; but he’s been balling since week 1 vs HOU.

 

[TB12TheGoat]

can we actually see some pre snap motion from Arians and Leftwich?

 

[Triumph]

He thinks it is. Their play calling was night and day in the first and second halves in Green Bay. First half, they did what ended up getting them to the dance. Then I heard Arians say, “we need to be aggressive” at halftime, and rolled my eyes. Sure enough... bombs away. Lots of plays with 3-4 vertical routes that Green Bay’s defense was obviously all over. The bad thing is, the Fappers were GIVING them the underneath routes. Arians and Leftwich just didn’t want to take it, and they ended up letting Rodgers and Co back into the game. Of course, Brady also should not have thrown those three balls off his back foot under duress. Stupid ass decisions. But hard to hate on two of them. One was in plus territory where he was hoping Evans would high point the ball and the other was also in plus territory and was basically a punt.

On Bradys 1st INT, he had the Crosser underneath for about 10 yards and a 1st down. Instead, Brady threw into double coverage.

Makes sense that Arians was pushing Brady to go deep.

If Brady ignores crazy Biochemist Arians and plays his game of taking the Bucs on long time consuming drives, Tampa wins. If Brady listens to Arians and gets in a basketball shootout with KC the Bucs will lose. The proven Brady/Belichick formula for winning these big games is a 10 round heavyweight fight that always goes the distance.

 

[BobDigital]

What about KC CB L’Jarius Sneed? Any grade on him? IMHO, he has been their best corner; or at least has the talent/makeup to become the best. Obviously, he’s a rookie; but he’s been balling since week 1 vs HOU.

Good call. 73.9 He missed some games, but played a lot of snaps when healthy. Including 78% of the Cleveland snaps. It seems Fenton may well end up being their 4th CB right now. I'll have to look more into it.

 

[The Brandon Five]

On Bradys 1st INT, he had the Crosser underneath for about 10 yards and a 1st down. Instead, Brady threw into double coverage.

Makes sense that Arians was pushing Brady to go deep.

If Brady ignores crazy Biochemist Arians and plays his game of taking the Bucs on long time consuming drives, Tampa wins. If Brady listens to Arians and gets in a basketball shootout with KC the Bucs will lose. The proven Brady/Belichick formula for winning these big games is a 10 round heavyweight fight that always goes the distance.

I dunno if that tendency is all Bruce. Tom seems to prefer that as well. They lost the Rams game because of it and should have lost the NFCCG.. KC is the best at defending those type of passes, so let's hope that Leftwich wakes up.

 

[Uptown]

Good call. 73.9 He missed some games, but played a lot of snaps when healthy. Including 78% of the Cleveland snaps. It seems Fenton may well end up being their 4th CB right now. I'll have to look more into it.

Nice research. Thank BD

 

[Uptown]

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Not good.