Super Bowl LV: Game Thread – Kansas City Chiefs @ Tompa Bay Bucs

[Ale Xander]

Sunday, February 7th, 6:30ish PM, ET, at the Raymond James Stadium, in Tompa, FL

Kansas City Chiefs v. Tompa Bay Buccaneers.

1st time ever playing in their home stadium, although 2 CA teams have played very close to home stadium in the past.

Mahomes v. GOAT

Get ready for 2 weeks of QB ball-washing.

 

[bankshot1]

looks like early line is KC -3

seems light to me

 

[jsinger121]

This is by far the most talented QB Brady will ever face in a super bowl even better than Warner in 2001. If Brady throws 3 picks like he did today the Bucs are probably getting blown out.

 

[jose melendez]

If kc gets pressure on the qb like they did today, it will be a bloodbath.

I think Kc may have the advantage in every facet of the game.

Tom isTom, but he’s going to have to be near perfect to win. Arians is not going to make a good enough game plan.

 

[Mugsy’s Walk-Off Bunt]

Hoping they learn a bunch from the mistakes in GB today. And that AB and the safeties are available. (I hate myself for the AB part, but I figure Tyreek, tomahawk chops and booing the moment of unity on kick off Thursday is enough to counter whatever ambivalence I have.)

 

[terrynever]

Andy Reid is the second best coach of the Belichick Era, right?

 

[jose melendez]

Andy Reid is the second best coach of the Belichick Era, right?

Cowher maybe though not that much overlap. Coughlin would be in the discussion.

 

[Ale Xander]

TB has the advantage at WR depth, and backup TE, and experience at QB, and the home field (no need to travel and KC travels 1600 miles, late) but I don't see much else where TB is better.

 

[snowmanny]

Cowher maybe though not that much overlap. Coughlin would be in the discussion.

Carroll?

I mean besides Belichick I'd take Carroll over anyone except maybe Reid.

 

[jablo1312]

i will say if the chiefs blitz like they did today i trust brady to make the right adjustments and hit guys on quick routes in tight windows a lot more then Josh Allen

 

[jose melendez]

Carroll?

I mean besides Belichick I'd take Carroll over anyone except maybe Reid.

Harbaugh would need to be there too, I guess.

 

[azsoxpatsfan]

Harbaugh would need to be there too, I guess.

No

 

[luckiestman]

Andy Reid is the second best coach of the Belichick Era, right?

Has to be. 8 Championship games, 3 SB appearances. 3 years with a great qb and he gets 2 SB appearances and a OT loss in championship game.

if he had someone better than McNabb who knows how many rings he would have

 

[snowmanny]

Harbaugh would need to be there too, I guess.

I mean regardless of the number of Super Bowls they have been in, etc., if we went back in time to 2000 and gave you a random team and told you you could hire any coach except Belichick to a twenty-one year contract, would it be Harbaugh?

I think it's Reid or Carroll and then a big drop.

 

[Ale Xander]

I mean regardless of the number of Super Bowls they have been in, etc., if we went back in time to 2000 and gave you a random team and told you you could hire any coach except Belichick to a twenty-one year contract, would it be Harbaugh?

I think it's Reid or Carroll and then a big drop.

2005, I'd hire Carroll.
2000? I'd hire an announcer. (Madden)

 

[Mystic Merlin]

Harbaugh would need to be there too, I guess.

Reid is number one after BB based on resume alone. Nine playoff berths in fourteen seasons, five conference title berths, and one SB berth with Philly. Seven playoff berths in eight seasons, three conference titles berths, and two SB berths with KC.

I think only a few coaches have reached SB with two different teams. Other than Reid I think it is Vermeil, Parcells, John Fox (wat!), walrus brother Holmgren, and Don Shula. I may have missed somebody since I am going off memory.

 

[SemperFidelisSox]

Reid is number one after BB based on resume alone. Nine playoff berths in fourteen seasons, five conference title berths, and one SB berth with Philly. Seven playoff berths in eight seasons, three conference titles berths, and two SB berths with KC.

I think only a few coaches have reached SB with two different teams. Other than Reid I think it is Vermeil, Parcells, John Fox (wat!), walrus brother Holmgren, and Don Shula. I may have missed somebody since I am going off memory.

Dan Reeves, but thats still impressive off memory.

 

[Mystic Merlin]

Dan Reeves, but thats still impressive off memory.

Shit! I knew I missed someone. I felt good about remembering John Fox, but knew I omitted a bigger name somewhere. Damn 98 Falcons.

 

[coremiller]

Reid: 22 seasons, 220-130-1, .629%, 16 playoff berths, 16-14 playoffs, 3 super bowl appearances, 1 title (+2020)
Carroll: 15 seasons, 145-94-1, .606%, 11 playoff berths, 11-10 playoffs, 2 super bowl appearances, 1 title
Harbaugh: 13 seasons, 129-79, .620%, 9 playoff berths, 11-8 playoffs, 1 super bowl appearance, 1 title
Coughlin: 20 seasons, 170-150, .531%, 9 playoff berths, 12-7 playoffs, 2 super bowl appearances, 2 titles

Reid has pretty clearly the best overall resume of the four.

 

[nattysez]

looks like early line is KC -3

seems light to me

I figured KC would be favored by at least 9. They are going to steamroll TB.

 

[BaseballJones]

Brady has never been steamrolled in a Super Bowl, even when he’s been the underdog. But for sure Tampa will need a total team effort.

 

[Euclis20]

I figured KC would be favored by at least 9. They are going to steamroll TB.

Before today the last team that KC steamrolled was the Jets, way back in week 8 (their last win by more than 6 points). -9 would be a ridiculously high line. The real question with the line is wondering if TB will enjoy any sort of home field advantage.

 

[jose melendez]

Reid: 22 seasons, 220-130-1, .629%, 16 playoff berths, 16-14 playoffs, 3 super bowl appearances, 1 title (+2020)
Carroll: 15 seasons, 145-94-1, .606%, 11 playoff berths, 11-10 playoffs, 2 super bowl appearances, 1 title
Harbaugh: 13 seasons, 129-79, .620%, 9 playoff berths, 11-8 playoffs, 1 super bowl appearance, 1 title
Coughlin: 20 seasons, 170-150, .531%, 9 playoff berths, 12-7 playoffs, 2 super bowl appearances, 2 titles

Reid has pretty clearly the best overall resume of the four.

Reid is clearly the best of the bunch. I really do think Harbaugh is getting sold short because he’s such an asshole. He did most of that with Joe Flacco.
Tomlinson would be the other one I guess, but he’s underperformed his talent so many times.
Dungy would be another, but I don’t see it.

 

[CaptainLaddie]

I dunno. KC only won by a FG when they played earlier this year. KC -3 *seems* low, but does anyone think Tom's going to get blown out? He's been the QB of 32 total games where his team has lost by 10 or more points. 32 out of 344. I'm just not seeing a blowout, but I've been wrong many times before.

Those INT were bad today, but only two were on him. One was off a tip.

I think we're in for a good game. Brady clearly wants to shove BB's face in this, and I don't think there's anyone more motivated alive than him.

I could totally see a similar game to SB 52, where both offenses go wild but one mistake by one QB costs them the game. My money is on the Chiefs but I'll never, ever count out Tom.

 

[BaseballJones]

Box score from their earlier meeting:

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/202011290tam.htm

 

[DeadlySplitter]

KC had a couple OL injuries today, including Eric Fisher with an achilles that I imagine means he's out. We saw how Tampa's DL with JPP helped a lot today. If they can get some pressure on Mahomes the chances of the turnovers they'll need go up.

KC seemed to coast a lot of this season, still losing just one game when Mahomes started, and were able to flip the switch today. Maybe switch flips back off in two weeks.

 

[SemperFidelisSox]

The Week 12 meeting was one of the more dominant 3 point wins you will see. KC controlled the game. Brady cut it to 3 with a TD drive with about 4 minutes remaining, but never touched the ball again. Mahomes just shredded the Tampa D.

 

[BigSoxFan]

The Week 12 meeting was one of the more dominant 3 point wins you will see. KC controlled the game. Brady cut it to 3 with a TD drive with about 4 minutes remaining, but never touched the ball again. Mahomes just shredded the Tampa D.

Yup. That was the game that Hill went flag football on Tampa. I have no idea how they’ll contain him this time. Hope Coach Brady figures something out.

 

[shawnrbu]

The Week 12 meeting was one of the more dominant 3 point wins you will see. KC controlled the game. Brady cut it to 3 with a TD drive with about 4 minutes remaining, but never touched the ball again. Mahomes just shredded the Tampa D.

Some extenuating circumstances: Bucs were on a short week playing the week before in a tough game with the Rams on Monday night and it was Week 12 and the Bucs did not have their bye week until the week after the Chiefs game.

 

[sheamonu]

13,000 fans allowed to the game. Knowing what a typical Super Bowl ticket goes for on the resale market - if players get tickets how many game checks do you think some of these rookies could make by scalping their allotment this year?

 

[snowmanny]

I think we're in for a good game. Brady clearly wants to shove BB's face in this, and I don't think there's anyone more motivated alive than him.

As opposed to all those times it looked as if Brady didn’t give a damn and didn’t want to shove his success in someone’s face? He’s always insanely motivated and I think he’s still pissed about Steve Mariucci or whoever not drafting him.

 

[CaptainLaddie]

As opposed to all those times it looked as if Brady didn’t give a damn and didn’t want to shove his success in someone’s face? He’s always insanely motivated and I think he’s still pissed about Steve Mariucci or whoever not drafting him.

I understand what you're saying and agree. I just think there might be a special motivation in this one. Then again, who knows. "Motivation" is just alchemy.

 

[Oil Can Dan]

KC 104
Tampa 13

 

[E5 Yaz]

Tom Brady: 10 Super Bowls
Jason Pierre Paul: 9 fingers

 

[Kliq]

I thought Buffalo really collapsed tonight. Yeah, KC did a really good job and when their offense is going they look unstoppable; but Tampa will be able to pressure Mahomes, and their defense makes plays and forces turnovers. KC will simply not be able to blitz the shit out of Brady the way they destroyed Allen; Brady is way too smart and has too many weapons on offense to not punish KC if they want to blitz that much.

 

[E5 Yaz]

I thought Buffalo really collapsed tonight. Yeah, KC did a really good job and when their offense is going they look unstoppable; but Tampa will be able to pressure Mahomes, and their defense makes plays and forces turnovers. KC will simply not be able to blitz the shit out of Brady the way they destroyed Allen; Brady is way too smart and has too many weapons on offense to not punish KC if they want to blitz that much.

Tampa Bay didn't get a lot of yards on the ground, but they stayed committed to the run game ... which meant the Packers had to pay attention to it, which resulted in a couple of big plays off the play-action.

Buffalo had nothing to offer on the ground, outside Allen, and it really limited them ... especially in those red zone failures.

 

[rodderick]

Yup. That was the game that Hill went flag football on Tampa. I have no idea how they’ll contain him this time. Hope Coach Brady figures something out.

Well, they contained the Chiefs offense pretty well in the second half. Mainly started going with two safety looks since Hill just destroyed their Cover 1.

 

[Silverdude2167]

So my question on containing the Chiefs is that the Pats have done a good job the last 3 meetings for the most part.

Normally when BB comes in and shows the league how to stop an offensive, others follow. Is it just a personal issue and no other teams match up as well?

 

[BaseballJones]

Part of that though is that the Pats have a great secondary. You need the right scheme and loads of talent. And they all need to play well. Tampa is going to need to get a couple of big turnovers because I don’t think they’ll consistently stop KC.

 

[wiffleballhero]

I thought Buffalo really collapsed tonight. Yeah, KC did a really good job and when their offense is going they look unstoppable; but Tampa will be able to pressure Mahomes, and their defense makes plays and forces turnovers. KC will simply not be able to blitz the shit out of Brady the way they destroyed Allen; Brady is way too smart and has too many weapons on offense to not punish KC if they want to blitz that much.

Yeah, watching the Buffalo game seems like just about the worst possible comp for thinking about what KC is going to be able to do against TB.

Brady will not kill his team's chances.
KC is capable of some stupid mistakes that don't matter when you are up 17, but could matter in the Super Bowl.

It has also been enough games to be getting out of the SSS range, and so I think it is fair to say that KC starts slow, and sort of has a pattern of botching the start of games, consistently digging themselves a little hole in big games. I'm not sure they can get away with that against TB.

And while in the end they sort of stomped Buffalo, Buffalo could have been in that game, but they played scared and ended up playing to lose close rather than go for it. The stupid field goals, fear on 4th down and the bad math of going for 2 late? All young team mistakes. Maybe Arians matches that with his own stupidity, but they won't make mistakes like that while Brady is part of the decision (and they surely will go for the 4th downs).

I'm not going to claim to have watched enough snaps to really know, but TBs defense seems to me like they are playing better than they have at any point in the season, and they have looked better each week for the last few. Maybe they can handle Kelce and Hill just enough?


As for Brady's line vs GB, it seemed to me that two of the INTs were glorified punts (3rd and long, tossing it right before he is about to get dropped) and I wouldn't fault him for those at all.

 

[Mooch]

With Fisher out for the Super Bowl, here’s the Chiefs offensive line:

LT Remmers (0 LT snaps since '16) LG Allegretti (7th rounder) C Reiter (7th rounder) RG Wisniewski (cut by PIT in Nov.) RT Wylie (a UDFA guard)

Yikes.

 

[rodderick]

With Fisher out for the Super Bowl, here’s the Chiefs offensive line:

LT Remmers (0 LT snaps since '16) LG Allegretti (7th rounder) C Reiter (7th rounder) RG Wisniewski (cut by PIT in Nov.) RT Wylie (a UDFA guard)

Yikes.

I don't follow the Chiefs closely enough to know, but I thought their OL was pretty solid. Remmers aside, haven't those guys been playing?

 

[Bongorific]

Michaels and Collinsworrh were talking about deflategate with 2 min left in the Super Bowl. How many times do we hear about what human trash Tyreek and Frank Clark are over the next 2 weeks? I’m guessing zero.

 

[BaseballJones]

Michaels and Collinsworrh were talking about deflategate with 2 min left in the Super Bowl. How many times do we hear about what human trash Tyreek and Frank Clark are over the next 2 weeks? I’m guessing zero.

To be fair, Deflategate was pretty fresh, obviously. Tyreek and Clark are kind of old news. I mean, worlds worse than what Brady is alleged to have done (which didn't even happen but still), but Deflategate had JUST HAPPENED. It was of course expected that they'd talk about it during the game. How could they not?

 

[DJnVa]

This is by far the most talented QB Brady will ever face in a super bowl even better than Warner in 2001. If Brady throws 3 picks like he did today the Bucs are probably getting blown out.

That obviously sounds correct, but he just threw 3 picks in a game against the likely NFL MVP and they won. Weird shit happens.

 

[BaseballJones]

That obviously sounds correct, but he just threw 3 picks in a game against the likely NFL MVP and they won. Weird shit happens.

And it should also be noted that Green Bay, not Kansas City, had the league's #1 scoring offense in football this year. Tampa survived three Brady picks on the road and knocked off the presumptive MVP and the #1 scoring offense. I wouldn't say it's the ideal Tampa game plan in two weeks, but you're right. Weird stuff happens.

 

[Super Nomario]

I don't follow the Chiefs closely enough to know, but I thought their OL was pretty solid. Remmers aside, haven't those guys been playing?

This stuff stacks up though. You can live with one injury, maybe two, but now both starting tackles are out so they're scraping the bottom of the barrel. Buffalo didn't have a pass rusher with more than 5 sacks this year; Tampa Bay has four, and JPP and Barrett were killing Green Bay's backup tackles yesterday. I don't know how the Bucs stop Tyreek Hill, but it won't surprise me if Mahomes is under duress a lot in the Super Bowl.

 

[BaseballJones]

Double Tyreek every down. Line up your best cover guy on Kelce. Take your chances with everyone else. And if KC wants to do nothing but run the ball, be grateful. It's not that they can't do it, but taking the ball out of Mahomes' hands would be Tampa's dream. And when they do throw, come after him hard every time.

I think that's gotta be the TB defensive game plan. And even then, they will likely need Brady to put up 30+ points. Which, of course, with a fully loaded offense (which he'll likely have), they are definitely capable of doing.

 

[Mugsy’s Walk-Off Bunt]

Does anyone know the injury status of TB's safeties and Antonio Brown?

 

[Mooch]

This stuff stacks up though. You can live with one injury, maybe two, but now both starting tackles are out so they're scraping the bottom of the barrel. Buffalo didn't have a pass rusher with more than 5 sacks this year; Tampa Bay has four, and JPP and Barrett were killing Green Bay's backup tackles yesterday. I don't know how the Bucs stop Tyreek Hill, but it won't surprise me if Mahomes is under duress a lot in the Super Bowl.

Exactly. The loss of Fisher is MASSIVE in terms of the downstream effects on the rest of the line. It forces both Wisniewski and Wylie into the lineup on the same side with one of them out of position. In the last few weeks of the regular season, Reid was trying an either/or with both guys at RG, eventually settling on Wylie in week 16. Now they both have to start.

Add in a retuning Vita Vea on the TB line with another week of rest and a TB defense that ranked #1 against the run this season. I guarantee that Todd Bowles will be studying the tape of the Falcons game, when they shut down the KC passing attack by rushing 4 most of the game but mixed up where the 4th guy was coming from while preventing the Chiefs from getting behind the secondary on scrambles. They didn't sack Mahomes that game but they forced him into some uncomfortable scrambles and awkward throws all game and probably should have won.