Chiefs report card: The Super Bowl is pass-fail, and, well, you know how this goes
In his 10th Super Bowl appearance, Tom Brady collected his easiest victory of them all with a 31-9 victory over the Chiefs. Brady threw three touchdown passes, while Patrick Mahomes struggled against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defense.
The Bucs accomplished something no other Chiefs opponent in the last three years could: make a game against the Chiefs seem boring.
Here are the final grades of the season. It isn’t pretty.
Reason to hope: A regular-season record for victories, a second straight AFC championship and Super Bowl appearance ... the Chiefs gave their fans plenty of reasons to smile this season.
Reason to mope: Who saw this coming? A loss, perhaps. But to get blown out for the first time in the Mahomes era? Credit Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians and his staff, especially coordinator Todd Bowles, for the best game plan devised against a Chiefs team led by Mahomes. Just as last year’s Super Bowl victory lifted the organization’s spirits in the offseason, this one will leave scars.
Next: Many decisions on free agents and the draft in the next few months.
Report card
Passing offense: F
Turned out, a patchwork offensive line is in fact a problem. The Bucs got enough pressure on Mahomes to bother him, and that rarely happens. Tyreek Hill didn’t catch a would-be touchdown pass that went through his hands and hit him on the front of the helmet. Travis Kelce dropped a pass that would have been a first down.
Things never got better for the Chiefs. Through three quarters, Mahomes’ longest completion went for 14 yards. Sammy Watkins appeared in his first postseason game this season but wasn’t a factor. Hill had 269 receiving yards in the regular-season meeting with the Bucs. In the Super Bowl he finished with 73 yards.
The Chiefs never attempted anything deep, which is how they beat Tampa Bay during the season. And how about no touchdown passes for Mahomes for the first time in a game this season? The Chiefs didn’t score a TD of any kind.
Rushing offense: C
The Chiefs opened the second half with a Clyde Edwards-Helaire run of 26 yards. The rookie ran well, but as the Chiefs fell further behind, the running game disappeared. Mahomes provided an early spark with his legs, picking up first downs on two runs.
Passing defense: D
A soft pass interference call against Charvarius Ward negated a Tyrann Mathieu interception. Frank Clark recorded his eighth sack in six playoff games with the Chiefs. But the Chiefs didn’t do enough, and penalties were killers.
Rushing defense: D
The second-quarter goal-line stand was Damien Wilson’s best play in a Chiefs uniform. He stuff of Ronald Jones at the goal line on fourth-and-1 kept the score 7-3. This should have been a turning-point moment; instead, after picking up one first down, the Chiefs gave the ball right back.
Special teams: D
A good night for Harrison Butker, who made all three of his field goals, including a club record 52-yarder. Too bad he didn’t get to attempt an extra point.
Tommy Townsend picked a bad night to have the worst game of his rookie season. He had punts of 27 and 29 yards. The Chiefs were penalized eight times for 95 yards in the first half, the most yards in a half for an Andy Reid team. Some flags were questionable. But mostly this was an undisciplined effort by Kansas City.
Coaching: D
The biggest coaching mistake: After Butker’s second field goal to make it 14-6, the Bucs took over at their 29 with 55 seconds remaining. And after a first-down run for no gain, they appeared to be content with their lead.
But Reid called a timeout, and then another. The masterful Brady got two big pass interference calls against the Chiefs and drove for a touchdown.
This story was originally published February 7, 2021 at 9:15 PM.