Five things to know about the Chiefs’ next opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Chiefs on Sunday will be in Tampa, Florida, a city they hope to visit again 10 weeks later.
Super Bowl LV will be held at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, and that is the home of the Buccaneers, who will play host to the Chiefs this weekend.
The Chiefs have never won at Raymond James Stadium, which opened in 1998. The Buccaneers won 38-10 in 2012, 34-31 in 2004 and 17-10 in 1999. Tampa Bay has won the previous five meetings overall between the two franchises, with the Chiefs’ last win in the series coming in 1993 (27-3).
That means the Chiefs haven’t beat Tampa Bay in quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ lifetime.
Each week we take an early look at the Chiefs’ next opponent, and here are five things to know about the Buccaneers ahead of Sunday’s game, which kicks off at 3:25 p.m. and will be broadcast on CBS (Ch. 5):
1. Tired Tampa Bay?
Last week, Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians gave his team a little rest because they had yet to reach their off-week. Arians said his team was fatigued.
“I gave the guys off until Thursday; we’re a really tired team,” Arians told Bucs Total Access, via JoeBucsFan.com. “We haven’t had a bye yet. So this is kind of a little bit of a mini-bye for us. And then Friday and Saturday night, we’ll practice at night, the same time as the game. Do a couple of different things on Monday morning to try and shake it up and see if we can start the game better.”
The Buccaneers lost 27-24 to the Rams. Over its last six games, Tampa Bay has been outscored 42-10 in the first quarter. That includes 7-0 Monday night.
2. TB12
In his first season with the Buccaneers, quarterback Tom Brady has had his ups and downs.
The good: four touchdown passes and 369 passing yards against the Raiders in Week 7, and 341 yards and three touchdowns in Week 10 at Carolina.
The bad: three interceptions and a 40.4 quarterback rating in a 35-3 loss to the Saints in Week 9 and two picks and a 62.5 rating Monday against the Rams.
Brady is averaging just 10.6 yards per attempt, his lowest average per pass since the 2020 season. His 2.1% interception rate is his highest since 2009. He has thrown nine interceptions this season, with five coming in the last three games. That includes two Monday night. This seemed to be thrown to a defender:
3. Brown is back
Once upon a time, Kansas City fans thought the Chiefs would face Antonio Brown twice a year. But Brown’s tenure with the Raiders ended before it really began.
His career seemed over because of legal troubles, but he signed with the Buccaneers this fall. In three games, he has 18 catches for 157 yards (8.7 yards per reception).
Mike Evans has been Brady’s top target with 45 receptions for 563 yards and a team-best nine touchdowns. That includes this great effort on Monday night:
That success in the red zone is no surprise.
Ronald Jones leads the Buccaneers in rushing (754 yards), while Leonard Fournette has run for 261 yards.
4. Defensive struggles
Heading into this weekend’s games, the Buccaneers defense ranked second in Football Outsiders’ DVOA, trailing only the Saints.
But their defense has struggled lately. As the Tampa Bay Times noted, the Buccaneers allowed 20.3 points per game in the first seven weeks of the season. Over the last four, it has jumped to 27.7.
Through the first 10 weeks of the season, Tampa Bay cornerback Carlton Davis had forced 10 incompletions, the second most in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus. Only the Giants’ James Bradberry had forced more (12).
Davis has four of the Buccaneers’ 14 interceptions this season.
5. A familiar ... foot
Former Chiefs kicker Ryan Succop holds that same role with the Buccaneers now. He’s made 21 of 23 field-goal attempts and has missed just two of 35 extra-point attempts.
This story was originally published November 24, 2020 at 10:35 AM.
