Five things to know about Chiefs’ Super Bowl opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
.JPG "Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady reacts after winning the NFC championship NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers in Green Bay, Wis., Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. The Buccaneers defeated the Packers 31-26 to advance to the Super Bowl.")
All along, the Chiefs’ “Run It Back” plan was to get back to Tampa, Florida for Super Bowl LV.
They accomplished that task Sunday with a 38-24 win over the Buffalo Bills at Arrowhead Stadium. It’ll be the Chiefs’ second trip to Tampa this season. They beat the Buccaneers 27-24 on Nov. 29.
As it turns out, the Chiefs will again face the Buccaneers, this time in Super Bowl LV. Tampa Bay, the fifth seed in the NFC playoff field, beat the Packers in Green Bay on Sunday.
Each week I take an early look at the Chiefs’ next opponent, and here are five things to know about the Buccaneers ahead of Super Bowl LV, which is Feb. 7 and kicks off at 5:30 p.m. It will be broadcast on CBS (Ch. 5).
1. Tom Brady, again
Quarterback Tom Brady made a good decision when he left the Patriots in the offseason and signed with the Buccaneers. This will be Brady’s 10th Super Bowl appearance, extending his record.
Brady, 43, had a great season, completing 65.7 percent of his passes for 4,633 yards with 40 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
In five games before the NFC Championship Game, Brady had 14 touchdown passes and one interception. Brady threw three touchdown passes on Sunday, but then was intercepted three times in the second half.
Mahomes and Brady are the last two quarterbacks to win the Super Bowl.
2. Solid receiving corps
Brady is throwing the ball to one of the NFL’s best group of receivers.
Mike Evans led the team with 70 receptions, 1,006 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. In 12 games, Chris Godwin caught 65 passes for 840 yards and seven touchdowns.
A knee injury kept receiver Antonio Brown (45 catches, 483 yards) out of Sunday’s game.
Two tight ends had nice seasons: Rob Gronkowski had 45 receptions for 623 yards, and Cameron Brate caught 28 passes for 282 yards.
3. Running mild
The Buccaneers’ rushing attack ranked 28th in the NFL (94.9 ypg), but they also ranked 29th in attempts, so the ground game not their main focus.
Still, Ronald Jones II averaged 5.1 yards per carry and had 978 yards on the season. Leonard Fournette had 367 yards rushing in 13 games, but he can be a handful as the Packers learned Sunday:
4. Remember Carlton Davis?
In the first meeting between the teams, Buccaneers cornerback Carlton Davis had a dreadful time trying to keep up with Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill.
Hill had 13 catches for 269 yards and three touchdowns. When Davis was defending, Hill caught nine passes for 211 yards and the three TDs. One has to believe Davis will get some help in Super Bowl LIV.
The Buccaneers blitzed the fifth-most of any defense in the NFL this season (39%) and tied for the fourth-most sacks, per Pro Football Reference. Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul led the way with 9 1/2 sacks, linebacker Devin White had nine and linebacker Shaquil Baker collected eight.
The Buccaneers’ leader in interceptions? It was Davis with four. However, cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting has picked off a pass in each of the Buccaneers playoff games this month.
Tampa Bay ranked eighth in scoring defense (22.2 points per game), In the playoffs, the Buccaneers have allowed an average of 23 points per game.
5. Remember Ryan?
The Buccaneers’ Ryan Succop, the former Chiefs kicker, has made all eight of his field-goal attempts in the playoffs and is eight of nine on extra-point tries. Succop was 28 of 31 on field-goal attempts during the regular season.
Punter Bradley Pinon (45.2 yards per punt) handles kickoffs for the Buccaneers.
