NFL Recap: Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Kansas City Chiefs 41:31

The Kansas City Chiefs won the Sunday Night Game in week 4 at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 41:31 and, above all, impressed with outstanding offensive creativity. Patrick Mahomes was hard to stop, but his colleagues also shone with one or two trick moves.

Buccaneers vs. Chiefs: At a Glance

  • Patrick Mahomes was unstoppable, not through the air and not on the ground. As usual, his scrambles in particular were worth seeing and decided the game.

  • The Chiefs reached into their bag of tricks several times and scored two touchdowns through exotic moves or formations. In contrast, the Buccaneers were more conservative defensively and, above all, blitzed much less often than usual for Todd Bowles.

  • The Bucs lost the turnover battle, putting themselves behind several times. White lost a fumble on the first kickoff return, Brady lost one in the second quarter. Both turnovers were followed by Chiefs touchdowns.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Kansas City Chiefs: Die Analyse

The game started badly for the home side. Rookie running back Rachaad White lost a fumble on the first kickoff return that gave the Chiefs the ball on the Bucs’ 21. Two plays later, Patrick Mahomes found an open Travis Kelce for a 16-yard touchdown catch. Kelce had gone in from a bunch formation on an in-breaking route with a stop-and-go move and no one called.

The Bucs only managed one field goal after that, which quickly gave the ball back to the guests. And then Mahomes took over, breaking free from a tight grip on Blitzer cornerback Carlton Davis and hitting a pass on 3rd down. A little later, Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran out of the Wildcat for a 3-yard touchdown after “QB” Jerick McKinnon handed off.

A little later, Mahomes launched an epic scramble and spin move in the red zone right before a short 2-yard TD pass to Edwards-Helaire. The Bucs reacted to this with a more aggressive game, away from the short passes that had been customary up to then and instead more passes downfield. Brady eventually threw a 13-yard touchdown pass into the end zone to Mike Evans.

The Bucs then managed a defensive stop at 4th down, but that didn’t do them much good as Brady lost a fumble to a sack by L’Jarius Sneed in the very next play, which put KC back in position. Again it went deep into the red zone and again Andy Reid reached deep into his bag of tricks. While Mahomes was in the shotgun and hitting audibles, tight end Noah Gray pre-snapped to center under center and essentially ran a QB sneak from the 1 for a touchdown. Halftime score 28:10 Chiefs.

Buccsaneers vs. Chiefs: Third quarter decider

After the break, the visitors went on a 10-streak, including Mahomes’ 10-yard TD pass to tight end Jody Fortson, who was the only receiver on one side with four others stationed on the other. One-on-one he was unstoppable. The preliminary decision was made in the middle of the third quarter. Garbage time touchdowns followed from White and Fournette from a late Mahomes interception, but there wasn’t enough time for a real comeback.

The Bucs got back injured wide receivers Chris Godwin and Julio Jones before the game, but the latter was hardly a factor. To make matters worse, tight end Cameron Brote apparently suffered a brain concussion before the break and couldn’t get out of the cabin.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-2) – Kansas City Chiefs (3-1)

Result: 31:41 (3:14, 14:14, 7:10, 7:3) BOXSCORE

Buccaneers vs. Chiefs – the most important statistics

  • Mahomes’ 2-yard touchdown pass to Edwards-Helaire preceded him by 39.4 scramble yards. This was Mahomes’ fourth touchdown pass after scrambling for at least 30 yards. No other quarterback in the NFL has had more than one such touchdown pass since 2018.
  • In addition, the 39.4 yards was the third most scramble yards from a touchdown pass over the past five seasons. Only Sam Darnold (46.8 scramble yards) and Mahomes himself (40.2) had more.
  • Mahomes continues to climb the record start list. He’s had 162 touchdown passes in his first six seasons. Only Dan Marino (196) and Peyton Manning (167) had more during that period.
  • The Bucs said goodbye to their own run game early on and relied heavily on passes from Tom Brady. In the end there were 52 passing moves versus only 6 running moves.
  • 41 points is the most the Bucs have conceded under defensive coordinator and now head coach Todd Bowles since 2019.

The Star of the Game: Patrick Mahomes (Quarterback, Chiefs)

Mahomes showed impressively in this game what is possible with this offense. He didn’t make any significant mistakes, but he also excelled when he broke out of the scheme and got creative with his legs and arm. When he does this, it becomes difficult to stop this construct.

The Flop of the Match: Defense (Buccaneers)

Mahomes could only have been stopped with a perfect defensive performance. However, this did not happen because the concept did not fit. He was largely left with the underneath routes and kept breaking out of the pocket. Adjustments, such as more press coverage or more blitzing, which Bowles is actually known for, were missing for a long time. When a few minor adjustments came, the game was basically already decided.

Analysis: Buccaneers vs. Chiefs – the tactics board

  • The Chiefs took what the Bucs defense gave them. And that was a lot. Todd Bowles relied on 2-high looks for a very long time. In addition, the pass rush usually only consisted of four men, blitzing was very rare for Bowles’ standards and, in addition, Mahomes usually separated quickly from the ball with short passes to the side and over the middle when the linebackers were also playing backed.

  • Keyword Linebacker: This time Lavonte David was not consistently placed on Travis Kelce. The safety also often tried Kelce, who was hardly doubled. Also, his routes weren’t consistently disrupted at the line, which gave him a free release and then a lot of space over the middle.

  • It was also noticeable at the beginning how undisciplined the Bucs down-linemen were. They rarely managed to keep Mahomes in the pocket, who then kept finding and exploiting running lanes. Only after the break did you see a spy – mostly linebacker Devin White, who helped to limit Mahomes’ circles a bit.

  • The Bucs offense initially lacked structure and, above all, blind understanding in the passing game, if you will. Brady threw a lot of short passes and the receivers ran very simple routes. Actually, only Evans ran more demanding, vertical routes. Even Godwin, who was missing for a long time, was mostly only wanted for curls and comebacks. All see-and-throw passes, hardly anything moving, making it very difficult to gain yards after the catch.

  • Whether that was out of conviction or out of sheer desperation from being behind early on is anyone’s guess, but the Bucs parted with the run game early on, which didn’t work initially. They put the ball in Brady’s hands, which also made them quite one-dimensional and allowed Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to quickly become more aggressive and throw blizzards, which often nagged Brady.

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