With the Super Bowl fast approaching, what is the biggest threat the Bucs have that the Chiefs must look out for?
Hello again everyone and welcome to another week of the ArrowChop! This is the column where we look at the positives/negatives of a certain Chiefs/NFL issue and look at both sides of the aisle. Then you, the readers, will come to your conclusions after I lay out the case. So sit back, relax, and enjoy as we breakdown this week’s hot topic.
The Chiefs did it; they’ll be heading to Tampa to take on the Buccaneers in Super Bowl 55 on Sunday. This is one of the best Super Bowl matchups to come out of the mixture of teams in the playoffs: the baby GOAT in Mahomes versus the true GOAT in Brady. In their last matchup in Week 12, the Chiefs came out victorious, 27-24, with Hill having the best game of his career with 13 catches for 269 yards and three touchdowns.
However, the Bucs have greatly improved on both sides, and now the Chiefs’ players, coaches, fans, etc must determine what the biggest threat the Bucs impose on the Chiefs heading into Sunday. While many are glaring towards Brady to be the biggest threat, others are looking towards the Bucs’ receiving corps to be just that. Now, let’s break down this case to see if it truly is:
The Bucs receiving corps is the biggest threat
By looking at their #1 and #2 wide receivers, it’s easy to see that there’s trouble. Mike Evans has been on a tear this season by totaling over 1,000+ yards receiving on 70 catches with 13 touchdowns added on. He has also had five 100+ yard games this year (including playoffs) with three of them coming in the last six games.
Chris Godwin, the Bucs #2 receiver, is a different monster as well as he could be a #1 receiver on a lot of teams. While he only had 840 yards and seven touchdowns, this is largely because there are a lot of weapons on that roster, so that’s why his production went down from last year’s 1,000+ and nine touchdown one. When you watch his route running and how he can slice and burn the secondary with ease, you can easily see there’s a motherload of talent within.
The Bucs also have Antonio Brown and Scott Miller, who have been solid depth receivers for Brady. Brown, while he’s in a land of his own, still has lots of talent and can still thrive in this league. For Miller, he has blazing speed, and stat-wise, he had 501 yards on 33 catches (15.2 yards per reception) with three touchdowns. He had a great touchdown last week against the Packers at the end of the first half that showed his speed and his separation ability.
Finally, we can’t forget about Tom’s favorite weapon, Rob Gronkowski. This dude is one of the scariest tight ends to step onto the field in recent memory, and while his play has digressed, he can still make plays when necessary. He hasn’t done much in the playoffs (only 43 yards in three games), but he had a decent return year with over 600 yards and seven touchdowns. The Brady-Gronk duo has been one of the best duos fans have seen in a long while, and they’re ready to feast in their fifth super bowl together.
The Bucs receiving corps isn’t the biggest threat
Of course, as I said earlier in the article, we can’t forget about Tom “Terrific” Brady. While him appearing in ten Super Bowls would be ample for this point, I feel as though we have to mention his actual stats in the Super Bowl as he’s made it his home. He holds three substantial records that may never be broken which are that he has 18 touchdowns passes, 2,838 yards, and 256 completions on 392 attempts. He also has six wins in total, so he’s in a class of his own when the Super Bowl comes around.
To add on to this point, he’s been on these past couple of weeks. In these past five weeks, he has thrown for 1607 yards (31.4 average per game), 15 touchdowns, three 100+ QBR ratings, and a 62% completion percentage throughout those games. He’s been astonishing to watch for a majority of NFL fan’s (unless he’s playing against your team).
Another large threat is the Bucs linebacking core led by Lavonte David and Devin White. White has had an explosive year with 140 combined tackles, nine sacks, 15 tackles-for-a-loss, and 16 QB hits with a fumble recovery. While his coverage stats aren’t all there, he has some of the best tackling prowess in the league, he’s able to pressure the QB with absolute ease, and his skills and playmaking are unmatched in this league.
David has been an underrated linebacker for some time now. He had yet another great year with 117 total tackles, 12 tackles-for-a-loss, six pass deflections, three QB hits, three forced fumbles, 1.5 sacks, and an interception. He’s had 20 tackles this postseason along with a QB hit and a pass deflection as well. He can show up when needed as seen this year, so Mahomes and the rest of the Chiefs’ offense will have to look out for him this upcoming Sunday.
There are also a lot of other Bucs players on that defense that are worth mentioning; they’re that lethal. The defensive line quintet of Suh, Vea, Gholston, Pierre-Paul, and Barrett could cause concerns for a Chiefs’ offensive line that has struggled a lot with injuries this season. Whitehead and Murphy-Bunting are other players in the secondary that could wreak havoc when given the chance.
With that said, there are a lot of threats in the Bucs’ lineup and a lot of them that could be named the “biggest threat”; it’s all a matter of opinion at this rate. What do you think is the Bucs’ most lethal weapon? Leave a comment down below to join the discussion. Thanks for reading, and have a fantastic day.
