4 Lessons Bucs-Chiefs Super Bowl Hammered Home for Broncos
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 in Super Bowl LV. Patrick Mahomes and the juggernaut Chiefs were held to a single-digit point total.
For the Denver Broncos, several lessons were exposed as it relates to not just the Chiefs but how to get back on top. Here are the four usable takeaways for GM George Paton and the Broncos.
Elite Pass Rush Just as Critical as Ever
Matthew Emmons-USA T
If you were to ask someone prior to this game, 'How do you beat Patrick Mahomes?', odds are, most responses will include something about getting consistent pressure on him. However, we have seen so many teams attempt to do so by bringing extra pass rushers. The end result is usually not good. As Mahomes has shown time and time again, he knows how to counter the blitz.
In come the Bucs, who were able to consistently put Mahomes on his heels by bringing no more than four or five pass rushers on any given play. Being able to still drop six or seven guys into coverage allowed Tampa Bay to play the type of box scheme needed to slow down Tyreke Hill and Travis Kelce.
Mahomes was pressured on 27 of his 56 dropbacks (48%) and sacked four times. He tossed two interceptions. The Broncos did the same thing to the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 with nearly identical results.
Good O-Line Play Equally Important
I don’t think it can be stated enough how much the Chiefs missed left tackle Eric Fisher in this game. Losing him in the AFC Championship Game forced the Chiefs to shuffle numerous players on their front five.
Combine this with the elite pass rush from the Bucs and you can see why Mahomes was pressured and sacked an astonishing number of times. Look to the other side of the ball and you can see the exact opposite.
If you happened to notice how clean Tom Brady’s jersey was at the end of four quarters, you might have thought he didn’t even play in the game. That’s because he was pressured just five times, with the lone sack by the Chiefs being due to bad snap over his head.
Elite LBs Transform an Entire Defense
In a passing era where a ton of emphasis has been put into a defense’s pass rush and secondary players, the outstanding play of Tampa Bay's inside linebackers Devin White and Lavonte David may have provided a cause for some reconsideration of the position’s importance.
At times it felt like those guys were involved on every single play. The two combined for 18 total tackles, two for a loss, and three pass deflections for the game. Most notably, the duo's play in coverage is what stood out.
Broncos fans know too well how easily a good tight end or pass-catching running back can carve up a defense that lacks good coverage linebackers. This is an area Denver saw a slight improvement in this past season, but was nowhere in the same league as what we saw by the Tampa pair in this super bowl.
Maybe it’s time to get Vic Fangio a stud inside linebacker to take this defense to the next level.
Beating an Elite Team Means Not Beating Yourself
Here is the total penalty count for this Super Bowl:
- Kansas City: 11 penalties for 120 total yards
- Tampa Bay: 4 penalties for 39 total yards
Throughout Brady’s 20-year career in New England, we saw the Patriots' opponents constantly find ways to beat themselves. The Patriots would rarely lose games because they committed too many penalties. New England's M.O. was to play clean football and let their opponents beat themselves.
That same strategy played into this game as well, as the Chiefs simply could not get out of their own way. One of the huge plays in this game happened in the second quarter when Brady was picked off by Tyrann Mathieu before it was overturned due to a defensive holding call.
After that penalty was called, was there any doubt that Tom was going to end up taking the ball downfield and scoring a touchdown? In a game that’s won and lost at times by inches, you simply cannot give the other team more chances to win by beating yourself with a lack of discipline.
Bottom Line
Each of these four lessons can serve as a cookie-cutter blueprint for the Broncos. But it'll take Paton and Fangio making the right personnel decisions this offseason and making the necessary schematic and philosophical changes to duplicate Tampa Bay's success vs. the Chiefs.
It's the only way the Broncos can snap Kansas City's five-year reign of dominance over them.
Follow Trevor on Twitter @TrevorJudge and @MileHighHuddle.
