Previewing Super Bowl LV's Key Matchups
It’s the calm before the storm. Media week is over. The Kansas City Chiefs are set to face off with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV. Both teams are gearing up for a night that everyone on both teams will remember for the rest of their lives. Only one will be crowned champions.
The Chiefs are favored by three points, but with the Buccaneers as the first team in NFL history to play in a Super Bowl in their home stadium, many are anticipating a close game. Let’s break down the matchup by position groups.
Quarterback: Advantage Chiefs
Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady has played in more Super Bowls than any quarterback in NFL history, with this Sunday marking his 10th Super Bowl appearance. With six rings, he is generally considered the greatest quarterback in NFL history. So how do the Chiefs get the advantage in this game? Patrick Mahomes II.
Mahomes is widely considered the best player in the NFL, if not at the very least the best quarterback in the league currently. He is coming off a Super Bowl MVP campaign in 2020 and the Chiefs have averaged 36 points per game in playoff games Mahomes has started and finished. Mahomes is doing things nobody has seen from the quarterback position this early in one’s career. When the games are most important, Mahomes somehow takes his game to an even higher level. Enjoy the opportunity to watch two of the greatest quarterbacks the NFL has ever seen go head-to-head one more time.
Running Backs: Push
At first glance, Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones seem like they could give Tampa Bay the advantage. They are a solid duo, but if you take a step back and look at the season stats, you’ll see that the Bucs were one of only four teams to average less than 100 yards rushing per game this season.
The Chiefs are by no means a run-heavy team, but still averaged 112 rushing yards per game. Rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire was on his way to a 1,000-yard rushing season before an injury sidelined him in Week 15 of the season. Le’Veon Bell adds some veteran leadership on the Chiefs’ side but he hasn’t played as much since his running style is better suited for an offensive line that isn’t hanging on by a thread. This is where Darrel Williams comes into play. While Bell is more of a patient runner, Williams is a downhill bowling ball type of running back. That is what the Chiefs need in crunch time to get the tough yards, and Williams has delivered in the postseason while CEH has made his way back from the injury. The Chiefs also like to use some of their wide receivers like Mecole Hardman to take a carry once in a while, which can confuse opposing defenses.
Receivers: Advantage Chiefs
Travis Kelce set an NFL record for most receiving yards by a tight end in NFL history. He finished the season second among all pass-catchers in yards and fifth in touchdowns. Tyreek Hill finished the season second in receiving touchdowns. The Bucs have a solid trio of receivers in Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Antonio Brown. Rob Gronkowski is a future Hall of Fame tight end who reignited his career this season but isn’t what he once was at his peak. Tyler Johnson is a decent rookie who should get more playing time next season. Scotty Miller is fine as a fifth receiver. Sammy Watkins is set to rejoin Mecole Hardman and Demarcus Robinson so the Chiefs should have their complete complement of weapons the Legion of Zoom has to offer for Patrick Mahomes. Byron Pringle has also shown he can step up and make plays if anyone ahead of him on the depth chart gets dinged up. Give this one to Kansas City by a slim margin.
Offensive Line: Advantage Buccaneers
The Kansas City Chiefs have been mixing and matching their offensive line from Week 2 all the way to the Super Bowl. Left tackle Eric Fisher will be missed after he went down with an Achilles injury in the AFC Championship game. Mike Remmers, Nick Allegretti, Austin Reiter, Stephen Wisniewski and Andrew Wylie will have their work cut out for them against Tampa’s front seven. The Bucs were dealt an injury to their starting right guard, Alex Cappa, during wild card weekend but have been able to push ahead without him. Ali Marpet and Ryan Jensen have been solid throughout the season and All-Rookie right tackle Tristan Wirfs along with left tackle Donovan Smith are the anchors of this line.
Defensive Line: Push
Chris Jones and Frank Clark have continued to step up their already-impressive game throughout the playoffs. Tanoh Kpassagnon and Alex Okafor have done a nice job mixing and matching opposite from Clark. Derrick Nnadi and rookie surprise Tershawn Wharton have kept things locked in up front as well. The Chiefs also have Mike Pennel around when they need him to step in. The Bucs run a three-man front with Ndamukong Suh, Vita Vea, and William Goldston. A stout trio who give their edge rushers a lot of space to work with. Both teams are very solid at this spot.
Linebackers: Advantage Buccaneers
This is the spot many considered the Chiefs to be the weakest at in 2020. Anthony Hitchens has played very well throughout the season and kept his best year as a Chief going into the playoffs. There isn’t really another standout in the group. On the other side, the Bucs have one of the best linebacker groups in the NFL. The veteran-heavy unit is led by Lavonte David in the middle and includes edge rushers Jason Pierre-Paul and Shaq Barrett. Devin White is a solid player in the middle for this group as well. It was an easy pick to go with Tampa’s group here, even as each team's linebackers are asked to do very different jobs.
Secondary: Advantage Chiefs
The Chiefs may have the most underrated secondary in the NFL. Despite a breakout season from Charvarious Ward last year, he has been the weakest link on the team this season. Fortunately, that's not really an indictment on Ward. Rookie cornerback L’Jarius Sneed turned out to be the best rookie corner in the 2020 draft. Bashaud Breeland has been a steady hand at the outside corner spot opposite Ward. Tyrann Matthieu continues to be the leader of the Chiefs’ defense and is in the position to make plays at every snap of the ball. Daniel Sorensen had his best season yet and continues to surprise. Juan Thornhill is looking like he turned a corner as he has elevated his play throughout the playoffs.
The Bucs have some good young talent in their secondary as well. Carlton Davis is well-known around Kansas City for getting torched by Tyreek Hill in the Week 12 meeting between these two teams but he has been very solid for most of the season. Rookie safety Antoine Winfield Jr. was out in the NFC Championship Game but is expected to play in the Super Bowl, which is good news for Tampa. Still giving the edge to Kansas City on this one.
Special Teams: Advantage Chiefs
Despite the Hardman muffed punt and some missed extra points throughout the season, the Chiefs' special teams have the ability to be one of the very best in the league. Hardman can turn up the field quickly and give the team better field position or even score a touchdown himself on any given return. The same can be said for Byron Pringle, who has been returning kicks for Kansas City. On the other side, the Bucs give up the most yards per average on kick returns. This could be trouble and we could see a game-changing play on special teams. Harrison Butker has the leg to drill a 60-yard field goal and has come up clutch when the Chiefs need him most. Former Chiefs kicker Ryan Succop has been a reliable kicker for the Bucs this season, but if Tampa is settling for field goals, there’s a good chance they’ll fall behind quickly in this one.
Coaching: Advantage Chiefs
When you look at the coaching matchup, it’s pretty easy to give this one to the Chiefs. Andy Reid is a top-10 coach in NFL history. Steve Spagnuolo has been the defensive coordinator of a team that beat Tom Brady in a Super Bowl. Eric Bienemy is one of the top offensive coordinators in the game, despite his lack of head coaching offers. On the Bucs side, Bruce Arians is an excellent head coach, Todd Bowles is a great defensive coordinator who has given many teams and their offenses fits throughout the years, and Byron Leftwich seems like a guy who will be trying to become a head coach one day. Very good coaches on all sides of this one, but the Chiefs have the edge.
Conclusion: Advantage Chiefs
When it comes down to it, there are a lot of narratives that could be written from this game. How will people remember Super Bowl LV? Recently in the NFL, when you look at two teams who are pretty evenly matched, usually the deciding factor goes to the team that has the better coach and quarterback. Despite the 43-year-old quarterback’s history, there’s a 25-year-old quarterback looking to rewrite the history books and forge a path of his own toward greatness.
This is the Chiefs’ game to win. They are the better team. If the Chiefs win the turnover battle, I could see this game going much like the AFC Championship and ending up with the Chiefs winning by double-digits. The Bucs will need to play their A+ game in all three phases in order to have a chance at toppling the defending champions.
Take a breath, Chiefs Kingdom, and enjoy this game. When it’s all said and done, and the clock strikes 00:00, the Chiefs should run it back and go down as one of the elite teams in NFL history; a dynasty with the chance to be the first team in NFL history to three-peat.
Read More: How Would Patrick Mahomes' Legacy Be Impacted By a Second Super Bowl Win?
