Why The Chiefs Will Win: Super Bowl Preview
The Kansas City Chiefs head into this Sunday's Super Bowl as slight favorites at XX. Coming in as champions with their offense playing the way it is, you can see why.
They hope to be the first team since Tom Brady’s New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX to win back to back championships.
With Tampa Bay winning 3 road games by playing excellent defense and letting the GOAT Tom Brady do his thing, this is shaping up to be a cracking game and possibly one of the best Super Bowls of all time.
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When your only criticism throughout a season is that you don’t beat teams by enough then you know you are good.
This is what the Kansas City Chiefs had put against them throughout the regular season and people wondered if maybe they just weren’t as good as we gave them credit for.
Especially in the second half of the season where they finished with wins of 2 points, 4 points and 3 points against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, then 6 points, 6 points, 3 points and 3 points again, before resting starters in their final game against the Chargers which they lost.
Apart from the Bucs and the Saints in Week 15, none of the other teams made the playoffs and most of them never looked anywhere near good enough to be a playoff contender.
Which made people wonder if the Chiefs are just in cruise control, as they are so good, or are they actually struggling.
Although Mahomes moved the ball very well when he was on the field against the Browns in the Divisional Round, the Chiefs still just scraped by with a victory yet again.
So with the Buffalo Bills coming off a massive win against the Baltimore Ravens where their defense excelled, many thought the Bills had a real chance of going to Arrowhead and winning.
Well, it looks like the Chiefs were in cruise control as they had a very dominant display when they needed it against the Bills to book their place in this Sunday’s Super Bowl.
Here are two very big reasons why I think the Chiefs will make it back to back Super Bowl victories.
Patrick Mahomes
Ok, this is an obvious one and you could also add Andy Reid, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce in subcategories here for the Chiefs Offense.
But we know Mahomes can pull things out of the fire when he needs to either by doing some crazy look-away pass or even running the ball when a play breaks down.
During their Week 12 matchup, Tyreek Hill had 269 receiving yards and 3 TDs, most of which came in the first half. The Buccaneers will obviously have to plan to keep him out of the picture which will most likely involve some safety help over the top to prevent big plays.
This double-teaming of Hill will leave things open for Travis Kelce and the other receivers, and with Kelce also being a marked man, it could be time for Sammy Watkins or Demarcus Robinson to make a name for themselves.
Steve Spagnuolo
Who can forget the New York Giants’ defensive performance in Super Bowl XLII when they continued to get pressure on Tom Brady and totally disrupted one of the best offenses of all time.
Their defensive coordinator at the time was of course Steve Spagnuolo, who is now DC for the Chiefs.
The Chiefs defense really stepped up against the Bills and slowed down arguably the best receiver in football this year in Stefon Diggs.
Spagnuolo confused Allen all day as the secondary moved between blitzes and coverage to slow the Bills down, which is broken down great here by Brian Baldinger.
Why the Kansas City Chiefs might lose:
Tampa Bay’s Defense
With all the talk of Tom Brady playing in his tenth Super Bowl, there seems to be a vital factor most people are forgetting, the Bucs D.
This game won’t so much come down to how Brady plays, as we can probably assume he’s going to have at least a solid game and put up some points.
Is it even a question of either defense shutting down the opposition offense at all?
It’s probably more a case of slowing them down and taking a “bend but don’t break” philosophy. They picked off Drew Brees twice and really slowed Aaron Rodgers down, especially in the red zone.
The winning of this game will come down to the Buccaneers defense's ability to slow Patrick Mahomes down and create 1-2 turnovers.
Similar to what the Giants did to Tom Brady in Super Bowl XLII when the Patriots were looking for the perfect season, the Buccaneers will be hoping to get pressure on Mahomes from their front 4 as they will need as many bodies back in coverage as possible.
Tom Brady
Well of course the GOAT is going to have a massive impact on this game but will he get away with throwing 2 4th quarter interceptions like he did in the NFC championship game?
The Buccaneers also got help from a poor Saints performance in the divisional round where Drew Brees was missing throws he normally makes in his sleep.
Being a Patriots fan, I know you should never rule Tom Brady out and if he gets the ball late with the game on the line you can be pretty confident in what’s going to happen.
But will he be able to keep pace with Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense long enough for it to matter in the last few minutes?
That’s really the big question.
DARRAGH’S PREDICTION: Chiefs 41 - 30
