Obviously, this thread went down in flames last year but I’m going back to the well. Top to bottom the Bucs are the better football team. SF had KC dead to rights last year until Shanahan and Jimmy G blew it. Teams that play the way they did win a massive % of the time. This year the difference is Tom Brady won’t miss the open throws late like Jimmy G did. The Bucs have the better OL, DL, LB, secondary, and RB. Call receiving units a wash. KC has the better QB but it’s a way smaller gap that last year. The Chiefs are also weaker than last year. The OL is down their three best players and the defense is worse by every metric, including dead last by a mile in the red zone. Part of the reason they play so many close games and trail in a lot of these games is that the roster is just not good outside the Top 3-5 players. It’s not so much a “flip the switch thing”. Has to be said I do think KC has a large coaching advantage and a special teams edge. If the Bucs call a high percentage of early down runs again they may be finished. Mahomes is a generational player for sure. If he carries his team to another one then I’ll tip my cap and pay the man again. But I do think Brady is in for a big game. He’s still elite without pressure and the Chiefs have just the 22nd pass rush. He should carve here. Two key players to me are Chris Jones and Sean Murphy-Bunting. If Jones is causing havoc in the middle then TB’s chances of winning go down significantly. Murphy-Bunting is going to get slot snaps vs Hill and Kelce at points during the game. He just can’t lose those at a high rate. I’ll take the better football team...again. TB +3
Good to see some feedback, thanks for sharing...... After last year's SB there was a popular belief that if Tom Brady was the SF qb then that meltdown wouldn't have happened. I don't disagree with that statement but after going back through this thread and remembering what all the angles were for / against each team last year, you are seeing the EXACT same thing with this matchup. So if all the common denominators are the same, and pointing to the Buccs advantage, and then the only different factor is Tom Brady, how do you NOT go with the Buccs ?
Tampa runs on early downs - yes that will be big, I've stated this already but they were the highest % of run plays in the league on 1st and 2nd down. If they find early success, which they did not during the regular season in terms of efficiency, and Brady has 2nd and 4 or 3rd and 3 downs all game then it's going to be a long game for Chiefs fans. If the opposite occurs and Tom is facing 2nd and 9 / 3rd and long more often than not then Tampa is going to have trouble.
Two Players - Chris Jones takes games against Tom personally, he loves to compete against that goat and definitely "gets up" for the challenge. He was a beast in the SB last year and KC wouldn't have won it without him. I guarantee is he going to be a beast again come Sunday.
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