Past Super Bowl loss? KC Chiefs look ready for next one in blasting Brady’s Tampa Bucs

Allow Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes time in the pocket and he will make an opponent pay.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers experienced that firsthand Sunday night, in stark contrast to the last time these teams met in Super Bowl LV.

Mahomes didn’t have to run for his life this time around against the Buccaneers, and he dazzled with completed passes under duress and standing in clean pockets.

When the game concluded, Mahomes had completed 23 of 37 passes for 249 yards and three touchdowns for a 97.7 passer rating in the Chiefs’ 41-31 win, which saw all three areas of the team firing on all cylinders.

“Listen, all in all, when you get all three phases working in the right direction, it’s normally a good thing for you,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “Tonight was a good thing.”

Did Sunday night provide revenge for Mahomes and the Chiefs? Perhaps, in some form, but this was a regular-season meeting, not one for a league championship.

“It’s still not a playoff game,” Mahomes said. “At the end of the day, it’s still not a playoff game. It’s a regular-season game, which is important, but that Super Bowl is always going to be a bad taste for me.”

Mahomes left little doubt the Chiefs were a better team this time around against the Tom Brady-led Buccaneers. And the game started to favor the Chiefs on the opening kickoff.

Buccaneers returner Rachaad White fumbled after Chiefs rookie linebacker Jack Cochrane and cornerback Chris Lammons combined for the stop. Chiefs linebacker Elijah Lee recovered the football at the Buccaneers’ 21-yard line.

Mahomes made the Buccaneers pay for the early turnover by finding tight end Travis Kelce for a 16-yard touchdown just 42 seconds into the game. The Chiefs then scored touchdowns on their next two possessions, with some creativity.

On the Chiefs’ second touchdown, with Kansas City facing a second-and-1 situation at the Buccaneers’ 3-yard line, running back Jerick McKinnon took the direct snap and handed off to backfield mate Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who bulled his way into the end zone.

The Chiefs’ drive featured three third-down conversions, one a nifty Mahomes throw and completion to wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster while Mahomes was wrapped up in a defender’s arms.

Edwards-Helaire hit paydirt again on the Chiefs’ next possession: He was on the receiving end of Mahomes’ 2-yard touchdown pass, and it occurred on a brilliant, improvised play.

Mahomes faced pressure up the middle of the line of scrimmage, forcing him to scramble to buy time. And did the quarterback ever scramble — to the tune of 39.4 yards, according to NextGen Stats — before settling near the right sideline and tossing the ball to Edwards-Helaire for the touchdown.

“That’s Pat, man,” Edwards-Helaire said. “It may be surprising to some, but it’s just one of those things that not necessarily we work on, but it’s scramble rules. It’s football, man.”

By the time the Buccaneers finished blinking in the first half, Mahomes had paced the Chiefs to a 28-17 halftime lead. And the offense, which converted an incredible 12 of 17 third-down attempts, didn’t let up, finishing with impressive numbers against one of the NFL’s best defenses.

The Chiefs totaled 417 yards against a Bucs defense that entered the weekend ranked fourth in the league (289 yards allowed). Edwards-Helaire paced the Chiefs’ ground game with 92 yards, and Kansas City amassed 189 yards rushing as a team against a Tampa Bay defense ranked fifth in the league in that department (79.3 yard allowed).

“I was proud of the offensive line for the job that they did,” Reid said. “They had a certain mindset about them and they came out and presented that for four quarters.”

Mahomes agreed.

“They made our team roll today,” he said of the offensive line. “That’s a great defense, great defensive line. ... When they dominate like that, it makes my job a lot easier.”

Tampa Bay also entered the weekend ranked first in the league in points allowed per game (9), but the Chiefs didn’t struggle to light up the scoreboard.

With the offense on full throttle, the Chiefs’ defense did the rest to make sure there would be no Brady comeback magic this time.

Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed recorded a strip-sack on Brady in the first quarter, marking the second straight week Sneed’s recorded a strip-sack on the same play. Defensive tackle Chris Jones recovered Brady’s fumble at the Buccaneers’ 20-yard line, and the Chiefs scored a touchdown six plays later on tight end Noah Gray’s 1-yard run.

Sneed also led the Chiefs in tackles, with nine, while linebacker Nick Bolton contributed eight.

Brady finished 38 of 51 for 367 yards and three touchdowns for a 114.7 passer rating, but the numbers didn’t do much to help the Buccaneers on the scoreboard.

Kansas City also limited running back Leonard Fournette to -3 yards rushing. As a team, the Buccaneers gained a measly 3 yards on six carries, and Reid gave a lot of credit to defensvie coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

“Our defense, Spags had a nice plan for them,” Reid said.

The Chiefs improve to 3-1 with the win.

Here’s what else stood out Sunday night:

TIGHT END END ZONE PARTY

All three of the Chiefs’ tight ends contributed a touchdown in Sunday night’s win.

Kelce got the party going with a 16-yard touchdown in the first quarter, and then Gray scored in an unconventional way by going in motion before stopping under center Creed Humphrey to take the snap at the Buccaneers’ 1-yard line. Gray took the ball and bulled his way into the end zone for a touchdown.

Jody Fortson completed the position group’s scoring binge with a 10-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter. Fortson now has four touchdowns in his career on seven catches. That’s called making the most of opportunities.

“Keep it coming, keep it coming, baby,” Kelce said of his tight end teammates. “We got a great room. I’ve been saying it all year. I’m happy for those guys, man. ... Hopefully you’ll see some more of the three-tight end sets throughout the season.”

Kelce finished the game with nine catches for 92 yards and a touchdown on 10 targets.

SPECIAL TEAMS REBOUNDS

No muffed punt, no missed extra points, no missed field goals. Add it all together and that’s a clean result for the Chiefs a week after those three areas contributed to a loss at the Colts.

“Special teams, I thought, stepped up today,” Reid said.

Rookie receiver Skyy Moore cleanly fielded a punt and returned it 12 yards, adding a fair catch on another Tampa Bay punt. He also caught two balls for 31 yards on four targets from Mahomes.

Newly signed placekicker Matthew Wright, filling in for Harrison Butker (who continues to be dogged by a left-ankle sprain suffered in the Chiefs’ season opener at Arizona), converted all of his extra-point attempts and two field goals, including one from 44 yards goal.

“Matt Wright stepping in ... is a real tribute to (general manager) Brett Veach and his group,” Reid said.

Wright replaced Matt Ammendola, who missed an extra point and field goal in Week 3, resulting in the termination of his practice squad contract.

CURIOUS CASE OF HARDMAN (AGAIN)

Wide receiver Mecole Hardman has been dealing with a heel injury, which Reid said last week has limited the fourth-year pro this season.

Yet the Chiefs continue to roll out Hardman on offense, and his production through four games is perplexing. With a single catch on his one target against the Bucs, he now has just eight catches for 71 yards on 12 targets in 2022.

Hardman, remember, is coming off a season in which he totaled career-high numbers in receptions (59), yards receiving (693) and targets (83).

MAHOMES SETS ANOTHER RECORD

Mahomes entered the night needing 152 passing yards to reach 20,000 for his career.

The fifth-year quarterback accomplished the feat in his 67th game to become the fastest signal-caller in league history to reach that milestone. Matthew Stafford, formerly of the Detroit Lions and now with the L.A. Rams, previously held the record at 71 games.

INJURIES

Chiefs safety Justin Reid went down with less than a minute remaining in the first half and was taken to the blue medical tent on the sideline for further evaluation. The Chiefs said Reid cleared the league’s concussion protocol, so he returned to the game for the second half.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid said after the game that cornerback L’Jarius Sneed tweaked his ankle and right guard Trey Smith “hurt his pec(toral) a bit.” None of it sounds serious, though.

“I think we’re OK here with that part,” Reid said.

NOT SUITED UP

Kicker Harrison Butker (left ankle sprain), defensive end Mike Danna (calf), running back Ronald Jones, quarterback Shane Buechele, offensive lineman Darian Kinnard and defensive ends Joshua Kaindoh and Benton Whitley were inactive.

UP NEXT

The Chiefs are home in Week 5 and will host the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday Night Football at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.