How Todd Bowles Shut Down the Kansas City Offense

Tom Brady won the Super Bowl LV MVP Award, but the Buccaneers 31-9 rout of the Kansas City Chiefs was a total team effort. The only thing the Chiefs won on Sunday was the coin toss.

The Buccaneers defense, led by DC Todd Bowles, was sensational. His game plan disrupted the Chiefs, and it made one of the best offenses in football look like a JV squad. 

The Chiefs averaged 29.6 points per game in the regular season, but they could not put the ball in the endzone throughout the entire Super Bowl. 

Here are the things that Todd Bowles did to shut down the Kansas City offense.

Deemphasized Blitzing 

The Buccaneers continuously rushed four men all night and did not blitz. There was one pressure that Todd Bowles drew up where he rushed both his corners off the edge, but blitzing was minimal from Todd Bowles.

Bowles feared that if he brought pressure, his unit would get beaten in the short and intermediate passing game. Bowles dropped his linebackers into coverage, closing the open windows for the Chiefs receivers. 

The Buccaneers front four were consistently able to get pressure on Mahomes. The Chiefs’ offensive line was atrocious. Jason Pierre-Paul, Shaquil Barrett, and Ndamukong Suh won their matchups in the trenches all night. 

The Buccaneers had three sacks in Super Bowl LV, and they did this without blitzing. The Buccaneers got pressure on Mahomes 29 times in 56 dropbacks. By the end of the game, I felt terrible for Mahomes because his offensive line couldn’t give him a second to scan the field. 

Shadowed Tyreek Hill

Tampa Bay mixed up their coverages throughout the night depending on the down and distance situations. However, the secondary never forgot about Tyreek Hill. Hill is one of the most electric receivers in the NFL, but he had a tough time producing on Sunday. 

Tyreek Hill had seven receptions for 73 yards. This isn’t a bad night, but the Buccaneers didn’t allow Hill to beat them over the top. Hill caught 13 passes for 269 yards with three touchdowns against Tampa Bay in Week 12. 

Hill’s Week 12 performance was a significant reason why the Buccaneers were bested 27-24 by the Chiefs in November. 

Allowed Patrick Mahomes to Scramble

Patrick Mahomes was dealing with turf toe entering Super Bowl LV. He suffered this foot injury against the Cleveland Browns in the AFC Divisional Round. Mahomes could still scramble, but his foot injury became apparent as the game transpired. 

Todd Bowles allowed Mahomes to scramble. He believed that his front four could make Mahomes uncomfortable to a point where his legs were a non-factor. 

By allowing Mahomes to scramble, Bowles could drop an extra man into coverage. Mahomes was on his toes all game. He scrambled for 497 yards in the backfield before his pass attempts or sacks in Super Bowl LV. 

This scrambling led to a lot of wear and tear on Mahomes’ turf toe. Mahomes threw for 270 yards with two interceptions. His quarterback rating was 52.3, which is the worst of his career. 

Pissed Off Football

Todd Bowles put together the greatest defensive coaching scheme in NFL history in Super Bowl LV. I don’t think there was one person in the world that would have thought that the Chiefs would have been held scoreless on Sunday.

Bowles’ defensive stars, like Devin White and Lavonte David, executed his game plan perfectly. Bowles stated that his defense was effective because the athletes were pissed off. The Buccaneers felt disrespected entering Super Bowl LV, and they wanted to make a statement.

After the win, Bowles said,

“My guys were pissed off. The biggest thing they do is read, and they got TV all the time. Nobody picked us and gave us a chance to win. They were really pissed off about that. Combine that with the things we missed the first game against them. They really wanted to prove something tonight on the biggest stage against the best team.”

It’s proven that emotion and attitude play a significant role in results. The Buccaneers defense is going to be dangerous for years to come under Todd Bowles.

Congrats to the Super Bowl Champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.