No. 1: Wide Receiver Tyreek Hill
Both the Buccaneers and Chiefs have wide receivers who can seamlessly get behind opposing defenses. Tampa Bay wide receiver Chris Godwin made a case study for this mere seconds before halftime in the NFC Championship game with his memorable touchdown.
Meanwhile, Tyreek Hill made it a regular habit to get behind a steady crop of Bills defensive backs in the AFC Championship game, too.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Few players on the gridiron, period, can keep up with Hill’s breakneck speed. One one particular play in the conference championship, Buffalo’s defenders backed off Hill once he reached full speed in an attempt to not allow him to get beyond them.
Yeah, that play went for a huge gain.
And it was only one of a number of massive gains Hill put together, eventually hauling in nine passes for a whopping 172 yards and averaging over 19 yards per catch. Without even having to get into hyperbole, Hill is a potential touchdown threat anywhere on the field and at any time.
Double coverage doesn’t work against him. Press-man schemes help only on quick plays, for as long as Patrick Mahomes has a clean pocket and/or evades pressure, it’s only a matter of time before Hill gets open.
Fortunately, the Buccaneers allowed an average of just 5.9 yards per pass play, which was good for eighth best in 2020.
Those are going to have to be the kind of results that prevent Hill from being the game’s primary X-factor.