The Chiefs might be coming off a bad loss, but they still look like one of the best teams in the league. The Buccaneers don’t need to help them.
The Buccaneers are likely approaching their most difficult game of the season against the Chiefs on Sunday night.
Kansas City is 2-1 just like the Bucs, but Patrick Mahomes has a way of making every game seem scary, even for the best defense in football.
Tampa was able to win the last game against the Chiefs on the back of a magical defensive performance that should go down in history as one of the best of all time, but expecting that same thing to happen over a year later is a dangerous plan.
The Chiefs’ offense, unlike Tampa’s, has been humming to start the season, and it looks like the Buccaneers just accidentally gave them an extra level of motivation through a comment from Shaquil Barrett.
Shaq Barrett on Chiefs' offensive line: "I really don't think it's too much of a difference. I think we have a lot of favorable matchups. We have an opportunity to really dominate the game ... to really impose our will as pass-rushers. We can really have a coming-out party."
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) September 28, 2022
Barrett wasn’t trying to stir the pot or give his opponents any material to use against his Bucs, but that is certainly how this is going to come across.
Tampa’s leading pass-rusher isn’t saying that Kansas City’s offensive line hasn’t gotten better. It has. Patrick Mahomes has only been sacked twice on the season (compared to Tom Brady’s six sacks).
What Barrett was meaning with his statement was that he still likes Tampa’s defense against Kansas City’s new offensive line, and that does make perfect sense.
The Chiefs do have a better offensive line, but no one on the planet should give them a nod in this matchup over Tampa’s front-seven.
The Chiefs aren’t going to see it this way. One of the scariest teams in the league is going to come into Tampa (or into a game where the Buccaneers are the home team) with a dominant offense and a new chip on their shoulders when they line up against this defense.
Hopefully the Buccaneers are ready to respond in kind.
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