Tyreek Hill, Chiefs' Offense Troubled By Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV

Did Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles crack the code on the Kansas City Chiefs offense?

In the weeks leading up to Super Bowl LV, the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense spent time preparing for a man-defense from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Come game time on Sunday, wide receiver Tyreek Hill said the Buccaneers applied cover-two.

“They played a lot of zone tonight, primarily cover-two, cover-four,” wide receiver Tyreek Hill said after the game. “We rarely see man, and that’s what we gameplan for. A lot of two-man, a lot of man. Obviously zone here and there. Todd Bowles, he did his thing tonight. He came out, and he just had a better gameplan.”

According to Next Gen Stats, Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles dialed up cover-two on 59 of 68 plays, limiting the Chiefs to an average of 5.1 yards per play.

Next Gen Stats noted Hill gained just three yards on two receptions outside the numbers in the game. He previously had 245 yards off of 10 catches beyond the numbers in Week 12. In total, Hill recorded seven completions for 73 yards on Sunday. 

Chiefs receivers missed out on a total of 20 targets, a handful of them drops. Mahomes was pressured on 52% of his offensive snaps. The Super Bowl was the first time the Chiefs did not score a touchdown with Mahomes at quarterback.

(I) Two-High Safety Shells

The Buccaneers' defense aligned in a two-high safety shell on 87% of plays (59 of 68 plays), the HIGHEST rate by a Todd Bowles-led defense in a game over the last five seasons.

🔹 Mahomes (Deep): 0/5, 0 yards, INT#SBLV | #GoBucs

— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) February 8, 2021

“I’m not going to blame anyone on our team,” Hill said of the offense’s performance. “I feel like it’s a collective unit. Whether it’s us running too deep in our routes or whether it's pressure or whatever the case may be. I feel like it’s on all of us at the end of the day. We’re going to learn from it and we’re going to be better.”

Though the defensive pressure was different than what the Chiefs had expected, Hill noted there was no frustration in the locker room or on the sideline and the team found ways to remain focused on ways to create a comeback.

In the end, that wasn’t possible due to a 3-for-13 third-down conversion rate and a total of 11 penalties against the Chiefs going for a loss of 120 yards.

The Chiefs lost 31-9, ending their run it back tour while laying the foundation for what is yet to come. 

“It definitely hurts, because you want to win and you just want to get that other ring, but you know at the end of the day I feel like we’re going to bounce back, we’re going to do our thing next year,” Hill said. “Congrats to Tampa Bay, those guys played hard tonight. They did a fantastic job. What we’re going to do is take this one to the chin and we’re going to come back.” 

Read More: Chiefs Already Focused On Coming Back Better After Super Bowl Loss