The Super Bowl is this Sunday and the NFL season will conclude with a great storyline regardless. Either Tom Brady will win his seventh ring and cement his legacy as one of the greatest athletes in any sport ever. Or we can have the new dynasty in the NFL with the exciting Kansas City Chiefs. This game is unpredictable, as we know, but there are a few things that those who have watched this game for a while will expect to occur in the game.
1. Both Defensive Coordinators will get creative with their blitzes
Both Todd Bowles and Steve Spagnuolo are two of the best defensive coordinators in the game. In particular, both coordinators specialize in generating pressure. The problem in this game is that both quarterbacks are best against the blitz as they get easy matchups downfield. This will require both coordinators to disguise their pressure and blitz in unconventional ways. We can expect creative designs and double gap pressures all day as a result.
2. This Super Bowl will be sloppier than expected
Many people expect a perfect game when it comes to the Super Bowl. Little errors and certainly few to no turnovers. This is a misconception for how the game is in reality, partially because we were spoiled in recent games with the perfection of play. These two teams look like they have little if any flaws but make no mistake, this game can become a mess. For starters, it might rain for this game, causing the footing and overall play to be worse. We also can expect the defenses to force a big play or a turnover from an unusual play. Moreover, we have seen a lot of close Super Bowls recently, this can get ugly and it might.
3. Tyreek Hill will win in the short game but won’t beat the Bucs deep
The last time these two teams played each other, Tyreek Hill had a season-high 269 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns. To say that will happen again would be otherworldly as the Bucs learned a lot from that defeat. Carlton Davis, who is a magnificent press-corner, got burned deep numerous times as Hill was able to establish a route constantly. The Bucs will prepare defensively to avoid Hill burning them deep.
I talk more in depth about the preparation for stopping Hill and the Chiefs offense in this Super Bowl preview podcast.
With Tampa playing off-coverage and deep safety help, we can expect Hill to win in the short game. Hill will find a lot of open targets in crossing and underneath routes in this game. As a result, Hill might still have a big game but the damage won’t be as prevalent since the plays will be shorter yardage.
4. Tom Brady will look for one or two matchups and constantly expose the Chiefs
The Bucs offense has been exceptional in one primary category this postseason. They look for that one cornerback who is good but struggles in single coverage and expose that corner constantly. Tom Brady will look at the Chiefs secondary, which has good but not great corners and find that matchup in this game. there are two players we can especially look for in this game for Brady to constantly target. The first is Scottie Miller, who is a speed threat and can burn any corner deep if there is no safety help. The second ideal matchup is Rob Gronkowski off play action, who can potentially find a linebacker guarding him that he can win on an out route with. If the Bucs are going to score in this game, it will come from these ideal looks that they receive.
5. The Chiefs will execute on a few drives in a row to put the game away
The Chiefs have changed that game. Their offense won’t just beat you in a game, they beat you in a quarter. We have seen numerous times, the Chiefs run up the score in one quarter by scoring touchdowns at will to put games away. Even if the Bucs can contain Mahomes, there will be a point where he can find an open receiver downfield or Travis Kelce down the seams to make a big play. Moreover, the Chiefs should find themselves ahead by a decent margin at some point and that’s where Andy Reid and Eric Beiniemy, as play-callers, should start to have some fun. We will start to see creative run designs and gadget plays that will eat the clock and drive the offense down the field. This game can become a blowout and it would be in large part to the Chiefs’ offensive abilities.
