Winning It All Not Enough
May 24th, 2021
Late-May outlook.
This should wake up some Bucs fans. And not in a good way.
Look, Joe isn’t into power rankings. They don’t mean anything. So someone thinks this-team is better than that-team. Eh, so what?
This time, this one, however, made Joe laugh.
So after the draft and free agency, hot-dog-eating-contest-protesting, mock-draft-scowling, L.L.-Bean-wearing, Second Amendment abolitionist, Mike-Florio-arguing, parrot-insensitive, chewing-with-his-mouth-open, soup-gulping, California-train-romancing, anti-football proliferation, outhouse-admiring, airline-napping, steerage-flying, Yogi Berra-worshiping, urinal-picture-taking, video-game-playing, Taylor-Swift-listening, pickpocket-thwarting, Bucs-uniform-frowning, Allie-LaForce-smitten, Big-Ten-Network-hating, pedestrian-bumping, olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, craft-beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball-box-score-reading, NPR-honk, filthy-hotel-staying, fight-instigating, barista-training, Budweiser-tolerant, baseball-scorecard-keeping, pasta-feasting, vomit-dodging scrooge, Kay-Adams-following, Coors-Light-souring, pineapple-upside-down-cake-eating social activist and NFL insider Peter King of NBC Sports decided to rank each team.
And you guessed it, King cited the Chiefs being better than the Bucs for the very reasons the Chiefs got their tails kicked in between the cracks by the Bucs:
Savvy coaching and All-World Pat Mahomes.
King ranked the Bucs at No. 2.
2. Tampa Bay (11-5, won Super Bowl over Kansas City)
Last year in these rankings, the Bucs were coming off 7-9 but had Tom Brady in the fold, and readers howled when I rated the Bucs fifth. Turns out that was too low. And you may think two is too low this year. Could be. No Super Bowl winner has ever been back in such full force; as I wrote this spring, you could argue (and I would) that the 35 most significant pieces to the Bucs’ puzzle—22 starters, two specialists, the coach and GM and all three coordinators, six top subs—and even a 36th, Antonio Brown, are back intact. This team could get back on the kind of run it was on last winter, even with a 44-year-old quarterback. As for betting it all on Tom Brady: Of course it is insane to think a 44-year-old man can continue to excel as a young man’s game. But I am not betting against a man who has started all 75 of his teams’ games in his forties, is 56-19 in those games, who has won Super Bowls at ages 41 and 43 and who, at 40, threw for 505 yards in a Super Bowl loss. If Phil Mickelson can win the PGA at 50, why can’t Brady win another Super Bowl at 44? Picking the Chiefs higher than Tampa is based on two things: the magic of Mahomes and a vastly improve KC offensive front.
How “magic” was Mahomes against the Bucs’ defense? He couldn’t even score a flippin’ touchdown last February! It was the worst game of his NFL career, easily.
And to go a step further, in his last seven quarters against the Bucs, Mahomes has accounted for one touchdown and 19 points total.
That savvy coaching staff of Andy Reid? Look, Joe’s a big Andy Reid guy, but he got so out-coached by Bucco Bruce Arians and Todd Bowles in the Super Bowl it wasn’t funny. Reminded Joe of how George Allen used to school overrated Don Coryell.
And what was Reid’s excuse in the final three quarters of the Chiefs-Bucs game in Tampa last November? He couldn’t use his son’s (alleged) drunken driving as a distraction then.
Joe sure hopes the GraveDiggers see this. In case you didn’t know by their social media posts, those guys are still peeved at Cynthia Frelund claiming the Bucs had the worst cornerbacks in the NFL last summer.
This won’t make their Monday.
May 24th, 2021 at 9:14 am
Chiefs d is still suspect also.
May 24th, 2021 at 9:14 am
The DUI death was huge and undoubtedly influenced Andy Reid’s frame of mind.
May 24th, 2021 at 9:18 am
No question chiefs oline will not have backups starting. They got the tackle from ravens
But we were getting better each game at end of year
And we got all our pieces back and added a receiving back and no reason our 1 weakness – special teams will be better.
Looking forward to this season!
May 24th, 2021 at 9:21 am
1. There was no death.
2. Reid had already developed and installed the gameplan before the accident.
May 24th, 2021 at 9:23 am
Mahomes turf toe is never going away completely. It’s going to affect his play forever
May 24th, 2021 at 9:24 am
There is a reason that I don’t read King anymore unless you Joe’s post something from him. Buffoonery at its finest in so many different ways. He’s good for laughs nowadays if nothing else.
May 24th, 2021 at 9:28 am
Didn’t turf toe end Deion’s career?
May 24th, 2021 at 9:30 am
You know what really frustrates me about national sports media> It’s as if they build their entire brand and careers hooking their wagon to a single player or team. With ESPN it has been about LeBron James for nearly 20 years. With Peter King and so many on the NFL side they have hitched their wagon to Mahomes and the Chiefs being successful. It’s pathetic.
The Buccaneers are #1. That’s it. There should be no debate. I was talking to a friend of mine about the NFL the other day. When you look around the league who really got better that could be a threat in the AFC? I think the Chargers, Bills, and Browns are improved. Dolphins are better but not ready yet. I don’t think the Chiefs improved this off season. They’re still the team to beat in the AFC but I don’t think they’re better than last year.
Most of the NFC is down. The Cardinals are better, the Bucs are *definitely* better, and *maybe* the Rams?
May 24th, 2021 at 10:24 am
Experts don’t pick the Bucs to win because “repeats don’t happen”. They do pick KC to make it to the Super Bowl three years in a row?
The AFC is stacked. The playoffs will be brutal. KC won’t be there next year.
May 24th, 2021 at 10:36 am
Google images of Deion’s turf toe, it’s gnarly!
May 24th, 2021 at 10:57 am
I LOVED THE SUPERBOWL! Take a look at how many times Mahomes hit his receivers in the head or hands in the end zone and they let him down. I remember holding my breath many times when he would get a pass off before he would get hit. The thing is in the past those would’ve been TDS that day our guys were there distracting the catch. I saw something on YouTube and you could hear our guys saying”the scramble drill isn’t going to work today.” Well that was because unlike past games when the QB would scramble our guys would leave their man in order to come help. In the SUPERBOWL everyone did their job and didn’t try and play hero. Yes we scored 31points but what our defense did to the Chiefs from the 2nd qrt of the regular season game through the SUPERBOWL was very very impressive.
May 24th, 2021 at 10:58 am
People tend to forget the Chiefs had a lot of offensive injuries in the Superbowl, starters who were out.
It is fair to assume the lack of protection reduced Mahome’s production as much as our defense did. A second or more per play and things could have been much more competitive.
I think that is why people are still ranking the Chiefs higher…and it is a valid point.
That said…we probably would have beat them anyway, though it might have been a much closer score.
So this year, they could make it back, and so could we.
May 24th, 2021 at 11:42 am
It really makes no difference where you rank the Bucs. If they play up to their ability, and if they stay relatively healthy, they will be back in the Super Bowl next season.
May 24th, 2021 at 11:46 am
Yeah , we know all about the injuries. The fact is they had no depth because Mahomes, Hill, Kielce, Clark, and Cris Jones ate up their cap leaving little for depth. Top heavy . Check the salaries last year as compared to the Bucs and u will see a big difference at the top. Spot track has the stats I believe.
May 24th, 2021 at 11:46 am
Good point Joe.. Turf Toe is no minor injury, particularly to a guy that relies on his wheels for a good part of his formula for success. He isn’t carrying the weight of some a guy like Nicks. But he relies on his ability to move much more. This is something to be watched…and if I was a Chiefs fan, an area of major concern.
May 24th, 2021 at 11:51 am
Longer than that, no? Without doing research, weren’t they broadcasting his high school games? Even sent Dick Vitale to one of his high school games?
Joe rarely watches BSPN outside of games. When Joe used to try to watch that network, it seemed they had 10 teams they would beat fans over the head with just about daily. Over and over and over and over.
But you are right, they’d pick a player or two from each sport and service those guys All. The. Time.
May 24th, 2021 at 11:57 am
Joe saw Carl Nick’s toe. That was enough to give Joe an idea what turf toe is like for folks. Yikes.
May 24th, 2021 at 11:59 am
On Andy Reid’s frame of mind. I know some Buc fans remember his Philly days. He was known for poor clock management and lack of adjustments. Hmm, sounds familiar. A lot more went wrong in the Super Bowl than two tackles being injured.
May 24th, 2021 at 12:01 pm
You ain’t kidding @Joe. I’ve had it. Bothered me for years after.
May 24th, 2021 at 12:04 pm
Kentucky… true….we were in the KC receivers heads. I don’t know if it was because we took it to them physically, and they were owned mentally. Kelce was the only guy that seemed to fight through it a bit… the owners were owned.
May 24th, 2021 at 12:04 pm
The biggest reason to put the Bucs over the Chiefs is coaching adjustments. In the regular season game, Chiefs scored big early and almost let the Bucs come back on them. In the super bowl, it looked like the game plan never changed even when Mahommes was running for his life. Andy Reid is notorious for not making in-game adjustments.
May 24th, 2021 at 12:06 pm
And KC…I doubt you were a guy that relied on quick cuts and acceleration to make a living. Mahomes has a good arm…but without his good legs and feet, he is far less as a QB. In fact, I’m not familiar with a situation where a turf toe injury ever really went away completely for a continually working athlete.
May 24th, 2021 at 12:39 pm
More disrespect. Keep it coming Brady lives for this $hit
May 24th, 2021 at 12:48 pm
Turf toe is a chronic problem that never goes away and surgury, even today, is no cure.
I had turf toe and no matter what I did, never went away. Gutting it out is exhausting, and after a while dominates your on-field thoughts.
What did Mahomes do this off season to help correct it?
May 24th, 2021 at 12:55 pm
Dang. Deion’s turf toe photos are gross
🤮
May 24th, 2021 at 1:14 pm
How in the Sam Hell does this bloviator King have a national audience and Ira Kaufman does not?
King can’t even sniff The Sage’s jockstrap, much less carry it…
May 24th, 2021 at 2:11 pm
No guarantee the O Line in KC is vastly improved.
It has new players that have never played together.
I will take our team and issues over any other team and it’s issues…thanks
May 24th, 2021 at 2:55 pm
Let’s not kid ourselves. The Chief’s O-Line was seriously banged up in the SB. They had I believe 3 replacements on the line from where they started the season.
I don’t think it’s fair to use that November game as too much of an analysis as the Chiefs clearly had a huge lead and switched their strategy a bit. Yes, the Bucs played better after getting down early, but they still trailed the entire game by 2 scores until it was too late.
May 24th, 2021 at 3:33 pm
we still have to play 1 game at a time…..
May 24th, 2021 at 4:00 pm
Cobra..he had surgery on it, and is rehabbing.
May 24th, 2021 at 4:04 pm
Brady bucs…no kidding. Brady hasn’t always played with a stellar O line. Would it have been closer with their O line intact? Would we have been better with Cappa and OJ? Maybe. But KC had alot of close games this last year. They are a good team. But not nearly the juggernaut that some make them out to be. And on D, if their DBacks aren’t allowed to hold, they are in big trouble. They can’t cover the Bucs receivers.