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Chiefs pass rush needs to improve against Tom Brady and Buccaneers

By Travis Steffen

Defensive end Frank Clark #55 of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates with defensive end Chris Jones #95 (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
Defensive end Frank Clark #55 of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates with defensive end Chris Jones #95 (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /
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EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY – NOVEMBER 02: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Tom Brady #12 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in action against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on November 02, 2020 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Buccaneers defeated the Giants 25-23. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY – NOVEMBER 02: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Tom Brady #12 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in action against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on November 02, 2020 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Buccaneers defeated the Giants 25-23. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

If the Kansas City Chiefs want to take down Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccanneers, the defensive line will have to step up in Week 12.

Thanks to perfect execution on the game’s final drive by Patrick Mahomes and the offense, the Kansas City Chiefs were able to defeat the Las Vegas Raiders in the final minute of the Week 12 matchup. Coming out of the bye week, the offense looked better in their second showdown vs. the Raiders. On the other side of the football, the defense continued to struggle heavily to stop Derek Carr and company.

Between the secondary giving up big plays and the defensive front being unable to put pressure on Carr, the Raiders again tore up the defense. In both matchups against their AFC West rivals, the Chiefs defense gave up 30 plus points. Allowing opponents to score more than 20 points has only happened three times in 2020, two of those against Las Vegas.

We saw flashes of pressure in Week 11 when Steve Spagnuolo sent extra rushers to pressure Carr, but nothing consistent. The Raiders quarterback is known for struggling under pressure, which makes the frustration even higher when the Chiefs came away with one quarterback hit and zero sacks on the night.

As the team looks ahead to travel to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the pass rush is likely the most significant focus area. Getting pressure on Tom Brady is required to give the offense some help. Following Week 11, Kansas City ranks in the bottom half of the league with 19 sacks in 2020. For a team that devotes so much money to the defensive line, that doesn’t look good. So what is going on with the defensive front in 2020?

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