Super Bowl LV: Three crucial keys to a KC Chiefs victory

Score early

In 2018, the Kansas City Chiefs were the highest scoring team in the first quarter throughout the regular season averaging nearly nine points. It didn’t hurt that they were also the highest scoring offense in the league averaging a whopping 34.8 points per game.

The truth is, this team had to score a ton of points. No disrespect to the players on the defensive unit, but they had an extremely difficult time limiting even bad offenses. When you were playing against a team with above average talent there was a good chance they were going to put up 30 to 40 points.

With Mahomes’ improvements and additions of talent on the offensive side of the ball, including Mecole Hardman and Clyde Edwards-Helaire over the last two seasons, the Chiefs have surprisingly declined in the first quarter each year finishing this season ranked 12th. The best example of this “decline” was the 2019 playoffs, where the Chiefs got off to slow starts offensively in all three contests.

It’s not like the Chiefs have suffered measurably even with this interesting trend, but it’s still important to score early and often on Sunday. Here’s why.

The Buccaneers, while they’re an explosive offense in their own right, don’t have the firepower to compete with the Chiefs at their peak. I can almost guarantee, especially given the way the Patriots played the Chiefs in the 2018 playoffs, that we’ll see a heavy dose of the run game. I wouldn’t be surprised if much of the Buccaneers game plan is centered around that.

The moniker goes, whether you agree with it and whether it’s effective or not, control the clock and keep Mahomes and the Chiefs offense off the field. What might be most effective about this is it plays to the Chiefs defensive weaknesses. The Chiefs are significantly better against the pass than they are against the run, according to Football Outsiders.

Forcing the Buccaneers to throw early and often could presumably disrupt their game plan and also give the Chiefs pass rush more opportunities to pressure Brady. The Chiefs pass rush this season has struggled, but they have consistently been able to create pressure in the playoffs the last two seasons against far more mobile quarterbacks.

We all know what happens when you hit Brady, and there might not be anyone who knows that better than Steve Spagnuolo. If the NFC Championship is any indication of how he’ll handle the pressure, the Chiefs secondary should have some significant opportunities on Sunday. Scoring early and often is a major key to that happening.