Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Loss to Chiefs showed some resilience

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to the Chiefs but it wasn’t without some positivity.

Week 12 was not what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had hoped for. Coming off a bad loss to the Rams on Monday Night Football, the Buccaneers were looking to prove that they can still match up with the NFL’s elite teams with a win at home against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Instead, the Buccaneers once again started slow and watched Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill toy with them in the first half. Hill alone had 203 yards in the first quarter. By the end of the quarter, the Buccaneers found themselves in a 17-0 hole and it looked like we would see another abysmal performance similar to what New Orleans did to Tampa Bay three weeks ago.

To their credit, the Buccaneers did not let this game completely get away from them. They showed resilience on Sunday afternoon and into the evening as they made adjustments and battled back from the big hole they had put themselves into.

The fight the Tampa Bay Buccaneers showed is something to build on.

The Buccaneers scored 24 of the game’s final 34 points after a first-quarter shutout. They had two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to bring themselves within three points of the Chiefs.

Although he threw two interceptions, Tom Brady still managed to hang into the game and throw three touchdowns. In the second half, Brady started to get into a rhythm and was able to hit on some deep throws. He finished the game with 345 yards despite his slow start.

The team rallied but, unfortunately, never had another chance with the ball after tightening the game at 27-24. Part of this can be credited to the excellence of the Chiefs’ offense and more specifically their quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Defensively, the unit rebounded from a horrible start in which they inexplicably tried to cover Hill with single man coverage. Once coordinator Todd Bowles adjusted and focused on doubling Hill and tight end Travis Kelce, the defense was able to slow down Kansas City.

The defense held the Chiefs to just 10 points over the final three quarters. They could have easily packed it in and watched Mahomes throw for over 500 yards for the day. They held him to 462 which is not good at all, but they also sacked Mahomes twice and had seven official hits on him. They brought more pressure which helped to slow Mahomes and the offense down.

Sunday was not good for Tampa Bay at all but they can take away some positives from the game. They were able to hang around with the defending champs and make the game close at the end. Despite a horrible start, the offense and defense found a way to turn it around and hit its stride. Maybe this will make a difference if the team finds itself in a hole again in the playoffs.