Lighting a fire
Tampa lost another game last week and fell to 7-4, putting winning NFC South under question mark. Saints are currently at 8-2, winning both H2H matchups and visiting QB-less Broncos this week. The thing that's most frustrating about Tampa Bay's offense, is that Tom Brady isn't using this amazing group of receivers up to their full potential. In the last month, he went 0/19 on passes longer than 20 yards. Which sounds crazy, considering his throwing to explosive guys like Chris Godwin, Mike Evans and Antonio Brown.
He also threw two interceptions vs Rams, against whom they lost by three, so we could say those two turnovers were very pretty important. It's not something we're used to from Tom Brady. Comment by Bruce Ariens after the game was interesting, when he said that Brady might be confused by the coverages and looks, which is why he's throwing these interceptions. But, that comment could also be a masterclass by Bruce Ariens on how to light a fire under your quarterback. Whenever he was doubted, Brady delivered.
Avenged it
On the other side, Kansas City once again had many problems with their arch nemesis - The Raiders. Defensively, they had no answer for LasVegas' smashmouth football and Derek Carr's methodical passing game, finding the matchups that he liked and executing at high percentage. Still ,Chiefs managed to edge them out this time to avenge the first loss, which is still the only one they have this year. They are 9-1 at the moment and probably the best football team in the league.
This week, they're getting back Sammy Watkins, meaning Pat Mahomes will have another big weapon at his disposal tonight. In previous weeks, he was mostly relying on Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill. Tonight I expect from him to spread the ball around a little bit. On the other side, Bucs are without one of their best corners Jamel Dean. They could really use him tonight vs all these speedsters, considering his 4.3 speed. They have some problems along the offensive line as well. AQ Shipley might be forced to retire after injuring his neck, while Ali Marpet is questionable to play tonight.
Buccaneers vs Chiefs betting tips
When I think of this matchup, I immediately remember that Bucs vs Packers game earlier in the season. That time, the Bucs did a great job stopping the Packers and their vertical pass offense and won that game comfortably. Chiefs run a similar type of offense, where they get a lot of yardage from explosive plays. If the Bucs manage to limit those like vs Packers and force Mahomes into shorter completions, they would force the game into tempo that they like. Tom Brady and his offense will do their part with slow, methodical drives, keeping Mahomes on the sidelines.
There's one spot worth mentioning in the player props section. Mecole Hardman played just a handful of snaps last week, allowing Byron Pringle to overtake him on the depth chart. This week, Pringle is out, but we'll see Sammy Watkins back in action, which probably means we can expect the same role for Hardman that he had last week. It will be difficult to get a meaningful number of targets and rack some yards with that diminished role.
