LIVE GAME BLOG: Chiefs lead 20-10 in third quarter after 2 long bombs to Hill
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LIVE UPDATES5:44 p.m. — To the fourth quarter we go. Chiefs 27, Bucs 10.
5:32 p.m. — It’s happening, Chiefs Kingdom.
5:28 p.m. — Talk about an answer. The Chiefs march 75 yards on seven plays to retake control of the game. Patrick Mahomes throws a bullet to Tyreek Hill for their third touchdown connection of the game. Kansas City 27, Tampa Bay 10. Hill has 261 yards receiving, and Mahomes has 412 yards passing with 5:48 left in the game.
5:13 p.m. — Bucs drive 67 yards to start the third quarter and get a 26-yard field goal to cut the lead to 20-10. It looked like the Bucs were going to get into the end zone after Rob Gronkowski got wide open on a long pass, but the Chiefs defense tightened up and only gave up the three points.
4:50 p.m. — Another red zone trip without a touchdown, but the Chiefs do get three on the board to extend their lead to 20-7 with 14 seconds left in the half. The Bucs are now dropping more guys into coverage than when they were getting torched early on.
4:35 p.m. — After the Chiefs turn the ball over in the red zone for the first time this season, the Bucs march 86 yards for a touchdown to cut Kansas City’s lead to 17-7 with 4:29 left in the second quarter. Tom Brady looked impressive on that drive connecting with Rob Gronkowski on a couple of passes. The Chiefs now have to bounce back from the fumble and get back to what was working.
4:15 p.m. – We’re through the first quarter and it’s all Kansas City. The Chiefs lead 17-0.
Patrick Mahomes: 11 of 14 for 229 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Tom Brady: 5 of 10 for 32 yards.
4:05 p.m. — The Chiefs are blowing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out. Tyreek Hill has connected with Patrick Mahomes twice on long touchdowns. The second was a 44-yard grab with 1:32 left in the first quarter. Hill now has 203 yards receiving and two scores, while Mahomes is 11 of 14 for 229 yards.
3:56 p.m. — The Chiefs show why they have the top offense in the NFL. Mahomes gets protection from his offensive line and throws a beautiful deep ball to Tyreek Hill. Hill breaks a tackle and goes into the end zone for a 75-yard touchdown. Chiefs lead 10-0 with 5:22 left in the first quarter.
Mahomes is now 6 of 8 for 142 yards and a touchdown. Hill has four catches for 133 yards and a score.
3:50 p.m. — More defense from the Chiefs. Kansas City forces a Tampa Bay punt after pressure causes Tom Brady to throw another errant pass on third down. It’s early – 6:59 in the first quarter – but Brady is only 2 of 5 for 18 yards.
3:45 p.m. — The Bucs and Chiefs have traded possessions with both defenses doing a nice job at stopping the run.
3:35 p.m. — The Chiefs drive right down the field on the first drive — highlighted by two big catches by Tyreek Hill — but the Bucs defense stiffens inside the 5-yard line. The Chiefs kick the field goal to go up 3-0, but that’s a win for Tampa Bay.
2:36 p.m. — The Chiefs are on the field for pregame warmups.
2:30 p.m. — Matt McMullen and Mitch Holthus are live with the breakdown of the Chiefs matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
2 p.m. — Here are the Chiefs’ inactives for today’s game against Tampa Bay:
CB BoPete Keyes
LB Darius Harris
TE Ricky Seals-Jones
DE Tim Ward
DT Khalen Saunders
Here’s who is out for the Bucs:
LB Jack Cichy
CB Jamel Dean
QB Ryan Griffin
TE Tanner Hudson
G John Molchon
RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn
PREGAME
The Kansas City Chiefs aren’t buying all the talk about Tom Brady’s struggles. They insist he’s still playing at a high level and will have to be at their best to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The reigning Super Bowl champions (9-1) visit the Bucs (7-4) on Sunday, with Patrick Mahomes facing Brady for the fourth time in his young career and Brady looking to shrug off a couple of subpar performances against playoff contenders.
“You can’t take anything away from Tom Brady. He’s still very smart, he’s still trying to throw the ball downfield, he still has the weapons. We’ll have our hands full,” Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu said.
“He’s played against our system a number of times, even going back to New England,” Mathieu added. “He’s familiar with us. Now we have to get familiar with him and the weapons he has.”
Brady won two of the previous three matchups against Mahomes, including an overtime thriller in the AFC championship game two seasons ago.
The six-time Super Bowl champion played poorly in home losses to New Orleans and the Los Angeles Rams two of the past three weeks. Still, Kansas City coach Andy Reid cautioned against anyone writing off the 43-year-old quarterback.
Despite Brady’s recent struggles, particularly on deep passes, the Bucs have already matched their victory total from all of last season and remain in prime position to end a 12-year playoff drought that’s the second longest in the NFL.
“He’s unbelievable. He’s a great player, a Hall of Fame player. We’re lucky enough to have a chance to be in this era where we get to play him,” Reid said.
“He’s old, and it’s hard to tell he’s old,” Reid added. “And that’s a tribute to how he takes care of himself, and the care and living he does all the way around, from diet to workout to everything.”
The Chiefs have won five straight, the eighth consecutive year they’ve had a streak at least that long.
They avenged their lone loss last week a 35-31 victory at Las Vegas, with Mahomes throwing for 348 yards and two TDs.
Mahomes, who’s thrown for just over 312 yards per game with 14 TDs and one interception during Kansas City’s winning streak, was as surprised as anyone that Brady left the Patriots to sign with Tampa Bay in free agency last March.
“But he’s in a great spot. They’ve got a lot of weapons there,” Mahomes said, looking ahead to another head-to-head meeting.
“I don’t think it’s going to feel very much different. It’s still a very good football team that’s playing really good football and winning a lot of games,” Mahomes added. “I know it’s going to be a really big challenge for us.”
Brady threw a pair of costly interceptions and was 0 for 6 on passes traveling at least 20 yards in last week’s 27-24 loss to the Rams. He’s 0 for 19 on such throws over the past three games, which includes a 38-3 loss to the Saints.
The struggles have raised questions about whether the offense Brady is being asked to run following a historic 20-year stint with the Patriots is suited to what he does best.
Bucs coach Bruce Arians concedes the offense has been inconsistent, but attributes that to a lack of continuity caused in part by teams not having a usual offseason due to the coronavirus pandemic and injuries that have forced lineup changes and limited practice time for some players.
“He can do anything, so it’s not like he can’t do it,” Arians said, responding to critics who suggest the problem is the offensive scheme, which stresses pushing the ball downfield.
“We’ve had the guys open. We’ve just missed them,” Arians said.
“Each and every week is so different, but when they’re there, we need to hit them,” the coach added. “We can’t have them going off our fingertips, and we can’t overthrow them.”
Brady has lots of good things to say about Mahomes and the Chiefs, who lead the league in scoring at 32.1 points per game.
“He’s a terrific player, obviously. … They’ve got their offense rolling,” Brady said. “I feel continuity is probably the most critical aspect of consistent performance. … They’ve been in that system for a while. Coach Reid’s been there for a while. He’s a great coach. … They’ve been tough to beat for a lot of years now.”
WIDE RECEIVER ROOM
The Chiefs should be welcoming back wide receiver Sammy Watkins from a hamstring injury that has sidelined him since Week 5 just in time.
They lost Byron Pringle, who had been one of the bright spots in their wideout corps this season, to an ankle injury last week that landed him on injured reserve. Their only other healthy wide receivers on the 53-man roster are Tyreek Hill, Demarcus Robinson and Mecole Hardman.
FEELING DEFENSIVE
The Chiefs have won the past two weeks despite allowing 31 points each to Carolina and Las Vegas. The Panthers threw for 331 yards while running for 104 during their game at Arrowhead Stadium before the bye week, and Derek Carr led the Raiders to 364 yards of total offense — and if not for a touchdown in the closing seconds, a win — last Sunday.
“Every football game won’t be a blowout. Every football game won’t be a dominant defensive performance,” Mathieu said, “but what our fans should see is us playing hard. Sticking together, no matter what, whether we’re up by 50 or down by 50. It’s about us staying together.”
NONSENSE?
Arians rejects the notion that some of Tampa Bay’s problems on offense are related to having too many playmakers on the roster. With their only being one ball, how could Brady possibly keep Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Ronald Jones, Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown, Leonard Fournette and LeSean McCoy happy?
“I don’t think there’s such a thing. … I don’t think you can have too many good players,” Arians said. “Looking at the team coming in here this week, I don’t think they have a problem with having too many really good players.”
READ THE FULL STORY:LIVE GAME BLOG: Chiefs extend lead to 27-10 after Hill’s third TD reception
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