New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Bucs look to avoid being burned by Hill again
Tyreek Hill sprinted past cornerback Carlton Davis again, caught the ball in stride and then cut so sharply that safety Mike Edwards ended up flailing at him with one arm near the sideline. Hill casually jogged a few more yards before pausing at the goal line and doing a backflip into the end zone.
Showtime!
It was the second and most impressive of three scores for Hill, who was the star of Kansas City’s 27-24 victory at Tampa Bay in Week 12. Hill finished with 13 receptions for 269 yards — both career highs — and proved to be a mismatch for Davis and the Buccaneers.
Tampa Bay gets another shot at Hill and the Chiefs in the Super
Bowl next Sunday, the first rematch in the NFL finale in nearly a decade.
Same teams, same venue, much higher stakes.
The Chiefs are counting on the same outcome. The Bucs, who have won seven straight since that late November loss, are looking to become the eighth team in 14 tries to beat an opponent in the Super Bowl that it lost to in the regular season.
Both sides expect to lean on — and learn from — that previous meeting.
“We’ll help a little bit more than we did in that ballgame,” Bucs coach Bruce Arians said.
Tampa’s biggest and most obvious mistake was trying to single-cover Hill, one of the fastest players in the league. Davis was burned repeatedly, including on consecutive TD passes from Patrick Mahomes to Hill (75 and 44 yards) in the first quarter. Davis gave up their third scoring connection, too, but had much tighter coverage on what was a perfect throw and catch.
Hill had seven receptions for 203 yards and two TDs in the first quarter alone, but just six catches for 66 yards and a score the rest of the way. The difference?
“I just got tired. I got tired of running,” Hill joked this week.
“No, let me stop,” he continued. “Todd Bowles is a great defensive coordinator. He’s been doing it for a long time. I’m sure he’s seen guys like me throughout his career. Just being able to dial up (coverages) and things like that to slow me down.
“Also bringing the safety over the top a bit to double me and (Travis) Kelce. That kind of slowed us down a lot, plus their front seven is tremendous. Once they get clicking on defense, they’re a great defense. They fly around the field; they’re great. I feel like I just got lucky and was able to get open.”
The Chiefs scored on three of their first four possessions and led 17-0 before the Bucs crossed midfield.
The margin could have been even greater had Tampa’s defense not forced a field goal after Kansas City ran two plays from the 1-yard line.
Davis knocked down Kelce’s pass to Mahomes, a nifty trick play that started when Mahomes flipped to Hill, who pitched to Kelce, who expected to find Mahomes open in the end zone. It was Davis’ best play of the afternoon.
Kansas City settled for the chipshot field goal on the opening possession. Mahomes and Co. had a chance to extend their 17-0 lead early in the second, but Shaq Barrett stripped the quarterback on a firstand-goal play from the 8 and forced the Chiefs’ lone turnover.
Tampa Bay waited until the fourth to make its comeback. Tom Brady threw two interceptions in the third quarter and the Bucs trailed 27-10 before a furious rally.