The best (and sort of the worst) day of the NFL season is almost upon us: Super Bowl Sunday, when we can all crack open an adult refreshment, start up the air fryer, and maybe order some pizza before we watch two of the best teams in the NFL compete for a league title.
And what could be better than Super Bowl LV, with Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback in history, in another title game (perhaps his last), going against the most dynamic quarterback of his generation, Patrick Mahomes. There are great players on both sides (Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Mike Evans, etc., etc.), and there are major hurdles for both teams to try to overcome to win a title.
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And in a season that could have been pockmarked and halted by the coronavirus pandemic, the fact that the NFL got through the year mostly unscathed by COVID-19 is an impressive feat. On Super Bowl Sunday, we all get to celebrate (of course, it’s also sort of the worst day of the NFL season because after Sunday, we won’t get real football for seven months).
As always, we have questions about what will happen and why. Here are the four most pressing quarterbacks as we head into the Super Bowl matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
1.How much can the Buccaneers exploit Kansas City’s backup offensive tackles?
Since left tackle Eric Fisher went down with an Achilles tendon injury in the AFC title game, this has become a major story for the Chiefs. Without Fisher in the lineup, Mike Remmers will move from right tackle to left tackle, Austin Wylie will shift from right guard to right tackle and Stefan Wisniewski will likely take over for Wylie. For the biggest game of the season, you certainly don’t want to have to use a makeshift offensive line to protect your biggest asset in Mahomes. Especially when the Buccaneers boast Jason Pierre-Paul and Shaq Barrett as edge rushers.
So, can Tampa Bay make Kansas City pay for its bad luck? The Buccaneers will certainly try. As Pierre-Paul said this week referring to Remmers, “I didn’t even know who that was. Man, I’m not going to lie to you. Is this a tackle that you’re talking about? Like I said, I don’t care too much about it. They got to figure that out. I’m going to play some great football this weekend.” Yet, if there’s any quarterback in the league who can erase the mistakes that might be made by a pair of backup tackles, it’s Mahomes. If it were the mostly stationary Tom Brady and he was missing two tackles, I’d be more concerned. But Mahomes’ escapability could be a great equalizer in this unfortunate scenario.
2. Does Steve Spagnuolo have Tom Brady’s number?
As a defensive coordinator, Spagnuolo has faced Tom Brady five times. In three of those contests, Spagnuolo’s squads have solved Brady well enough to produce wins against him, including Super Bowl XLII when the Giants upset the undefeated Patriots. So yes, Spagnuolo knows how to prepare for and to keep Brady under control. Now, the second-year Kansas City defensive coordinator will be tasked to do that yet again on Sunday.
“That game is one of my least favorite football memories,” Brady said this week, referring to the Super Bowl from 13 years ago. “… Spags runs a great scheme, and I think he really caters to the strength of his players. I think his scheme has evolved, and I’ve played him several times over the last 13, 14 years. He’s a tremendous coach, and everybody seems to love to play for him. It’s a tough game. I know he’ll have those guys ready.”
3. Can Travis Kelce be stopped?
People can’t stop saying nice things about Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians compared him to Tony Gonzalez, and Rob Gronkowski, one of the top tight ends in NFL history, said Kelce is the best player on Kansas City’s squad. In 15 regular-season games this year, Kelce recorded 1,416 yards, the most ever for a tight end and the fifth-straight season he’s topped the 1,000-yard mark. Can Tampa Bay slow him down? It’ll certainly be difficult. As Arians noted, Kelce runs routes like a wide receiver, and he’s quick enough to beat opposing cornerbacks.
The only team that managed to make him look average this year was the Broncos in Week 7 when Kelce was held to three catches for 31 yards. Six weeks later in their second matchup of the year, Kelce torched Denver for eight catches, 136 yards and a touchdown. “We gave a lot of attention to (wideout Tyreek) Hill, which left Kelce in some one-one-one situations,” Broncos coach Vic Fangio said afterward. “We had a hard time covering him, obviously.” The Broncos aren’t alone. Now, Arians and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles have to figure out how to do better.
4. Can Leonard Fournette complete his late-season turnaround as a key cog for the Bucs?
Some people were skeptical when the Buccaneers acquired Leonard Fournette at the beginning of the season, and for much of 2020, he was an afterthought—consider he rushed for more than 55 yards only once during the regular season and was a healthy scratch in Week 14. But he’s had a larger presence in the playoffs, averaging about 70 rushing yards per game to go with more than five catches per contest. Obviously, Brady, Evans and Chris Godwin will play big roles in the Tampa Bay offense on Sunday. But Fournette and Ronald Jones should have an impact in the running game as well. Coming from Jacksonville, where Fournette was the main cog of the offense and where much was expected, his non-starring role in Tampa Bay where he only has to help carry the rushing load has been a refreshing change of pace. Perhaps it’s made him a better player. “The biggest thing with Leonard was accepting that he wasn’t the superstar and the only guy, and wasn’t ‘The Man,’” Buccaneers running backs coach Todd McNair said this week. “Once he accepted that, he’s been a trooper, man.”
NFL Analyst
Josh Katzowitz is a longtime sports writer who covers boxing for Forbes and who previously reported on the NFL for CBSSports.com. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. He’s currently a writer and editor at the Daily Dot. His work has been noted twice in the Best American Sports Writing book series.