We talked with SB Nation's Bucs Nation the other day to prepare for Friday night's preseason game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I asked five questions about the game -- the first one, which you can read here, was about the Bucs offense against the Chiefs defense.
Today, we look at the Chiefs offense against the Bucs defense. First, the basics from last year: Tampa Bay was ranked 17th in total defense, 28th against the rush and 7th against the pass.
I asked what they would do on Friday if they were Chiefs offensive coordinator Bill Muir.
If I'm Bill Muir, I pound the ball over and over again. The Bucs have 2 rookie D-linemen starting and a rookie middle linebacker, so take advantage of that inexperience. The Bucs had a lot of trouble stopping the run last year, and it's doubtful they've fixed that by now. In the passing game I'd try to pressure the safeties deep. While the Bucs managed to do a good job limiting big plays in the passing game, the two starting safeties lack range in pass coverage.
This works in pretty nicely with what the Chiefs should want to do offensively. First and foremost, make sure the running attack is running smoothly. That's the bread and butter. Second, we know QB Matt Cassel struggled a little bit with the deep ball last year so this may give him an opportunity to get some work in there. I think we really just want to see some deep touchdown passes regardless.
Check out my answers to their five questions over at Bucs Nation.