Chiefs-Buccaneers: Five questions with the enemy

Editor’s note: We welcome General Manager Gil Arcia of Bucs Nation — our sister site covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — for Five Questions with the Enemy as we head into the Week 12 game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay this Sunday.

1) How’s the Tom Brady experience been so far? Has it met expectations?

It’s been much better than what has been witnessed here in Tampa Bay in recent years — I can tell you that. So expectations from that angle — from a quarterback position — sure, they’ve been met. The only unfortunate thing is that turnovers and inconsistency still exist. There has been a lot of talk about where the blame should go. One game, the Bucccaneers look great — and then they play either terrible or incredibly inconsistently the next. It’s hard to gauge what the issues are — if it is that Brady is still not used to reading the defense from deep to short or that the play-calling needs to be altered. Regardless, the overall feel has been better.

2) How will the Bucs defense attack the Chiefs offense?

To be honest... I don’t know. They are at their best when they are playing man coverage and applying pressure to opposing quarterbacks. We saw them start in zone against Aaron Rodgers — and then played their defense for the next three quarters and Rodgers could not do anything the rest of the game. They played primarily in zone coverage against the Saints and then again against the Rams to try and account the speed on the opposing offenses — and Drew Brees and Jared Goff sat back and waited for their receivers’ routes to easily develop. I have a feeling we will see more of Tampa Bay playing that same kind of soft coverage and Mahomes is just going to eat it up.

3) Brown, Evans and Godwin vs. Hill, Kelce and Watkins. Which trio will have more success on Sunday?

Certainly the Chiefs will. As I stated previously, I really don’t think the Tampa Bay defense will be able to get themselves off the field often throughout the afternoon.

4) How hopeful are you for a home Super Bowl in February?

I’m sure the fans are very hopeful for a home team in the Super Bowl — especially the way the team can play when they have everything clicking on all cylinders. But they have to show they can beat stellar opposition consistently — and Kansas City is the last test of a true elite team they will face before the end of the season. Tampa Bay (7-4) is 2-4 against teams at or above .500 and 5-0 against teams below .500. So if they want to prove they belong in the same class as contenders, they have to consistently play like one against the Chiefs.

5) How will this game play out?

I think that Tampa Bay will trail early and struggle to even come close to giving Mahomes and the Chiefs a scare. I have Kansas City winning 33-24.