Kansas City Chiefs: Passing game has to be flawless vs Buccaneers

The Kansas City Chiefs might have issues running the ball in Tampa, so the passing game has to be on point.

Week 12 pits the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs against the new-look Tampa Bay Buccaneers in what should be one of the more fun matchups of the year. The Chiefs are 9-1 and narrowly escaped Las Vegas with a victory while the Buccaneers are 7-4 after a disappointing loss to the Rams.

People assume this weekend’s game will be an old-fashioned shootout and if that ends up being the case, the Chiefs should have the edge, as they have the best quarterback in the league. At the same time, however, the Bucs should be able to run the ball on the Chiefs, giving them multiple ways to move the football while KC will likely stick with airing it out.

Tampa’s run defense allows the least amount of rushing yards per game and has been stingy all season. Their passing defense on the other hand has struggled and the Chiefs will most definitely look to expose that weakness.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ rushing attack has been a rollercoaster this year.

Fans hoped that the addition of LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire would lead to a better run game, which is something this team really didn’t have last year. While Edwards-Helaire has been good and looks to have a bright future in Kansas City, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the rookie and the rushing attack.

I’ll be curious to see how much the Chiefs even try to run the ball on Sunday or if they predominantly stick to throwing the football instead. Patrick Mahomes’ last three games have put him squarely as the front runner for MVP and when he’s as on fire as he is, why would the Chiefs want to get away from doing what they do best?

The Chiefs have had two explosive running performances this week with the last one coming in Week 6 against the Bills where Edwards-Helaire had over 160 rushing yards. While the Chiefs went over the 100-yard mark on the ground last week, the Bucs are ferocious upfront and it’s going to be tough for them to get much going there this week.

While the passing game is the Chiefs’ greatest strength offensively, they aren’t getting much help outside of Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. Demarcus Robinson had a rough go of it in Las Vegas while Mecole Hardman had just one catch in the win.

The Chiefs have been without Sammy Watkins since he was injured in Weel 5 and Watkins will miss yet another game this weekend. This is going to make it even tougher for the Chiefs’ air raid attack, as they’ll once again be leaning heavily on Hill and Kelce.

This is when the Chiefs desperately need Robinson and/or Hardman to step up and prove they belong with this offense. Not only is Watkins out for another game, but Byron Pringle was just placed on injured reserve, meaning the Chiefs are really lacking in their receiver weapons. Having Hill and Kelce is nice, but those guys aren’t going to always be able to do everything.

The run game might not be utilized much this weekend, but expect big things from Patrick Mahomes and the receivers when the Chiefs take on the Bucs.