The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had to defeat Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game en route to Super Bowl LV.
Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes has often been compared to Rodgers for his penchant for creating breath-taking plays outside of the structure of the offense. As the Buccaneers get prepared to face the Chiefs, they’re taking note of the similarities between the two quarterbacks.
“It wasn’t a rough draft, I would say it was pretty close to a final essay with Mahomes and Rodgers,” Barrett told reporters during Super Bowl LV Opening Night. “They’re both really similar. They’re practically the same, they do the same things, it’s just that Mahomes is a little younger version of him. Yeah, just getting to him is going to be important for us. . .”
The Bucs defense held Rodgers to 33-of-48 passing for 346 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in the NFC title game. It’s hardly a bad performance for one of the best quarterbacks in the league this season.
Earlier this season Mahomes put together a very similar performance in Tampa Bay, completing 37-of-49 pass attempts for 462 yards and three touchdowns in Week 12. So how do the Buccaneers plan to slow down Mahomes this time around? Barrett revealed that they want to keep Mahomes in the pocket during the game.
“Most definitely to keep him in the pocket,” Barrett said. “That’s where he’s amazing— out the pocket. He can make every throw. There’s nothing that you think— like the cross-body throws are bad throws— but not with him. He’s just got it. He’s got it all, so we’re just going to try to keep him in the pocket. That’s why I like the way we rush— with me and JPP (Jason Pierre-Paul)— it’s perfect. But I also have to dial it back a little bit because I don’t want to give him no B-Gap at all. I don’t want him to think he can escape through nowhere. If I don’t cleanly beat my guy, I’ll turn it into a power rush to keep him inside.”
It’s a nifty plan, but Mahomes can also be deadly from the pocket too. He was during the first meeting with the Buccaneers, especially when his protection held up.
Barrett was more than willing to give Mahomes his credit, though. He acknowledged his success in the league thus far, commenting on the “GOAT vs. the Kid” storyline that has become prominent when comparing Mahomes and Bucs QB Tom Brady ahead of Super Bowl LV.
“The GOAT and baby GOAT thing is funny, but it’s going to be 100% true so long as Mahomes stays on the path that he’s on right now,” Barrett said. “Because he’s lighting the league up. He’s been doing it since the end of his first year when he started against us (Denver Broncos) for the first time and ended up leading the Chiefs to a victory in Denver. We’ve just got to tell him that he ain’t ready to be the big GOAT yet, because we’ve still got Tom Brady. So we’ve got to step it up and make sure Tom Brady gets another one.”
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