Kansas City Chiefs win coin toss, elect to defer

The Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce called heads and that is how the coin came up during the toss for Super Bowl LV. The Chiefs elected to defer.

The coin toss before the Super Bowl has become one of the more wagered upon prop bets.

On Sunday, prior to Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fl, the Kansas City Chiefs were represented by tight end Travis Kelce. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers sent out Lavonte David, a linebacker.

The Chiefs, as the visiting team, made the call and Kelce said, “Heads.”

 Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The coin came up heads and the Chiefs decided to defer their choice to the second half, meaning Tampa Bay would receive.

It is the 11th straight Super Bowl the team that won the coin toss opted to defer.

Out of the previous 54 Super Bowls, teams have won the coin flip and the game. In fact, there is a sizable streak currently going on as each team to win the coin toss the past six years has wound up losing. The last team to win the toss and hoist the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the night was the 2013-14 Seattle Seahawks against the Denver Broncos.

 

How Tampa Bay’s run game could upend the Chiefs’ dime defense in Super Bowl LV

The Buccaneers’ run game is underappreciated, but against the Chiefs’ dime defense, it could be a very big deal.

There was this interesting and somewhat hilarious theory back when Patrick Mahomes started lighting the NFL up that if you just ran the ball a lot and controlled the clock against the Chiefs, you’d be alright, because limiting Mahomes’ time on the field limited the Chiefs’ scoring opportunities.

We’re over that now, right? Good. Now, back to our Super Bowl previews.

When the Chiefs and Buccaneers faced off in Week 12 and the Chiefs won, 27-24, it’s not as if running the ball was a priority for Tampa Bay’s offense anyway. Kansas City shot out to a 17-0 lead, Tom Brady threw 41 passes, and Bucs running backs Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones II had just 12 rushing attempts between them.

But here’s the thing: On those 12 rushing attempts, Jones and Fournette gained 76 yards. Jones was the relative force multiplier in this sense, picking up 66 yards on nine carries, including this 34-yard run with 3:04 left in the third quarter.

Check out the defensive personnel here, because it could be extremely important to how the Chiefs line up in the big game. They’re running dime defense — six defensive backs — and Tampa Bay’s offensive line is all about the power here. Anthony Hitchens [No. 53] is the sole linebacker, through safety Daniel Sorensen [No. 49] is at linebacker depth. The point is, the Bucs understand that they have an advantage from a power situation, and they know how to use it.

Why is dime defensive important to our discussion of the Bucs’ run game? Because the Chiefs play a ton of dime. It’s essentially their base defense. Per Sports Info Solutions, only the Packers and Panthers played more snaps this season in dime than Kansas City’s 316, and only the Patriots and Panthers played more dime snaps against the run than Kansas City’s 92. Dime is an essential construct of defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s concepts because it allows the Chiefs to do all kinds of great things in coverage (much more on this very soon), but it can leave a vulnerability.

The Chiefs have Sorenson as a hybrid linebacker, and of course they have Tyrann Mathieu as the do-it-all Joker and the best “guesser” since Ed Reed, but what that leaves you with is a lot of bog nickel — three cornerbacks, three safeties. The Chiefs are not designed to deal with power running situations, and because of the ways they’re designed, they don’t see it as a specific liability.

One key for the Bucs could be to make it a liability. In Week 12, the Chiefs were caught in dime on six Buccaneers runs, going for 48 yards and two first downs. And this season, Jones and Fournette have combined for 118 yards, 71 yards after contact, and one touchdown against defenses with six defensive backs.

And per Football Outsiders, the Chiefs rank dead last in the league in “Power Success Rate” (Percentage of runs on third or fourth down, two yards or less to go, that achieved a first down or touchdown), and 30th in “Stuffed Rate” (Percentage of runs where the running back is tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage).

This isn’t a big deal when your offense is capable of hanging a thirty-burger on any opponent in five minutes, but if the Buccaneers can keep the game close early, it would be wise to consider a run-centric attack more than people might think — not because it’ll keep Patrick Mahomes in check, but because it will balance an offense quite capable of its own aerial show.

Super Bowl 55 odds: Chiefs open as favorites over Bucs

The red-hot Kansas City Chiefs were installed as 3.5 point favorites over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by Bet MGM.

The Kansas City Chiefs, coming off the strength of an impressive 38-24 win in the AFC championship game, are 3.5-point favorites over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, per Bet MGM.

Injury reports won’t be formally issued until the week of the game, but the Chiefs saw quarterback Patrick Mahomes play a stellar game despite spending the week on the injury report with a toe injury and having started off in the concussion protocol.

The Bucs did not appear to suffer any significant injuries in their 31-26 win over the Packers in the NFC championship. They were also 3.5 point underdogs in that game as well, showing the resilience one might expect when a team is led by a six-time Super Bowl champion (Tom Brady, who will be making his 10th Super Bowl appearance). The Bucs are the first team to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium.

The game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET Sunday, Feb. 7 from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

Super Bowl LV: Chiefs vs. Bucs game info

The Chiefs look to become the first repeat champions since the Patriots did it in 2003-04 — a team quarterbacked by Bucs’ Tom Brady.

Super Bowl LV is set. The Kansas City Chiefs will make their second consecutive appearance after knocking off the Buffalo Bills in the AFC championship game. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who will be the first team to play in a Super Bowl in its home stadium, punched their first title game appearance since 2003 by way of upsetting the Green Bay Packers in the NFC championship game.

The Chiefs are seeking their second consecutive Super Bowl championship, which would make them the first team to accomplish that feat since the Patriots did it in 2003-04.

Standing in their way? The quarterback of those Patriots teams, Tom Brady, who might not have been perfect in Tampa Bay’s 31-26 win over the Packers, but has been strong for the Bucs all year.

What: Super Bowl LV (55)
When: 6:30 p.m. ET Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021
Where: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Fla.
TV: CBS
Announcers: Jim Nantz (play-by-play), Tony Romo (color), Tracy Wolfson, Evan Washburn and Jay Feely (sideline), Gene Steratore (rules).
Coverage: Bucs Wire (Luke Easterling, editor) Chiefs Wire (Charles Goldman, editor)