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Is there now a “blueprint” for stopping Patrick Mahomes?

Patrick Mahomes had a rough time in Super Bowl LV. Did the Buccaneers reveal vulnerabilities other opponents can jump on?

This, we know.

What Todd Bowles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did to Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LV was one of the most remarkable performances in Super Bowl history, and a masterful addendum to Bowles’ legitimate claim as the best defensive coordinator in the game today. There were times this season that Bowles wasn’t on his game — the Week 12 loss to the Chiefs in which he let poor cornerback Carlton Davis alone on an island with Tyreek Hill and paid dearly for it was the primary example — but for the most part, Bowles used his chess pieces perfectly when it counted most.

In Super Bowl LV, Bowles flipped the script so many times on his tendencies, no wonder the Chiefs couldn’t figure it out.

Todd Bowles created the perfect defensive game plan by doing everything he doesn’t do

Bowles called an abundance of two-high coverage, which he doesn’t generally do. He played coverage, spanning the field with defenders, when he’s usually one of the most aggressive blitz callers in the NFL. The Buccaneers played eight snaps of dime coverage in this game. They had played eight snaps of dime all season leading up to the Super Bowl. Mahomes was dealing with a seriously undermanned offensive line, which allowed the Buccaneers to bring pressure with four, and that certainly helped Bowles’ efforts. Mahomes couldn’t move as well as he normally could due to a foot injury, and Bowles had him seeing ghosts all over the place.

Still, the idea that the Bucs created some sort of “blueprint” for stopping Mahomes seems a bit much. Mahomes made quite a few near-miss throws that would have been OH MY GOD completions, as is his wont. And he’s still him. Not every defense has what Tampa Bay has, as has been pointed out multiple times by multiple people.

But that’s not to say that other teams can’t do what the Bucs did. Both Mahomes and Bowles were very specific after the game as to how Bowles was able to do what he did.

“You take away the first read, you know he has to drift and hold it, and we know that’s a dangerous thing because he can run and make plays with his feet,” Bowles concluded. “We didn’t want him sitting in the pocket, just zinging dimes on us all day, either. The D-line got some pressure on him, was making him run, making him a little bit uncomfortable, and I thought that was key for us.”

“They kind of took away all our deep stuff, took away the sideline, and they did a good job of rounding to the football and making tackles,” Mahomes said. “We weren’t executing early, I had a few miscues, and we weren’t on the same page, but credit to them. They played a heck of a game.”

How can other teams at least limit Mahomes consistently, even when they don’t have Todd Bowles’ players and Todd Bowles himself? The 2020 season provided a few clues.