It’s been nearly two years since the Kansas City Chiefs lost Super Bowl 55 to Tom Brady and the Buccaneers.
However, Patrick Mahomes has his chance at revenge when he faces Tampa Bay on Sunday.
While the sting of the loss hasn’t affected Mahomes, defeating the Buccaneers can help him get revenge.
But does he have what it takes to overcome Tom Brady and the Bucs’ defense?
Mahomes Is Coming Off An Awful Performance
The season started with Mahomes missing his best receiver Tyreek Hill.
A segment of people questioned if the Kansas City QB can win games with Hill now in Miami.
However, the Super Bowl champion QB came out hot in the first game of the season.
His next game wasn’t as impressive, but he still did well.
After two games, Mahomes had seven touchdowns and no interceptions.
Patrick Mahomes through two games:
595 passing yards (297.5 per game)
7 touchdowns
0 interceptions
127.9 QB ratingNot a bad start for the best player in the world.
— Mark Gunnels (@MarkAGunnels) September 16, 2022
But when he went against the Colts, everything fell apart for him.
The team’s defense held him to 262 passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception.
The interception came during the Chiefs’ last drive, where Mahomes threw into coverage and had the ball batted and intercepted.
COLTS PICK OFF MAHOMES TO BEAT THE CHIEFS‼️
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/IbE0yOKFvg
— ESPN (@espn) September 25, 2022
With him coming up short in the closing seconds, it led to the first loss of the season for the Chiefs.
If he makes mistakes like that against the tough Tampa Bay defense, he might not get his revenge win against them.
Mahomes Inaccuracy Is Showing
When Hill left for Miami, he started a podcast in which he talks about stuff that needs to be said.
His first episode had him praising his current teammate and QB Tua Tagovailoa for his accuracy.
“Accuracy wise, I'm going with Tua all day”
Tyreek Hill on Tua vs Mahomes comps 👀👀
pic.twitter.com/YANoVtu1WX— PFF (@PFF) June 11, 2022
Some think these comments were a shot against his former QB in Kansas City.
It’s looking as if Mahomes isn’t as accurate as others may believe.
When passing 15+ yards this season, Mahomes only has a completion rate of 38.46% after three games.
This shows how frequently quarterbacks are throwing it 15+ air yards and their completion rates on those throws. (Sorted by completion rate so we can all see King Tua on top.) pic.twitter.com/CCdhMR5wwH
— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) September 27, 2022
While he’s only thrown the ball deep in 11.93% of his passes, the lack of completions is problematic.
According to PlayerProfiler, his deep ball catchable rate is 54.5% after three games, ranking him 20th.
These are all concerning numbers for a QB needing to prove his loss in Super Bowl 55 was a fluke.
Mahomes Can’t Win With Mistakes
The Kansas City QB needs to make improvements with his reads and accuracy.
His bad read against the Colts cost the team a chance to tie the game.
However, repeating those mistakes against Tampa Bay will cause him to lose another game.
While he’s got Travis Kelce and JuJu Smith-Schuster, he can’t put all the pressure on them to help him win.
He needs to involve all his receivers in the passing game, much as he did in the team’s first game of the season.
Mahomes has his most success when he’s giving everyone a chance of making catches.
Cleaning up his mistakes from last Sunday, along with involving all his receivers, will help him get revenge on the Buccaneers.
NEXT: Stats Show How The Chiefs Already Miss Tyreek Hill