TAMPA, Fla. -- The Kansas City Chiefs aren't buying all the talk about Tom Brady's struggles. They insist he's still playing at a high level and they will have to be at their best to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The reigning Super Bowl champions (9-1) visit the Bucs (7-4) today, with Patrick Mahomes facing Brady for the fourth time in his young career, and Brady looking to shrug off a couple of subpar performances against playoff contenders.
"You can't take anything away from Tom Brady. He's still very smart, he's still trying to throw the ball downfield, he still has the weapons. We'll have our hands full," Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu said. "He's played against our system a number of times, even going back to New England. He's familiar with us. Now we have to get familiar with him and the weapons he has."
Brady, a six-time Super Bowl champion who has won two of the previous three matchups against Mahomes, has played poorly in home losses to New Orleans and the Los Angeles Rams two of the past three weeks. Still, Kansas City Coach Andy Reid cautioned against anyone writing off the 43-year-old quarterback.
Despite Brady's recent struggles, particularly on deep passes, the Bucs already have matched their victory total from all of last season and remain in prime position to end a 12-year playoff drought that's the second longest in the NFL.
"He's unbelievable. He's a great player, a Hall of Fame player. We're lucky enough to have a chance to be in this era where we get to play him," Reid said. "He's old, and it's hard to tell he's old. And that's a tribute to how he takes care of himself, and the care and living he does all the way around, from diet to workout to everything."
The Chiefs have won five in a row, the eighth consecutive year they've had a streak at least that long. They avenged their lone loss last week with a 35-31 victory at Las Vegas, with Mahomes throwing for 348 yards and 2 scores.
Mahomes, who's thrown for just over 312 yards per game with 14 touchdowns and 1 interception during Kansas City's winning streak, was as surprised as anyone that Brady left the Patriots to sign with Tampa Bay in free agency in March.
"But he's in a great spot. They've got a lot of weapons there," Mahomes said. "I don't think it's going to feel very much different. It's still a very good football team that's playing really good football and winning a lot of games. I know it's going to be a really big challenge for us."
Brady threw a pair of costly interceptions and was 0 for 6 on passes traveling at least 20 yards in last week's 27-24 loss to the Rams. He's 0 for 19 on such throws over the past three games, which includes a 38-3 loss to the Saints.
The struggles have raised questions about whether the offense Brady is being asked to run after a historic 20-year stint with the Patriots is suited to what he does best.
Bucs Coach Bruce Arians concedes the offense has been inconsistent, but attributes that to a lack of continuity caused in part by teams not having a usual offseason due to the coronavirus pandemic, and injuries that have forced lineup changes and limited practice time for some players.
"He can do anything, so it's not like he can't do it," said Arians, responding to critics who suggest the problem is the offensive scheme, which stresses pushing the ball downfield. "We've had the guys open. We've just missed them. Each and every week is so different, but when they're there, we need to hit them. We can't have them going off our fingertips, and we can't overthrow them."
Brady has lots of good things to say about Mahomes and the Chiefs, who lead the league in scoring at 32.1 ppg.
"He's a terrific player, obviously. They've got their offense rolling," Brady said. "I feel continuity is probably the most critical aspect of consistent performance. They've been in that system for a while. Coach Reid's been there for a while. He's a great coach. They've been tough to beat for a lot of years now."
