Chiefs at Buccaneers score: Tyreek Hill eviscerates Tampa Bay with career-best outing, flirts with NFL records

Patrick Mahomes used his favorite weapon to flame broil Bruce Arians' defense

This was a game pegged by many as a heavyweight bout between Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady and it was, all things considered between the two in respect to their NFL careers, but it was anything but that in the first quarter -- Tyreek Hill gutting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers en route to helping the Kansas City Chiefs land a decisive 27-24 victory at Raymond James Stadium. Mahomes used Hill as a filet knife all afternoon, gutting the Buccaneers secondary at every turn and propelling Hill to a career-best 269 receiving yards with three touchdowns on the day.

Brady and the Buccaneers attempted to fight back in the second quarter with the Chiefs threatening to make it a 24-point lead ahead of halftime from the Buccaneers' 8-yard line, when defensive end Shaq Barrett took down Mahomes for a sack fumble recovered by William Gholston. That gave Brady all the momentum he needed to mount an answer after struggling for much of the half -- hitting running back Ronald Jones for a toss that became a 37-yard touchdown to shrink the Chiefs' lead to only 10 points before Kansas City eeked out a field goal to stretch it to 13 points ahead of halftime. 

Mahomes took those jabs and countered with more haymakers in the second half though, pushing the reigning Super Bowl champs to a 10-1 record and the Buccaneers further behind the New Orleans Saints -- who gained distance atop the NFC South on Sunday. There's plenty for Tampa Bay to take away from this game, including how to not let one receiver take over a game. 

Why the Chiefs won

Start strong, finish the same way.

Those two things might not often look the same, as the Chiefs displayed on Sunday afternoon -- blasting off to a monster first quarter in passing/receiving yardage before being forced to show they can hold a lead in the fourth quarter without their early game explosiveness. The latter was as impressive as the former, albeit not nearly as entertaining, but then again not much is comparable to the entertainment value of seeing a receiver haul in 205 receiving yards and two touchdowns in a quarter (unless you're the team trying to defend him). Mahomes used Hill like a machine gun in the first and third quarters, but when the clip ran empty in the fourth and the defense began to wear down a bit, allowing Brady to make it a three-point game in the waning minutes, it was the reigning Super Bowl MVP who made sure there would be no come from behind win orchestrated by the future first ballot Hall of Famer.

Whereas Mahomes tortured the Buccaneers secondary all night with his arm, it was his legs that gave the Chiefs a key first down on the final drive of the game, forcing Tampa Bay to honor them on what would be the game-sealing scramble turned first-down toss on third-and-12 -- sealing the victory and taking his series record against Brady to an even 2-2. Credit the Chiefs defense for also snagging two interceptions on Brady, but Kansas City got zero points off of either in a chilled third quarter that set Mahomes up to forcefully stiff-arm the Week 12 upset.

Why the Buccaneers lost

Tyreek Hill. 

The analysis could truly stop there, but I'll continue and note that aside from what they allowed Hill to do to them, the Buccaneers also asked their defense to stay on the field far too long in this contest. The Chiefs won the time of possession battle by a whopping 13 minutes and 34 seconds (36:47 overall) and speaking of asking too much, when a defensive front hits Mahomes seven times, sacks him twice and forces him to lose a fumble, looking at them on the final drive of the game and asking them to do more of that with only half a lung is not a winning formula. The Buccaneers pass rush needed help from the guys behind them and never truly got it, allowing 456 yards passing on the day and 261 receiving yards to one solitary receiver.

To be fair though, the beleaguered secondary did reel in Mahomes' lone interception late in the fourth quarter that would've given Brady another possession, but a roughing the passer penalty on Jason Pierre-Paul -- who otherwise had a solid day -- negated the takeaway and kept the ball in the Chiefs' hands. It's the little things that killed the Buccaneers in this game, but also the big things, in a fight they ended up taking to the wire but had a chance to win if they got out of their own way and into that of the Chiefs.

Turning Point

You'd think the turning point came before this play -- the third touchdown of the game for Tyreek Hill -- but it was this visit to the end zone that turned out to be the one the Buccaneers couldn't overcome. It pushed the Chiefs to 27 points on the evening, creating just enough of a deficit to keep Brady's magic at bay.

Play(s) of the Game 

Usually, there's only one play to be named in this category, but when you have a night like Hill did, you earn two slots. The first is a 75-yard touchdown -- the longest by the Chiefs offense this season -- that included Hill throwing up the peace sign as he pulled away.

And the second? Well, it included a vicious juke followed by a ... back flip.

Respect Given

It's become well-known Brady has become allergic to shaking the opposing quarterback's hand during a loss, but what if the opposing quarterback is Patrick Mahomes? 

Exhibit A: "News: Tom Brady shook Patrick Mahomes hand." - Field Yates of ESPN

Verdict: "No way Tom Brady was gonna skip out on the handshake with Patrick Mahomes. The backlash for that one would've been out of this world." - Jack Crosby of CBS Sports

What's next

The Chiefs take their 10-1 record home to try to host the rival Denver Broncos, while the Buccaneers head into a late-season bye week with time to lick their wounds and attempt a bounceback against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 14. 

Catch all the highlights and action you might've missed in the live blog below.

[Nov 29, 2020 at 7:28 pm ET · Patrik Walker]

That's ballgame. Mahomes is surgical.

[Nov 29, 2020 at 7:24 pm ET · Patrik Walker]

Mahomes is a wizard. That play might end up being what wins this game for the Chiefs -- assuming the rest of the dominos fall in their favor. He's been using his arm all day and the Bucs forgot he can do it with his legs as well.

[Nov 29, 2020 at 7:16 pm ET · Patrik Walker]

Another TD toss to Evans as he gets in sync with Brady late in the game (both TDs in the fourth quarter). It's a three-point game now, and the Chiefs have no choice but to respond.

[Nov 29, 2020 at 7:11 pm ET · Patrik Walker]

And there you go, Bucs fans. The same RTP penalty now awarded to you. Textbook.

[Nov 29, 2020 at 7:02 pm ET · Patrik Walker]

What a brutal penalty on JPP (roughing the passer) to negate an interception on Mahomes. Ouch...

For the record, the call was textbook. You can't hit a QB in the head/face. You hate it if you're a Bucs fan and that's fair, but so is the call. 

[Nov 29, 2020 at 6:52 pm ET · Patrik Walker]

On fourth-and-3, Brady finally connects with Evans for a touchdown. The two haven't been on the same page at all this evening, but they were on that play to make it a 10-point game in the final session in regulation.

[Nov 29, 2020 at 6:40 pm ET · Patrik Walker]

Another INT by Brady and this time it's Tyrann Mathieu on the Chiefs 24-yard line. The Bucs can't get out of their own way, or rather the Chiefs won't get out of the Bucs way.

Same difference.

[Nov 29, 2020 at 6:34 pm ET · Patrik Walker]

That drop by Hardman would've broken the Bucs back, if it isn't broken already. Hardman had nothing but green in front of him on a drop that should've been an 89-yard touchdown toss by Mahomes. 

[Nov 29, 2020 at 6:30 pm ET · Patrik Walker]

Brady. Godwin.

46 yard diving catch and that's the kind of play Brady needs his receivers to make. Much needed for Tampa Bay, but it's negated by Breeland's interception. And just like that, the Bucs take one step forward and four steps back.