Kansas City Chiefs duo Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce starred in a 41-31 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday night, but there was a lot more on the line than just the victory.
Tom Brady 's Buccaneers side welcomed the Chiefs to Raymond James Stadium for the first time since their dramatic Super Bowl victory in 2021, and some words were exchanged in the build up to the game. Both the Buccaneers and the Chiefs lost in week three, and ahead of kick off Shaquil Barrett claimed that Mahomes' offensive line could be dominated.
However, after conceding 41 points, the Buccaneers certainly had their tails between their legs on Sunday night as Mahomes produced a stunning performance. And both Mahomes and trusty tight end Kelce have bit back to the earlier comments made.
Barrett confidently stated ahead of Sunday that he thinks the Buccaneers 'have a lot of favourable matchups' and could dominate the game. "I think we have an opportunity to really dominate the game," Barrett said.
"We got an opportunity to really impose our will as pass rushers, edge rushers in this game and really have like a coming out party. I know we had six sacks the other game but I feel like we can really have a coming out party."
The Buccaneers put up a strong resistance, although a fumble from the kick off return gave the Chiefs an easy touchdown, and they were chasing the game from the start. Reflecting on the result, Mahomes referenced Barrett's comments, and said: "[The offensive line] accepted the challenge.
"There was some chatter about how they weren’t gonna be up for the challenge, and they were ready for it." Mahomes threw three touchdowns and stunned fans with a masterclass while Brady watched on.
His first end zone shot was at Kelce, who delivered in prolific fashion, and he too had something to say. "Shout out to that big o-line, baby," Kelce told the NBC Sports postgame panel.
"I don’t know, I heard some doubters of the o-line before the game started. There were some guys, some doubters on the other side of the ball that didn’t really have faith in them. We had all the faith in those guys up front."
And Kelce has as much faith in Mahomes as anyone, as he showered the quarterback with praise in a tribute to the no.15 after the game. "The NFL hasn't seen anything like Mahomes -- I promise you that," Kelce said.
"You saw it today -- he's the Houdini of our era. The guy just finds ways to make plays throughout the game. Big-time third down, big-time goal line plays [and] just willing our team to the end zone, willing our team to win. That's our ultimate leader, man."
