Despite the Bucs clawing back from an early deficit against the Chiefs in Week 12, narrowly falling in a 27-24 contest, the 17-0 hole that Tampa Bay found themselves in by the end of the first quarter proved to be an obstacle too large to overcome.
The Chiefs’ early double-digit lead largely came from an otherworldly first 15 minutes from All-Pro receiver Tyreek Hill, amassing 203 yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions before the start of the second quarter. Taking the lion’s share of Hill’s damage that Sunday was cornerback Carlton Davis, who allowed nine receptions on nine targets for 211 yards and three touchdowns to Hill in coverage, per Pro Football Focus.
“I play defensive back in the NFL so you’re going to have your share of losses,” Davis said on Tuesday. “It doesn’t change who I am or what I do or how I approach the game. I’m going to continue to be a dog and go out there and give it my all every time.”
Despite his performance, and the performance as a whole from Tampa Bay’s secondary against the Chiefs the first time around, Davis ensured that his mentality hasn’t changed and won’t change heading into the Super Bowl as he once again prepares to line up against one of the league’s most explosive offenses. And he’s confident that the Bucs will bounce back with a better game plan.
“I’m going to bring the same mentality, I’m going to always be myself,” Davis said. “It didn’t work out the first game as far as what we did and our game plan but we’ve corrected it. We’ve got a great game plan going in but I’m going in with the same mentality and that’s to dominate, so just look out Sunday.”
Davis added that even though the Bucs’ first game against the Chiefs didn’t fall in their favor, there are lessons to take away.
“I guess you can call it an advantage,” Davis said about going up against all of the speed that Kansas City has at wide receiver once already. “Seeing a guy on film and seeing him in person is totally different and the fact that we’ve played against them already definitely gives us a good look of what we’re going up against so that does have an advantage of its own.”
And it’s all about staying focused within their own locker room according to Davis, making sure that the Bucs stay focused on their own game while not letting the focus shift to far toward the team that they’ll be playing.
“We’re just going to go out there and do what we do,” Davis said. “It’s not about them, it’s always about us. It’s never about your opponent and the more you make it about them the more it becomes about them so it’s always about us, it’s always about how we execute, about how we carry out our game plan and our mentality to be physical and smart.”
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About the Author: Taylor Jenkins
I like it… and he’s right. You obviously have to be prepared for who you are playing and who is important to watch on their team, but if all you do is worry about them the more it just becomes about them. You gotta focus on what you do best and how to make that work and win. They have to do what they do best and just make sure that whatever they do do is gonna work to shut them out of this thing. Davis may not be completely shut down yet but he’s got the talent and the… Read more »
Davis, at one time was considered our best corner. It seems as if lately he’s been on the wrong side of some coverages. He will need to stay focused on the task at hand guarding Hill! Also, he can’t do it alone. He will need help. His confidence looked like it took a beating since that KC game. Many DBs have, I’m sure. No easy task cover the Cheetah! Here’s hoping Davis and Bucs D find a way to contain Hill. U can’t stop him. But u can try to limit his big plays. I’m sure Todd B has something… Read more »
Davis is still our best corner, but it is all about match-ups. You can’t coach/teach speed, and Hardman and Hill have too much speed for Davis. He shut down (or at least dramatically limited) Thomas and Adams, arguably two of the best receivers in the game. A better match-up would be Kelsey. Although Kelsey is a tight-end, NO tight-end takes as many snaps in the slot or wide out as Kelsey (whose only knock is his inability to block). Kelsey has a very big pass tree as he is a great runner with good hips (like Thomas and Adams), and… Read more »
Our DB’s, as well as our defense as a whole, will be fine in the Superbowl. Heck, they will be more than fine! This team has changed a lot on both sides of the ball since then. Looking back, they pretty much shut down KC in the second half of the week 12 matchup and almost pulled out a win. It was the offense who couldn’t finish a drive towards the end to pull it out. The Chief’s caught them off guard in the first meeting, and this team was tired looking forward to their bye week. It won’t happen… Read more »
Mahomes tossed some near perfect passes on those TD throws and there isn’t much you can do about that.
The Bucs were also running single high safety and for some reason our safety never moved over in time to give him help.
It was only when the Bucs switched to two high man to man coverage were they abel to slow the Chiefs down.
Hopefully the addition of Vea will help if he can get that push up the middle annd not let Mahomes feet get to settled.
That’s exactly what happened Dr.D. Hard to defend against a perfectly thrown ball.