Team Relocates to Miami
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have relocated their football operations to South Florida for the Week, a decision made on Monday as the league/team closely monitored the path of Hurricane Ian. The team departed on Tuesday and have been begun conducting practices at the Miami Dolphins' Baptist Health Training Complex in Miami Gardens, Florida, starting on Wednesday, through the end of Week 4 preparations, if necessary. As of Monday afternoon, there have been no changes to Tampa Bay's game against the Kansas City Chiefs scheduled for Sunday at 8:20 p.m. ET at Raymond James Stadium. The NFL will continue to monitor the situation and track the storm's surge. The goal of displacing the team was to prioritize the safety of players, coaches, staff and their families. Head Coach Todd Bowles discussed this week's events.
"Well, we were talking about West Virginia at first; we were trying to go there," Bowles described. "A lot of teams go there to work out. They have good facilities for working out there and they can hold teams and hold a lot of things. But I think people would have still been away from their families. Even if their families could have come there, they would have been a little further away as far as hotels are situated. So, Miami came up and it looked like it wasn't going to get hit as hard, hopefully not. It was an easier trip, and then people that had pets and everything else, and older grandparents and parents that were with them could drive down. So, we wanted to be closer to their families, so that played into it a lot. From a preparation standpoint, we're still preparing. We've got practice this afternoon and we're meeting, as usual, as normal, trying to see what happens [with the game]. We're still waiting from the league as far as that's concerned, or where we would play. Hopefully it's still Tampa – right now it is. That's what we're preparing to do, and we're going to try to go about business as usual. It's a little different but everybody's family is safe so hopefully we can concentrate."
Outlook of the Chiefs
In Week Four, a rematch of Super Bowl LV will commence between two conference powerhouses. With Patrick Mahomes at the helm – a generational talent – and a mastermind patrolling the sideline in Andy Reid, the Bucs' are presented with a true litmus test. Travis Kelce, one of the best tight ends in NFL history, is Mahomes' go-to target and presents a mismatch with straight-line speed, elite ball skills and nuanced route-running. Many familiar faces will headline the AFC crown jewel, but every NFL season ushers in change. Todd Bowles elaborated on shifts to the running game in Kansas City's 2022 dynamic.
"The running game has picked up. They've got big offensive linemen down there. They've got bigger receivers – as opposed to smaller, quicker receivers – that can catch the ball very well. They've still got [Travis] Kelce, they've still got [Clyde Edwards-] Helaire, they've still got a lot of pieces and [Patrick] Mahomes has only gotten better since we played them. He was great then, he's great now, he's gotten better. He's seeing a lot of things; he's running the offense well and they're clicking on all cylinders as far as a unit. It doesn't have to be an individual person; the unit is playing well."
Devin White's Impression of Patrick Mahomes
Patrick Mahomes is an innovator at the quarterback position who is able to make a throw from any arm angle. He redefined what is plausible for a play-caller by sensational throws from a variety of platforms, contorting and separating his upper from lower body. Mahomes has a cannon for a right arm and commands the huddle with poise. He became the fastest quarterback in NFL history to reach the milestone of 10,000 career passing yards in just 34 career games. Mahomes is proficient against the blitz, with the ability to extend plays with elusiveness outside of the pocket. Bucs' inside linebacker spoke on his impressions of facing Mahomes.
"I learned that he's one of the greatest quarterbacks that I've ever faced," White explained. "Obviously besides that, he's a guy that when you face him, you've got to be patient with him. You've got to be able to go card-for-card – if he throws out an 'ace,' you've got to throw out a 'king' type of deal. You've got to be able to go back and forth with him. I think that's what Coach [Todd] Bowles and the coaching staff come to play [with] – you've got to have a great gameplan for him to be able to try and decipher through the defenses that we're throwing at him as well."
