Dirk Koetter spoke with the press on Monday afternoon, roughly 24 hours after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers secured a critical victory in Kansas City, running their 2016 road record to 4-1. In the interim, Koetter had an opportunity to review the tape from that game and gain a more detailed understanding of how the Bucs snapped the Chiefs' 10-game home winning streak.
So, upon further review, here are a few things Koetter and the rest of us learned from – and/or what new questions were raised by – the Buccaneers' Week 11 victory in Kansas City.
1. Rookie K Roberto Aguayo has settled into a groove, which appears to be the result of a mental victory.
Tampa Bay's third-down offense was consistently entertaining in Kansas City, and Chris Conte's game-changing interception was part of an exciting trend for the Bucs' defense. In contrast, the Buccaneers' kicking game barely raised a stir on Sunday…and that was a good thing. A very good thing.
A behind-the-scenes look at the Buccaneers' game against the Chiefs.

13 WR Mike Evans

Bucs vs. Chiefs

3 QB Jameis Winston

Bucs fans

13 WR Mike Evans

13 WR Mike Evans and fans

Bucs fans

8 QB Mike Glennon

38 CB Jude Adjei-Barimah

Bucs fans

58 LB Kwon Alexander and #38 CB Jude Adjei-Barimah

Bucs huddle

Head Coach Dirk Koetter

72 C Ben Gottschalk, #69 OT Demar Dotson, #98 DT Clinton McDonald, and #76 OT Donovan Smith

Bucs fans

3 QB Jameis Winston

29 DB Ryan Smith

Bucs fans

93 DT Gerald McCoy

Bucs huddle

22 RB Doug Martin

Bucs fans

Run Game Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach George Warhop

Run Game Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach George Warhop

Bucs huddle

93 DT Gerald McCoy

54 LB Lavonte David, #52 LB Cameron Lynch, and #58 LB Kwon Alexander

3 QB Jameis Winston

77 OL Caleb Benenoch, #93 DT Gerald McCoy, and #76 OT Donovan Smith

93 DT Gerald McCoy

13 WR Mike Evans

93 DT Gerald McCoy

30 S Bradley McDougald and #37 S Keith Tandy

92 DE William Gholston

89 WR Russell Shepard

54 LB Lavonte David

93 DT Gerald McCoy and #58 LB Kwon Alexander

Bucs fans

13 WR Mike Evans

89 WR Russell Shepard

21 CB Alterraun Verner and #52 LB Cameron Lynch

52 LB Cameron Lynch

Offensive Coordinator and Wide Receivers Coach Todd Monken and #3 QB Jameis Winston

3 QB Jameis Winston

54 LB Lavonte David

19 K Roberto Aguayo and Special Teams Coordinator Nate Kaczor

54 LB Lavonte David and #51 LB Daryl Smith

Bucs vs. Chiefs

51 LB Daryl Smith, #52 LB Cameron Lynch, and #53 LB Adarius Glanton

13 WR Mike Evans and #3 QB Jameis Winston

16 WR Freddie Martino

75 DT DaVonte Lambert, #57 DE Noah Spence, and #93 DT Gerald McCoy

3 QB Jameis Winston and Head Coach Dirk Koetter

93 DT Gerald McCoy and Defensive Line Coach Jay Hayes

89 WR Russell Shepard, #3 QB Jameis Winston, #54 LB Lavonte David, #93 DT Gerald McCoy, and #91 DE Robert Ayers

Bucs fans

Bucs special teams

Bucs vs. Chiefs

57 DE Noah Spence

74 G Ali Marpet, #3 QB Jameis Winston, and #68 C Joe Hawley

52 LB Cameron Lynch, #53 LB Adarius Glanton, and #37 S Keith Tandy

Head Coach Dirk Koetter and #3 QB Jameis Winston

Head Coach Dirk Koetter

Bucs vs. Chiefs

Linebackers Coach Mark Duffner and #58 LB Kwon Alexander

58 LB Kwon Alexander

23 S Chris Conte

Head Coach Dirk Koetter

54 LB Lavonte David, #3 QB Jameis Winston, #89 WR Russell Shepard, #93 DT Gerald McCoy, and #91 DE Robert Ayers

Bucs vs. Chiefs

23 S Chris Conte

28 CB Vernon Hargreaves and #23 S Chris Conte

3 QB Jameis Winston, #45 TE Alan Cross, and #82 TE Brandon Myers

45 TE Alan Cross and #10 WR Cecil Shorts

Running Backs Coach Tim Spencer, #45 TE Alan Cross, and Director of Player Development Duke Preston

3 QB Jameis Winston

3 QB Jameis Winston

Bucs special teams

Head Coach Dirk Koetter

45 TE Alan Cross

45 TE Alan Cross

3 QB Jameis Winston

Bucs vs. Chiefs

89 WR Russell Shepard and #26 CB Josh Robinson

Bucs huddle

Bucs vs. Chiefs

Head Coach Dirk Koetter

75 DT DaVonte Lambert and Linebackers Coach Mark Duffner

Head Coach Dirk Koetter

13 WR Mike Evans and #84 TE Cameron Brate

Secondary Coach Jon Hoke, Head Coach Dirk Koetter, Assistant to the Head Coach Zack Grossi, Special Teams Coordinator Nate Kaczor, #3 QB Jameis Winston, #69 OT Demar Dotson, and #52 LB Cameron Lynch

58 LB Kwon Alexander

General Manager Jason Licht and #89 WR Russell Shepard

3 QB Jameis Winston

13 WR Mike Evans

3 QB Jameis Winston

76 OT Donovan Smith

28 CB Vernon Hargreaves

23 S Chris Conte and Head Coach Dirk Koetter

57 DE Noah Spence

3 QB Jameis Winston
Roberto Aguayo scored 13 of the Bucs' 19 points in a narrow win, but in decidedly undramatic fashion. The rookie kicker calmly made field goals of 22, 31, 36 and 41 yards, plus the one extra point he was asked to deliver. It was a far cry from the preseason and the first month of the regular season, when Aguayo's every appearance on the field was bathed in a harsh spotlight.
Aguayo has made seven field goals in a row and 10 of his last 11, only missing on a 50-yard try in San Francisco in Week Seven. After some well-publicized early struggles, he has been the dependable weapon the Buccaneers were expecting when they drafted Aguayo late in the second round of April's draft. Koetter said Aguayo's ability to settle into a groove was mostly about winning a mental battle.
"I think [it was] just mostly between his ears," said Koetter. "I think he got shaken, confidence-wise, a little bit there with some misses. That's the thing about the NFL: you hear about it from all sides. You hear about it from the coaches, from the fans, from the media, of course. You get hammered. For a young guy, that can rattle your bones a little bit and I think he just went back to the basics, worked on his routine, really cleaned up his mental approach."
Aguayo is one of 12 kickers in the NFL who have made 90% or more of their field goal tries since Week Seven, which is when Tampa Bay came back to work off its bye week. Aguayo is 12 of 13 on extra point tries in that span, but four others in that group of 12 have also missed PATs since Week Seven. There were a total of 12 missed extra points on Sunday across the league, a single-day record that underscores the increased difficulty level of that play. Simply put, the Bucs are now getting the level of consistency they need out of their placekicker.
The extra time off during the bye week might have been Aguayo's opportunity to simplify his mental approach.
"I think he was a little bit all over the place with how he was approaching his kicks, to use a golf term," said Koetter. "What his 'swing thought' was or thoughts, maybe having too many. He seems to be hitting the ball much better now and was clutch yesterday."
2. Young linemen Caleb Benenoch and Ben Gottschalk helped the Bucs' offensive front have one of its better performances of the season in terms of pass protection.
The Buccaneers faced the NFL's top takeaway defense on Sunday but only turned it over once, and that was essentially a fluke. On the 11th play of Tampa Bay's first offensive possession, Jameis Winston took a shotgun snap from the Chiefs' 16-yard line and tried to fire off a quick screen pass in the direction of Adam Humphries. However, the football slipped from his grasp before he could start his throwing motion, resulting in a fumble that Kansas City's Steve Nelson fell on at the 21-yard line.
Because Winston was trying to throw a pass, that play also technically counted as a sack for the Chiefs' defense. That would end up being the only sack Winston would take in 40 drop-backs, and that sort of protection was critical to the Bucs' almost ridiculous amount of success on third down. Tampa Bay converted 11 of 16 third-down tries and Winston was 12-of-14 with a 130.1 passer rating in those situations.
Right guard Ali Marpet had a strong day, which was to be expected to some degree. What was uncertain when the day began was how effective the play would be at left guard with Kevin Pamphile still out due to a concussion. The Bucs' top interior-line reserve, Evan Smith, was also out with a knee injury, so the job fell to first-year man Ben Gottschalk, who was just promoted from the practice squad eight days earlier.
In Week 10, Gottschalk ended up playing nearly the entire game at center after Smith was hurt, making his NFL regular-season debut. On Sunday, he was off to a good start before he suffered his own injury and had to miss much of the proceedings. Rookie Caleb Benenoch, who started at left guard in Week 10 but experienced some struggles, stepped in and kept the line strong.
"[Benenoch played] much better, and that's to be expected," said Koetter. "I think I said he had a rocky debut, rocky enough that we started Ben Gottschalk instead of him and Ben was playing fine. First on Ben before I get to Caleb: to come in off the practice squad and play 69 plays against Chicago at center and then start at guard, 19 plays until he had an injury, [was impressive]. And then Caleb came in and played 56 plays, played much better."
The Buccaneers piled up 442 yards of offense and might have buried the Chiefs in a big hole early if not for problems in the red zone. The team hopes to get Pamphile back on the field soon but is pleased to see Benenoch's progress, as he may be counted on to fill in again.
"I feel like he's on a similar track as Kevin Pamphile," said Koetter of Benenoch's development. "I wasn't here in 2014, but 2015 [Pamphile] did will. He played a lot of positions and did a solid job and then this year he stepped in as a starter and done a really nice job. Hopefully we can get him back here pretty quick. But Caleb, he's just missed so much time with missing OTAs because of the school thing and then hurt in preseason and then you just don't get a lot of reps right now until all of a sudden you have to play and this is real. This is real football, real speed, real physicality."
3. As injuries have tested the Buccaneers' depth, veteran cornerback Alterraun Verner is one of the latest reserves to play well in a relief role.
The Buccaneers dealt with a large number of injuries during the first half of the season but no more than several other teams in the league. In Tampa Bay's case, the difficulty came from the fact that the ailments were heavily clustered around the defensive line and running back positions. Quietly, several other units went mostly unscathed, including the offensive line and cornerback positions.
The O-Line, as noted above, has dealt with its own adversity in the last two weeks, and on Sunday in Kansas City the cornerback crew finally had to make some adjustments. Starter Brent Grimes, who is among the NFL leaders in passes defensed, was sidelined by a quad injury in the first quarter, and the Buccaneers turned to Alterraun Verner.
Pictures from the Buccaneers' Week 11 matchup with the Chiefs.

45 TE Alan Cross

3 QB Jameis Winston

24 CB Brent Grimes

3 QB Jameis Winston

98 DT Clinton McDonald and #58 LB Kwon Alexander

13 WR Mike Evans

13 WR Mike Evans

3 QB Jameis Winston

3 QB Jameis Winston

58 LB Kwon Alexander

58 LB Kwon Alexander and #98 DT Clinton McDonald

58 LB Kwon Alexander

3 QB Jameis Winston

13 WR Mike Evans

3 QB Jameis Winston and #68 C Joe Hawley

3 QB Jameis Winston

3 QB Jameis Winston

3 QB Jameis Winston

84 TE Cameron Brate

13 WR Mike Evans

13 WR Mike Evans

9 P Bryan Anger and #19 K Roberto Aguayo

3 QB Jameis Winston

Head Coach Dirk Koetter

Head Coach Dirk Koetter and #3 QB Jameis Winston

22 RB Doug Martin

37 S Keith Tandy

45 TE Alan Cross

3 QB Jameis Winston, #45 TE Alan Cross, and #82 TE Brandon Myers

23 S Chris Conte

28 CB Vernon Hargreaves

22 RB Doug Martin

89 WR Russell Shepard

10 WR Cecil Shorts

84 TE Cameron Brate

13 WR Mike Evans

98 DT Clinton McDonald

22 RB Doug Martin

22 RB Doug Martin

22 RB Doug Martin

22 RB Doug Martin

9 P Bryan Anger and #19 K Roberto Aguayo

54 LB Lavonte David and #38 CB Jude Adjei-Barimah

21 CB Alterraun Verner

54 LB Lavonte David and #21 CB Alterraun Verner

22 RB Doug Martin

13 WR Mike Evans

3 QB Jameis Winston

3 QB Jameis Winston

23 S Chris Conte and #30 S Bradley McDougald

23 S Chris Conte

23 S Chris Conte

3 QB Jameis Winston

69 OT Demar Dotson and #3 QB Jameis Winston

89 WR Russell Shepard

3 QB Jameis Winston

Head Coach Dirk Koetter

45 TE Alan Cross

45 TE Alan Cross

89 WR Russell Shepard and #26 CB Josh Robinson

58 LB Kwon Alexander and #54 LB Lavonte David

3 QB Jameis Winston

Head Coach Dirk Koetter

58 LB Kwon Alexander and #30 S Bradley McDougald

Bucs vs Chiefs

11 WR Adam Humphries

22 RB Doug Martin

58 LB Kwon Alexander

58 LB Kwon Alexander

3 QB Jameis Winston

3 QB Jameis Winston

23 S Chris Conte and Head Coach Dirk Koetter

3 QB Jameis Winston

Head Coach Dirk Koetter

3 QB Jameis Winston
Unlike Benenoch and Gottschalk on the O-Line, Verner is no untested rookie. He played four seasons in Tennessee, making the Pro Bowl in 2013, before signing with the Buccaneers as an unrestricted free agent in 2014. Verner started all 14 games he played in his first year as a Buc, then another six last year during a season of secondary upheaval in Tampa. He owns 14 career interceptions.
Since he lost his spot as an every-game starter last year, Verner has been the consummate team player, and he has kept himself prepared for the inevitable moment when his services would be needed again on defense. That moment came Sunday, and Verner answered the call well. Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill got behind Verner for a 42-yard gain in the second quarter but the secondary otherwise limited the big play.
"I know Alterraun has not been happy with [playing time], not as a complainer or anything but he's playing behind two other corners and he's played a lot of football in this league and here we are five plays into the game and [Brent] Grimes can't go anymore," said Koetter. "Alterraun came in and played a heck of a game. Other than one pass, he made some tackles, had some pass breakups, was in position all day."
Verner's unselfish approach to this situation is indicative of how the Bucs' depth has served the team well this year, particularly of late.
"Let's face it, in real life, everybody's willing to play their role, but everyone wants a slice of the pie too," said Koetter. "And it's easier to do the grunt work, do the dirty work when you're getting some of the glory. When you win, there's usually enough to go around. Everybody wants a ball thrown to them, everyone wants to touch the ball, everyone wants to be at the point of attack on a run play, everybody wants to blitz off the edge, everyone wants hear their name called out there, that's just human nature. And these last two games, we've been doing a really good job as a football team of playing our roles."