Andy Reid Takes Responsibility for Chiefs' Blowout Loss to Bucs in Super Bowl 55

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid didn't want the blame for his team's 31-9 Super Bowl loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to fall on anyone but him.

Reid took full responsibility for the loss Sunday after one of the top offenses in football was held without a touchdown while constant pocket pressure forced quarterback Patrick Mahomes to scramble more than he'd like.

"I could have done a better job of putting our guys in better position," Reid told reporters. "... I'm not going to lay it on the offensive line. When we lose, we all lose together on this."

The Chiefs averaged 415.8 yards per game in 2020, including 543 yards of offense against the Bucs when the two teams met in a late-November game Kansas City won, 27-24.

Tampa Bay's game plan completely changed in the two months between those games.

K.C. was held to 350 yards of offense with just 243 of them coming on passing plays. That's well below what the Chiefs were expecting out of a unit led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, though placing starting left tackle Eric Fisher on injured reserve a day before kickoff certainly didn't help matters.

According to Next Gen Stats (h/t ESPN Stats & Info), Mahomes scrambled for a total of 497 yards before attempting a pass or taking a sack. That's the most by any quarterback in any game this year.

Reid gave credit to Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles for disrupting the Chiefs offense once the game was decided.

"[Bowles] played zone on first and second down," Reid explained. "Mixed it up on third down, and we weren't able to handle it too well."

That zone defense allowed Tampa's cornerbacks to keep big-play threats like wideout Tyreek Hill from using his speed to his advantage and helped make him almost unnoticeable Sunday. Hill recorded seven catches for 73 yards but was hardly able to make them count.

No one outside of Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce (10 catches, 133 yards) looked effective on offense. It's a scenario not even Reid imagined he'd have to prepare for.

"I didn't anticipate this happening," Reid said.

It's hard to believe many around the NFL did, either.