Buccaneers edge defender Shaq Barrett made some waves in the Chiefs' locker room with some comments he made ahead of the "Sunday Night Football" duel between the two teams.
Barrett was asked about facing Kansas City for the first time since Tampa Bay dominated the Chiefs 31-9 in Super Bowl 55. Specifically, he was asked how he thought the Chiefs' offensive line — which underwent an overhaul after that game and had five new starters — would fare against the Bucs' pass rush.
Barrett believed that the edge still belonged to the Buccaneers in that battle.
"I really don’t think it’s too much of a difference," he said at a news conference. "I think we have a lot of favorable matchups. I think we have an opportunity to really dominate the game.
We’ve got an opportunity to really impose our will as pass rushers, edge rushers in this game. We can really have like a coming-out party. I know we had six sacks the other game, but we can really have a coming-out party as edge defenders in the position group for this game.
Barrett may have viewed his comments as harmless, but the Kansas City offensive line made it known after their 41-31 win over the Buccaneers that they had heard Barrett loud and clear.
“We heard what he said,” left tackle Orlando Brown said, per Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star. “It was bulletin-board material. ... We all know what he said.”
NFL POWER RANKINGS: Chiefs rise after offensive explosion vs. Buccaneers
Specifically, Brown and Co. were peeved that Barrett dismissed the Chiefs' line and said there wasn't "too much of a difference" between it and the one from Super Bowl 55.
As Brown pointed out, there were five new starters on that group. And four of them hadn't been with the team at the time that Super Bowl was played.
"A lot of moves were made after that loss against Tampa Bay in the Super Bowl. Obviously, some guys lost their jobs — and others came in and got opportunities like myself," Brown said. "But, man, we took it personal. We take it very personally as an offensive line, especially when the spotlight is on us."
Brown may have been the most boisterous of the linemen after the game, but the Chiefs took action that showed how much they appreciated their offensive line's play during the game.
MORE: Patrick Mahomes' latest magic act capitvates Chiefs' teammates — "the Houdini of our era"
Notably, coach Andy Reid entered the locker room while reporters were speaking with the linemen and shook the hands of each starter, along with Mahomes.
Speaking of the quarterback, he was particularly complimentary of his blockers and lauded their performance as a key part of the offense's success.
"They accepted the challenge,'' Mahomes said of his offensive line. "They made our team roll today. That's a great defense, a great defensive line. I think they heard the talking and they heard the talking not only from [the Bucs] but from everybody about how they didn't play well last week. They accepted that challenge, and they went out there; and when they dominate like that, it makes my job a lot easier.''
The Chiefs' offensive line wasn't perfect. It still surrendered three sacks, but one was on a Hail Mary to end the first half. And the three sacks were also the second-fewest totaled by the Buccaneers in their four games to open the season.
IYER: Chiefs' offense shows they're better than ever in win vs. Buccaneers
But did the Chiefs' performance do enough to change Barrett's mind about the ability of Kansas City's line? It didn't seem like it.
"Respect to them. They did what they were supposed to do," Barrett told McDowell after the game. "But we were playing from behind the whole game, so they were able to stick with their game plan with quick passes. They didn’t really do too much — five-step drops — to give us time to get after them, but we still were able to get after him some."
Nor did it seem like he regretted his comments about the Chiefs' blockers.
"There’s no regret about anything I said," Barrett said after a laugh. "No regret. They had a great game plan. They executed that great game plan."
The Chiefs don't play the Buccaneers again until 2024. So, unless they meet in the Super Bowl or Barrett lands on another team before then, they will have to wait a while to make him change his tone.
