TAMPA, Fla. — Retreating Tampa Bay Buccaneers Leonard Fournette recalls passing dead bodies as he waded through the flooded streets of his hometown of New Orleans in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina struck.
He was 10 at the time and lived on a bridge with his family for almost a week, he said, and they looted local grocery stores to survive. When Fournette, now 27, was evacuated to the Miami area last week ahead of Hurricane Ian, that moment brought back memories he wishes he could forget.
“I know how serious it is, I know how it can get worse,” Fournette said in a news conference last week. “I’m just glad we got out of there — that our families and everyone is safe.”
Once projected to hit Tampa, Ian’s path changed, leaving the city essentially unscathed. This allowed the Buccaneers to host Kansas City Sunday night as originally scheduled, a game Kansas City won 41-31.
Patrick Mahomes threw for 249 yards and three touchdowns and one interception. He favored tight end Travis Kelce, who caught nine passes for 92 yards. The Buccaneers’ Tom Brady finished with 385 passing yards and three touchdowns while completing 39 of his 52 attempts.
In a reboot of Super Bowl LV, Kansas City and its revamped offense put on an impressive performance, while Brady and the Buccaneers now face questions after another unequal game.
As a precaution for the storm, Buccaneers players, coaches, staff and their families fled last week and trained in Miami Gardens at the Dolphins’ facility, which was available because the team was playing on the street Thursday night. There, players, coaches and officials tried to prepare for a tough opponent while wondering if the hurricane would sweep their homes away. Linebacker Devin White, a keen horseman, was worried about his horse stable.
“I think my barn is more expensive than my house, so I think my barn is built for things like that,” White said.
The NFL chose US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis as the emergency site because their home team, the Vikings, played New Orleans in London on Sunday. But the storm’s path turned south, striking Fort Myers and the surrounding areas instead of Tampa. The airport and most other businesses that had closed before the hurricane resumed normal operations on Friday.
A league spokesman said Thursday that state and local officials “encouraged” the NFL to hold the game because of the lack of damage at Raymond James Stadium. Mayor Jane Castor of Tampa released a statement saying the city can responsibly host the game while providing assistance to other areas of Florida where the hurricane killed at least 80 people and caused billions of dollars in damage. Fans on Sunday raised their cellphone flashlights in a moment of silence for victims, and Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles wore a white shirt that read “Florida Strong.”
“We were incredibly fortunate that the Tampa Bay area was spared the worst of Hurricane Ian and are sending Tampa Police and Firefighters to our southwest Florida neighbors who need resources and assistance,” Castor said in the statement. “While we will take root in our Bucs team this Sunday, our hearts and resources go out to the families and business owners who have been devastated by Hurricane Ian.”
The natural disaster overshadowed a marquee matchup between two of the league’s best teams. At their home turf in February 2021, the Buccaneers beat Kansas City 31-9 to win Super Bowl LV, where the Tampa Bay defense netted Mahomes multiple times and had three sacks.
Both teams have changed since then. Kansas City strengthened its offensive line but traded fast star receiver Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins in March amid a contract dispute.
The Buccaneers’ Brady, the 45-year-old quarterback who retired this offseason and did not retire, threw to a receiving corps without Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown, who were key weapons during this Super Bowl. Bowles became head coach in March after Bruce Arians retired and took up a front office role.
But Mahomes didn’t seem to miss Hill as Kansas City took a 21-3 lead early in the second quarter. The team scored a touchdown in two games after the Buccaneers bungled the opening kickoff at their 21-yard line. With 11 minutes and 26 seconds left in the first half, Mahomes escaped the pressure, pivoted around White and flicked the ball to running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, leveling the score at 21-3 after the extra point. They scored again about nine minutes later when Noah Gray snapped under center after hinting at a 1-yard touchdown.
But Tampa Bay kept it competitive. Brady found receiver Mike Evans, who came back from a one-game suspension for his participation in a Sept. 18 brawl against the Saints for two touchdowns in the second quarter. The two connected for a 1-yard reception on a fade route over cornerback Jaylen Watson just before the two-minute caution, taking the halftime score to 28-17.
Kansas City broke up in the second half with two field goals and another touchdown pass thrown by Mahomes.
For Kansas City, the game enforced his belief that the offense can win without Hill. Eight different players caught a pass from Mahomes, including JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling, which the team acquired freehand during the offseason.
The Buccaneers, on the other hand, had been led by their defense in the last two games but the unit struggled against Mahomes. Tampa Bay conceded more points than their first three games combined while the offense ran just 3 yards.