KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tyrann Mathieu might not be the first defender quarterback Tom Brady looks for before each Tampa Bay Buccaneers snap in Super Bowl LV against the Kansas City Chiefs.
But Mathieu, who is listed at safety but plays as many snaps at slot cornerback, will usually be the last. Knowing where Mathieu is and what he might be up to on every play could be the difference between Brady’s seventh career Lombardi Trophy and the Chiefs’ second in a row.
“He’ll change the game,” Brady said this week as the teams continued their preparations for Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET, CBS). “I really love him as a player. I think he’s got great ball-hawking abilities. He seems like he always comes up with the biggest plays at the biggest moments.
“You’d better believe I’ll have an idea where he’s at on every play because I’m not going to let him just roam around and make a bunch of plays. I’m sure he’ll make his fair share but hopefully I can keep the ball out of his hands.”
That’s been difficult for opposing quarterbacks this season. Mathieu has seven interceptions, including one against the Cleveland Browns in the Chiefs’ divisional-round playoff win and one against Brady during Kansas City’s Week 12 victory over the Bucs.
Locating Mathieu before the snap isn’t as simple as it sounds. He moves around a lot pre-snap to disguise his intentions and usually isn’t in the same place for long.
Only one NFL player has lined up for at least 300 snaps at slot corner and safety in a season over the past five years and that’s Mathieu, who has done it in 2020 as well as 2019 and 2018.
“The beginning of recognizing what they’re up to is knowing where he is and what he’s up to,” Tampa Bay quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen said. “A lot of times you don’t know that until after the ball’s snapped, which makes it more difficult for a quarterback. You just have to be able to account for him.
“You have to know where he is. I think those two safeties, especially Tyrann, are the keys to this defense and they use him extremely well and they use him in a lot of different roles. He can do a lot of different things. He can cover man, he tackles, he blitzes, he does all of those things.”
Mathieu has showed his versatility in the Chiefs’ two playoff games. Against the Browns in the divisional round, he excelled in pass coverage. Mathieu allowed minus-5 yards in coverage on six targets, according to Pro Football Focus. He had an interception when he peeled off the receiver he was covering to head in front of the intended target, Jarvis Landry.
Honey Badger takes what he wants 🍯🦡
📺: https://t.co/F3ZHh8BQRq pic.twitter.com/Yi0K9kWNqK
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 17, 2021
Mathieu was a pass-rusher in the AFC Championship Game against the Buffalo Bills. He had a season-high three quarterback pressures.
“If I could pick one guy to play every position, it’d be him because he has so many tools available to him,” Chiefs safety Daniel Sorensen said. “He’s a very cerebral player. He plays with great eyes and instincts.
“He elevates everybody around him because he communicates. He’s got great preparation and great instincts. He can help you be in the best position. He can make up for guys that make mistakes. I love playing with him and practicing with him.”
Blitzing is easier for Mathieu because regardless of position — slot corner or safety — he’s never far from the ball. When at safety, he lined up an average of 10.3 yards from the line of scrimmage, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Just two others among 79 safeties with at least 200 snaps lined up closer.
Though he’s been mostly a slot corner or a safety this season, Mathieu has lined up almost everywhere in the Chiefs’ defense, including linebacker and even defensive tackle. He was more of a slot corner early in the season when the Chiefs were going through injuries and a suspension. Lately, he’s played more at safety.
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said when Mathieu first joined the Chiefs as a free agent in 2019, they were concerned they were giving him too much to learn. But he learned the defensive scheme so quickly they kept expanding his role. Spagnuolo said Mathieu’s versatility helped the Chiefs expand their scheme beyond what they had planned.
“There are some things that we do with him now that I don’t recall us doing in prior places,” Spagnuolo said. “Really, that’s because, first and foremost, him from the chin to the hairline, you’re talking about an intelligent football player that loves it. You know that if you feed something to Tyrann, he’s going to get it and he’s going to know why. In the game of football, we lay out all of these plans and you go from Monday to Saturday and into Sunday, but things change so quick on game day. The one thing about Tyrann is you can go over to him and say, ‘Let’s tweak this or do that.’ He knows exactly why and he does it.
“He’s great to have. A guy like that, we all focus on what he does, the stats, gets interceptions, tackles and the whole thing. To me, one of the greatest things about having a guy like that is he makes the other 10 better. I truly believe that he does that with our unit because of the confidence that they have in him and the communication and plays he’s going to make.”
.@Mathieu_Era off the deflected pass! #ChiefsKingdom
📺: #KCvsTB on CBS
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/eTeTQUzogq pic.twitter.com/ceQS500t6o— NFL (@NFL) November 29, 2020
Mathieu has five interceptions in his past seven games, starting with an interception against Brady and the Bucs in Week 12. He attributed the flurry of picks to his increased film study.
“A lot of it is really based off that,” Mathieu said. “I don’t think a lot of quarterbacks just really throw the ball at me, I think it’s more schematic and trying to find a way to get the receiver open. But once you’re able to kind of diagnose the route concepts and the patterns, I just try to put myself in a position to make a play.
“There’s a lot that goes into it as far as the preparation, IDing formations, IDing key players at certain positions. So much of defense is us reacting to them. Any time you see a clear picture, you just try to put yourself in the best position possible to have an impact on a play.”
Mathieu’s interception against Brady earlier in the season came off a deflected pass. But Mathieu was in great position and might have made the pick even if the ball hadn’t been tipped.
“I can tell he watches a lot of film,” Brady said. “He’s in on the quarterback. He wants to know what that quarterback is doing. There’s a lot of versatility. He played corner in college. He played safety, he played nickel [in the NFL]. So he can cover guys. He can cover tight ends. He can cover receivers. He can blitz.”
Christensen has coached in the NFL for more than 20 season but said the only player he can recall with Mathieu’s combination of skills is former Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed, now a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“They had a little wild card to them,” Christensen said. “You’re not 100% sure what they’re going to do. That’s always harder. They’re not predictable. Ed Reed was a master of that and I think Tyrann is kind of in the same vein.
“It is the beginning of attacking the Kansas City defense that you better know where he is and what he’s up to.”