Buccaneers’ Shaq Barrett ready for Pat Mahomes in Super Bowl
Shaquil Barrett sacked Aaron Rodgers three times and fellow Tampa Bay outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul added two to help the Buccaneers win the NFC championship two weeks ago in Green Bay.
They know they will need to deliver a similar performance against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs should they want to win the Super Bowl at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., on Sunday.
“It wasn’t a rough draft, I would say it was pretty close to a final essay with Mahomes and Rodgers,” Barrett said Monday. “They’re both really similar. They’re practically the same. They do the same things. It’s just that Mahomes is a little younger version of him. Getting to him is going to be important for us.”
While Tom Brady and the Buccaneers’ offense draws much of the attention, their defensive front is one of the best in the league. Barrett and Pierre-Paul anchor a ferocious pass rush on a defense that surrenders very little in the run game.
The unit finished tied for fourth in the league in sacks and hasn’t slowed down in the postseason.
“We’re not letting this go by without giving it everything we have,” Barrett said. “It’s going to take guys doing a little bit more, getting off a block and making a play. It’s going to take a little bit extra and we’ve got that in us.”
Their responsibilities change a bit week-to-week based on the opponent, but all eyes will be on No. 15 in the Chiefs’ backfield this week.
“Most definitely to keep him in the pocket,” Barrett said of the key objective in trying to get after Mahomes. “That’s where he’s amazing— out the pocket. He can make every throw. He’s just got it all, so we’re just going to try to keep him in the pocket.
“That’s why I like the way we rush— with me and JPP— it’s perfect. But I also have to dial it back a little bit because I don’t want to give him no B-Gap at all. I don’t want him to think he can escape through nowhere. If I don’t cleanly beat my guy, I’ll turn it into a power rush to keep him inside.”
Barrett has experience against Mahomes and in the Super Bowl. He was part of the Broncos’ team that lost to Mahomes in his NFL debut in the 2017 regular-season finale, then saw him again twice in 2018. Barrett also played for the 2015 champion Broncos, logging 49 snaps in the Super Bowl win over the Panthers.
One of the things he took away from that game was how Von Miller delivered a pep talk the night before the game.
“He was determined to get it by any means, wouldn’t let failure be an option,” Barrett recalls. “And that’s what I’m on right now. We came too close to start next year without a ring. So we’ve got to work for it this week, keep everyone with high energy and then just execute.”
That hasn’t been an issue for Barrett since arriving in Tampa for the 2019 season. After spending a year on Denver’s practice squad and four as an understudy to DeMarcus Ware and Miller, Barrett found instant success with the Buccaneers.
He led the league with 19.5 sacks in his first year in Tampa. He had eight in the regular season this year before breaking out with the three-sack performance last week to tie Warren Sapp’s franchise mark for sacks in a postseason game.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Barrett has beaten his block in less than two seconds 10 times this postseason. That’s the most in a single year since they started tracking the data four years ago.
Now Barrett hopes to keep it going with the kind of Super Bowl performance that would further solidify his future. Barrett played the last two seasons on one-year deals. He hopes to work out a long-term deal with the Buccaneers this offseason.
“I’m not nervous because I do expect things to go well here, and I don’t expect to go anywhere else,” said the former Colorado State star, who has been renting a home with his wife and kids the last two years. “I just can’t wait to get it done so we can purchase a home and start building our life here. We’re excited to be able to start laying roots.”
Then it’s time to start getting to work on his legacy, which Barrett cited as one of his most important goals as a football player.
A second ring at age 28 would be a good foundation to build upon.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.