Chiefs’ Anthony Hitchens ready to go head-to-head with Tom Brady in Super Bowl LV
The job responsibility of slowing down Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady in Super Bowl LV may sound like a daunting task.
But Kansas City Chiefs middle linebacker Anthony Hitchens, the team’s defensive captain, views the challenge as a great opportunity going against a four-time Super Bowl MVP.
Whoever gets the best of the matchup very well could determine if the Chiefs win their second straight Super Bowl or if Brady further cements his GOAT status with his seventh Super Bowl championship.
“It means a lot growing up and watching him play in all of the Super Bowls and the MVPs and championships he’s won and all the records he has,” Hitchens said. “We all know he’s going to the Hall of Fame. To be able to line up against him and make my calls as the middle linebacker of the defense vs. him is truly an honor and a blessing.”
In the play-calling sense, Hitchens is the Brady of the Chiefs’ defense. The seventh-year linebacker makes the play calls, then defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo trusts Hitchens to make adjustments to the Chiefs’ coverages as he sees fit at the line of scrimmage.
Against Brady, a master of making adjustments of his own at the line of scrimmage, Hitchens’ ability to adjust on the fly against the Tampa Bay quarterback will be crucial on Sunday.
“I just think the film work,” Hitchens said as the key to being able to do that. “Just knowing that (Brady) is going to win some downs and knowing we’ve got to win some downs to win the game. It’s going to be checkdowns here and there, so just trying to listen to what he’s saying and directing his line or calling hot routes.”
Of course, Hitchens and Spagnuolo already have a game plan devised to make those reads harder for Brady.
“I think it starts with our safety disguises in coverages and you can throw the linebackers in there as well,” Hitchens said. “Just showing him one thing and then rotating or coming from a different side is key. Tom Brady has done seen every coverage multiple times by now, so we have show him one thing and then do another. Show him strong and then come weak. Rotate from Cover 2 to Cover 3. Just make his reads a little more muddier pre-snap.”
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