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Three Takeaways from Chiefs-Titans on Sunday Night Football

Chris Mitchell

The Kansas City Chiefs are 6-2 after beating the Tennessee Titans 20-17 in overtime. Here’s three takeaways from that ballgame:

 

This Chiefs Defense Bowed Up When They Needed It Most

The task itself was brutal but simple: Key in on the run, contain Derrick Henry, force Malik Willis to beat you. You do all those things if you’re the Chiefs defense, you skirt out of Sunday Night Football with a feel-good win. The results were a little less than stellar as Derrick Henry got 115 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns, but at this point in the Titans’ life-cycle, that is just gonna happen to you whether you’re prepared or not. It’s a fact of life that Derrick Henry is gonna go crazy, just mitigate the damage and move on. The most puzzling bit, though, was the defense’s issues with trying to frazzle Malik Willis:

Whatever they were doing in the first half though, the Chiefs defense was able to flip the script and get the Titans offense all the way off schedule. The Titans kicked just one field goal in the entire second half/overtime period, and the Chiefs pass rush sans Frank Clark was able to get all up in Malik Willis’s business and got him on the turf for three sacks, two of which came on the Titans’ last possession of the game.

The fact that this depleted on the front end, young on the back end defense was able to hold it down and give the Chiefs offense a shot to get back in it and win it is a testament to this unit’s resolve and made it known that they would not be caught in a letdown spot. Something to keep an eye on down the stretch.

 

The Chiefs Offensive Line is Still Too Good at Giving Up Pressures

This offensive line is, for lack of a better word, expensive. Sure there isn’t a whole lot of money put into it right now, but at some point rent is gonna come due on some of the younger pieces like Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith, as well as the need to make a decision on guys like Orlando Brown Jr who’s currently holding down the Left Tackle spot. That’s a lot to throw at any front office, but what makes the task even more daunting is the issue this line continues to have trouble keeping Mahomes clean.

Credit where credit is due, though. Mike Vrabel cut his teeth on being a defensive coordinator so it’s no surprise a coach like him could see the vision in dialing up the right pressures to keep the Chiefs offense off balance all night. That also comes with a very talented defense spearheaded by some of the best defensive players in the league (and some of my personal favorites) in Jeffery Simmons and Denico Autry. All this allowed the Titans to make their hay without overcommitting multiple pass rushers on too many blitzes that the Chiefs and Mahomes are so good at exploiting for extra yardage. They did a very respectable job frustrating the hell out of the offense and came extremely close to giving them a letdown spot fresh off the bye week.

That didn’t happen, though, because…

 

PATRICK MAHOMES IS THE KING OF THE MONSTERS

How about some clips of Mahomes carrying the team on his back?

Oh you want some plays from Overtime? Yeah I got a couple of those:

509 total yards, two touchdowns (still leading the league in passing TDs and passing yards, btw), and a two point conversion. No two ways about it, Mahomes can just will the W into existence, almost out of thin air. In a game where the receivers couldn’t get open, where the run game had issues getting off the ground, and where the Titans were causing havoc without sending extra defenders, Mahomes did it his damn self and kept the Chiefs alive and clinched the victory. Now, all of a sudden, that race for the top of the AFC is widening itself just a little bit after the results from this weekend of the NFL. Can the Chiefs pounce on that opportunity? Given the pedigree of their most important player, I think I like their chances.

 

Up next…it’s the Jacksonville Jaguars visiting Arrowhead next Sunday at 12pm.

 

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