The Tennessee Titans were doubted in the majority of the games they played in 2019, and that’s certainly extended into the postseason.
This week is no different, as the Titans are considered underdogs by a point spread of (-7.5).
The Chiefs haven’t lost a game since they fell to Tennessee in Week 10, putting together an impressive string of seven victories over some strong teams.
But the Titans have a chance to snap the winning streak as they make their way to Arrowhead Stadium.
Here are three reasons the Titans will beat the Chiefs on Sunday.
1. The success of RB Derrick Henry.
The former Alabama rusher has been virtually unstoppable, and the Titans will undoubtedly be handing the ball off to him several times in this matchup.
The 6-foot-3, 247-pounder is difficult to tackle and showcases tremendous speed for his size, even though Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark said this week he saw Henry as “not hard to hit.”
Against the Chiefs in Week 10, Henry rushed for 188 yards and two touchdowns.
Henry ended the regular season with the league’s rushing title, and has seemingly only gotten better since.
He had 182 yards on 34 carries against the sixth-best run defense in the NFL, and 195 yards on 30 carries against the fifth-best rushing defense in the league.
Now, he’ll go up against a Kansas City defense that ranks 26th in rushing yards allowed.
It will be interesting to see how the matchup between the rusher and the Kansas City Chiefs defense, and you can almost guarantee that Clark will be eating his words when it’s all said and done.
2. Been there, done that.
Beating the Chiefs is nothing the Titans haven’t done before.
In fact, they’ve done it quite recently.
Back on Nov. 10, Tennessee defeated Kansas City in a 35-32 thriller in Nissan Stadium. The question as to whether or not quarterback Patrick Mahomes would take the field was a big one in the week leading up to the game, and it would have been easy to discount the victory if he hadn’t ultimately been in the lineup.
But Mahomes was indeed there, and had a solid game at that, completing 36-of-50 passes for 446 yards with three touchdowns.
The Titans have a chance to repeat their success on Sunday, and to record their fifth consecutive win over the Chiefs.
Kansas City has not beaten Tennessee since October of 2013.
3. Key takeaways.
Tough matchups like this one so often come down to turnovers, and that could be the case this week.
Tennessee has been good in this category as of late, intercepting do-everything quarterback Lamar Jackson twice, and both forced and recovered a fumble off of the signal-caller in the team’s latest 28-12 postseason win.
The Titans also forced an interception returned for a touchdown off of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady on 20-13 victory in their first playoff game of the season.
Mahomes is going to need to be aware of names like Kevin Byard, Kenny Vaccaro and Logan Ryan within a stout Titans secondary.
