Offensive and defensive players to watch in Chiefs vs. Titans

The Kansas City Chiefs will look to roll their momentum from last week into Tennessee as they face the Titans on Sunday.

The Chiefs have had a lot of different players step up the last few weeks as they’ve dealt with key injuries. They have played with a sense of urgency and with a chip on their shoulders. Now that they’re getting healthier, Kansas City looks poised to return to their AFC powerhouse form.

Let’s take a look at one player from each side of the ball who could make a difference against the Titans.

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Offense – QB Patrick Mahomes

The moment Chiefs fans have been waiting for is upon us as Mahomes is expected to make his return from a knee injury against the Titans. Before he went down in Week 7, Mahomes was having another MVP-caliber season.

Through the first six weeks, he led the NFL in passing yards and had 15 touchdown passes to just one interception. Mahomes has been as active as possible while recovering from his injury, including lightly practicing each week. Because he missed only two games, rust shouldn’t be much of a factor, if at all.

Tennessee has a solid defense, but the Chiefs are battle-hardened because they have faced many tough defensive units this season. As long as Mahomes is healthy, there’s currently no reason to believe he’ll play any less than his usual elite level.

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Defense – DT Derrick Nnadi

After a shaky first few weeks, Nnadi has taken huge strides and is one of the biggest reasons for the improvement against the run for the defense. He is a big body (6-1, 312 pounds) who is tough to move and clogs up a lot of space.

So far this season Nnadi has 35 combined tackles, which is one more than he had in all of 2018. He also has three QB hurries, one sack and a forced fumble. Last week against the Minnesota Vikings he was graded in the top 40 among all defensive linemen by Pro Football Focus.

This week against the Titans, he’ll be facing perhaps the worst offensive line in the league. The Titans have surrendered the most sacks in the NFL and are averaging just 3.9 yards per carry. Expect another good day for Nnadi.