The Kansas City Chiefs will be on the road this week as they face the 4-5 Tennessee Titans. A couple of big names should return for Kansas City this week, including Patrick Mahomes.
Here are five things to watch for against the Titans:
Patrick Mahomes’ return
It’s official — Mahomes will return from injury and start against the Titans unless unforeseen circumstances arise. It will be interesting how the offense looks since Mahomes has missed the past two-and-a-half weeks, but he has practiced, so hopefully he can pick up where he left off as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
Keep an eye out for his mobility because he’ll be wearing a knee brace for this game. A lot of his game is his ability to escape the pocket and extend plays. It’s been less than a month since he dislocated his kneecap, so I would imagine that he extra careful to not overdo it and play it safe in certain situations.
Andy Reid will likely call the game a little differently with Mahomes’ knee in mind. He’ll have a game plan designed to get the ball out of Mahomes’ hands fast to ensure that he doesn’t get hit. We could also see Reid give Mahomes some extra protection from the tight ends and running backs as insurance.
Stopping the Titans’ rushing game
The Chiefs have done a good job defending the run the last few weeks, but they will have another big test against the Titans, who have a couple of good running backs in Derrick Henry and Dion Lewis.
The Titans’ run game hasn’t been super impressive this season — Henry and Lewis are only averaging 3.9 and 3.8 yards per carry, respectively. Opposing teams have emphasized getting their running backs involved against the Chiefs, and we shouldn’t expect that to change against the Titans. They will rely on the run game to make sure that limit the amount of time Mahomes sees the field and it will also help with the limitations they have at quarterback with Ryan Tannehill.
The good news is that the Chiefs have actually been getting better against the run since being the worst team in the NFL the first six weeks of the season. Last week they held Dalvin Cook, who leads the NFL in rushing, to only 71 yards rushing and 45 yards receiving.
Which running back takes the lead
One of the biggest questions on the offense this week is who the featured running back will be. Even without Mahomes, the Chiefs still mostly relied on the passing game the past few weeks, but it’s nice to have a running back who is capable of making some big plays when called upon. That is exactly what Damien Williams was able to do last week — he had 125 yards rushing, including a 91-yard touchdown. The problem is that besides that long touchdown run, he only averaged 3.1 yards a carry.
The Chiefs could lean more toward LeSean McCoy, who has been the featured running back for the majority of the season, but his age and his inability to hang on to the ball recently are reasons why he has taken the back seat.
The Chiefs will likely give both a few carries early and go with the hot hand. I can see the Chiefs leaning on the running game more this week against the Titans as a way to keep Mahomes from getting hit.
Ryan Tannehill shouldn’t be ignored
Tannehill isn’t a name that would make most Chiefs fans sweat, but he has played pretty well since taking over for Marcus Mariota. Tannehill has improved the Titans’ offense, which has helped them win two of their last three games. The only loss came against the Panthers, who have a really good defense. The Panthers were able to force Tannehill to throw two interceptions, but otherwise he has done well since becoming the starter — his average passer rating is 99.7.
Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said during his press conference on Thursday that Tannehill shouldn’t be taken for granted. He has started 91 games in his career, and Spagnuolo doesn’t view him as a backup replacing a starter. Instead, he’s a player who can extend plays and cause some headaches for the Chiefs defense. The secondary and pass rush will need to keep up to ensure those headaches don’t occur.
Titans’ passing defense
The Tennesee pass defense has been one of their bright spots of their season and are statistically in the top 10. They are No. 7 in opposing quarterback ratings, No. 8 in completion percentage and No. 10 in passing yards per attempt.
If it weren’t for it being Mahomes’ first week returning from injury, the good secondary play wouldn’t very frightening, but we aren’t sure what we will see from him. If Mahomes looks uncomfortable, this defensive secondary could be a challenge.
It should also be taken into consideration that one of the Titans’ starting cornerbacks, Malcolm Butler, was just put on injured reserve. Hopefully, this makes things easier for the Chiefs and gives Mahomes a target to exploit in what has been a mostly solid unit.
