KC Chiefs: Five keys to victory vs Titans in AFC Championship Game

Number 4 – Get ahead and don’t look back

The best defense is an overpowering offense. The recipe to limit Henry and the way Titans want to play is to get up by multiple scores in the first quarter.

In a perfect world, Kansas City receives the opening kickoff and smacks Tennessee in the mouth with a touchdown drive, but we know the Chiefs luck with coin tosses. By scoring early and often, it would limit the Titans ability to take the air out of the ball and ensure more responsibility from Ryan Tannehill, who has yet to prove anything this postseason.

Andy Reid must control the controllable and take advantage of each possession. The Chiefs want this to be a shootout, as we witnessed last week. If the game turns into a time possession battle, Tennessee gains the upper hand and can put the game away with ease.

The nerves that come with the postseason combined with taking a week off nearly caught up with the Chiefs in the Divisional Round. The Travis Kelce drop in the first quarter was an early indication that the team was scared to death to lose another home playoff game. Demarcus Robinson would subsequently drop two more passes after that, combined with a Tyreek Hill muffed punt.

All these devastating plays normally lead to postseason suicide, but not even fate could derail Patrick Mahomes. Odds are, those mistakes cannot be repeated in Sunday’s showdown. It seems like the game is destined to either be a close Titans win or a Chiefs blowout, with the outcome all depending on what happens in the first few possessions.