KC Chiefs: Five keys to victory vs Titans in AFC Championship Game
By Gage Stagner
Number 2 – Tennessee only has a couple other weapons, don’t let them beat you
Before Henry was getting 30 carries a game, the Titans ran a lot of play action involving downfield throws to their star rookie A.J. Brown. While Brown is especially dynamic, his featured role is due to a lack of surrounding talent.
The weapons have been even more scarce in the postseason because of Adam Humphries‘ absence. Henry will still probably get his 30 touches if all things go well for Tennessee, but the Chiefs cannot let Brown and fellow tight end Jonnu Smith loose in the play action game.
Smith and Brown have both been fairly quiet in the first two playoff games, but that did not stop Smith from grabbing a big touchdown against the Ravens. The secondary should be keyed in on these two players in all situations, especially in the red zone.
Just like Houston’s Kenny Stills, who caught the Chiefs napping last week and was able to get wide open and trot into the end zone for the easy score, the big-bodied Smith is more than capable of slicing his way into the end zone while the whole defense is locked in on Henry.
The Tennessee tight end should see a mixture of Tyrann Mathieu and Daniel Sorensen in coverage with the Chiefs secondary depleted. Vrabel even brought out a Derrick Henry jump-pass that would make Tim Tebow jealous, and he will unload the bag of tricks this week as well. Those trick plays will almost certainly revolve around these two.