Kansas City Chiefs must respect resilient Titans defense

By Leigh Oleszczak | Jan 17, 2020

Fantasy Football Defenses: Tennessee Titans (Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images) /

The Kansas City Chiefs have their work cut out for them this weekend when the Tennessee Titans come to town. While most people are worried about stopping Derrick Henry, that Titans defense could be what wins Tennessee the game.

It makes sense that Kansas City Chiefs fans are terrified of Derrick Henry, but at the end of the day – as my cohort John McCarty penned a few days ago – he won’t be the reason the Titans win the game on Sunday. Instead, it’ll be about exposing that Titans defense and the obvious way to do that is to put up points on them.

It won’t be easy though, as the Titans defense has been sneaky good this postseason. They’ve forced five turnovers in their two games so far, including the game clinching pick six against the Patriots in the Wild Card round. The defense forcing turnovers, as you know, sets up the offense in (usually) good position to punch the ball into the end zone and Tennessee has been really good at executing there.

The Chiefs offense is very good, but that doesn’t mean the Titans defense won’t be able to get the better of them on a few plays. When these two teams met in the regular season, Patrick Mahomes carved the Titans secondary up to the tune of 400+ yards (this being in his first game back from injury too – mind you), so there’s no doubt that the Chiefs can move the ball against them.

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The way Tennessee has beaten their previous two opponents – at least on the defensive side of the ball – is by punching that ball out and coming down with the critical interception. They’re a better version of the 2016 Chiefs defense, who were very much a bend, but don’t break kind of unit.

It’s not difficult to put up heavy yardage against the Titans, but what will the Chiefs do when they get in the red zone? That’ll be when the Titans are looking for takeaways and trying to strip the ball away. That’s when Kansas City has to be the most careful because it’s something Tennessee has done very well during their magical playoff run.

I have no doubt that the Kansas City Chiefs will be able to move the ball down the field against the Titans. Where I worry about them is not turning the ball over against a team that is privy to taking the pigskin away from the offense, especially in the big moments.

We saw it last week; When Lamar Jackson and the Ravens offense HAD to get the momentum swinging in their direction, they fumbled the ball and the Titans pounced on it, further burying the Ravens.

The Chiefs aren’t built like the Ravens because they’re definitely a team who can come from behind and smack you in the mouth, but they can’t sleep on this Titans defense. Tennessee deserves to be in the AFC title game just as much as the Chiefs do and their defense is going to want to prove that notion come Sunday.

Must Read. Chiefs All-Decade Team for 2010s. light

Kansas City’s offense has to hold onto the ball and not give the Titans any added opportunities to put points on the board. If they can play a clean game, they should very well be Miami bound.

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