How the Chiefs outlasted the Titans, defined by specialists
It was an unpleasant one, however the Tennessee Titans someway saved it shut. How did the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs come out on prime in OT? Right here’s what the specialists say.
The Kansas City Chiefs improved to 6-2 on Sunday evening with an additional time win over the Tennessee Titans. The sport was defensively-oriented, with 14 punts and simply 37 factors scored.
The Titans didn’t get just about something going and the one purpose they had been within the sport till the tip was Derrick Henry, who rushed for 115 yards and scored two touchdowns.
It’s exceptional that this went to additional time. The Titans had simply 57 receiving yards your complete sport. The Chiefs had 20 extra first downs than Tennessee. The Titans transformed simply 1 of its 11 third downs. It makes Henry’s one-man efficiency (together with the offensive line, we may give them some credit score for giving him some run lanes) much more spectacular.
So, how did the Chiefs pull out the win? Additionally, how was it so shut since all of the stats point out the Chiefs ought to have dominated? Right here’s what the specialists are saying.
Chiefs defensive position was menacing
Rocky Magana had 5 takeaways from the sport at Arrowhead Satisfaction. The defensive line was one of them:
Quick ahead eight video games, and Saunders, together with fellow defensive sort out Chris Jones and edge rusher Carlos Dunlap, had been harassing rookie quarterback Malik Willis in additional time and shutting down Derek Henry within the second half of the soccer sport.
It was the efficiency we’ve been ready to see out of this defensive position. The important thing to transferring ahead might be consistency. Was this a one-time factor, or can the Chiefs rely on them to persistently generate stress on opposing quarterbacks transferring ahead?
Chiefs win regardless of Harrison Butker woes
Bransen Gibson thinks Harrison Butker will get it back on track after lacking one other area aim on Sunday evening.
However like Mahomes, Butker is no doubt one of many elite gamers at his place. And once more, similar to we noticed Mahomes do final season, I’m anticipating we’ll see Butker hearth again into motion within the coming weeks. Whereas we’ve seen Butker wrestle at instances, we additionally noticed him drill a 62-yarder in opposition to the Payments at Arrowhead in Week 6, the longest area aim in Chiefs historical past. And let’s not overlook, Butker continues to be ranked second within the historical past of the NFL relating to profession area aim proportion (88.824%).
Run sport was weak for Chiefs, they received despite this
Ed Easton Jr. at Chiefs Wire didn’t like what he saw from the run game, significantly from rookie Isiah Pacheco.
The working sport continues to wrestle for Kansas Metropolis, and the addition of Pacheco within the beginning lineup didn’t flip the tide. The rookie working again struggled to achieve traction in opposition to the Titans’ protection. He completed with solely 5 yards dashing on 5 makes an attempt, with Mahomes main the crew on the bottom.
Patrick Mahomes takes over and counter Titans protection
Tyler Sullivan factors out how essential it was for Patrick Mahomes to easily do it himself when the working backs weren’t:
The Chiefs desperately wanted some semblance of a working sport and so they merely weren’t getting it from their secure of backs as Isiah Pacheco, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Jerick McKinnon mixed for simply 14 dashing yards on 12 carries. Due to that inefficiency on the bottom, Tennessee was prepared to sit down again in protection and bottling issues up within the secondary. So, Patrick Mahomes needed to take matter into his personal arms legs. He not solely rushed for a team-high 63 yards, however these positive aspects on the bottom had been the distinction between the Chiefs profitable and dropping this sport.
Kadarius Toney flashes a “jerk route”
The Kansas Metropolis Star’s Jesse Newell pointed out how Kadarius Toney got to re-use a skill he developed in college. Underutilized with the Giants earlier than being traded to the Chiefs, he hasn’t had alternatives to indicate precisely what he can do.
So what occurs on a “jerk”? Toney runs upfield a number of steps, cuts rapidly towards the sideline to promote an out-breaking route, then pivots again towards the center of the sphere. The hope is to get remoted on the linebacker and have him commit exterior, which regularly creates a emptiness between the hashes.
Subsequent up, the Chiefs have the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at 1 ET in KC. The Titans host the Denver Broncos at 1 ET. Regardless of the loss, Tenneessee stays atop its division.
