Titans @ Chiefs

[Vin+ 3,121]

hosted.stats.com/fb/preview.asp?g=20180106012&home=12&vis=10

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The two clubs opening the wild card playoff round at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday afternoon enter from opposite perspectives.

 

The Chiefs clinched their second straight AFC West championship two weeks ago and coasted to the finish. The Tennessee Titans fought to the final minute of the season in breaking a three-game skid to clinch their first playoff berth since 2008.

 

"We had a number of chances to get ourselves in, but unfortunately we had to wait until the last one to do it," Titans coach Mike Mularkey said. "I don't know if that made it better, but it's a good feeling."

 

The Titans and Chiefs have some familiarity with one another. Tennessee visited Kansas City in Week 15 of the 2016 season, overcoming a 17-7 fourth-quarter deficit in rallying for a 19-17 win.

 

Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said his offense and quarterback Alex Smith missed too many opportunities in that game.

 

"We started out fast and then they creeped back, they got us there at the end," Nagy said. "We had some opportunities to make some plays, we didn't. We've all watched that tape, we understand what wrong and how to try to fix it."

 

Tennessee left an impression on Kansas City head coach Andy Reid as an active bunch on both sides of the football with good speed, including with the mobile Marcus Mariota at quarterback.

 

"He's a real smart kid," Reid said. "Looks like he's picked it up well. He's got a pretty good feel for the pass game. He's got good players around him too."

 

The Chiefs remain wary of the scrambling ability of Mariota and his ability to make plays outside the pocket. Mariota finished the regular season with just 13 touchdown passes versus 15 interceptions.

 

"I don't have to harp on that with him, he knows we've got to do a better job of taking care of the football, especially this time of year," Mularkey said.

 

Kansas City's defense thrives on turnovers, which have proved highly predictive of the team's success this season. The defense generated 24 turnovers during the team's 10 wins but took the ball away just twice in six loses.

 

Mularkey said that's indicative of Kansas City's complementary style in all three phases.

 

"They do a great job of taking care of the football and they do a great job of taking it away," Mularkey said. "Well coached, a lot of the same guys have been there a long time in the same schemes, they execute it very well."

 

The Chiefs enter the game with a series of injuries taking a hard on their special teams. The team lost kick returners Akeem Hunt and De'Anthony Thomas to injuries in the season finale for the remainder of the season, leaving them with only wide receiver Tyreek Hill with significant experience returning kickoffs. But the team has been reluctant to expose a key offensive weapon to the kick return game.

 

The team is also battling injuries along the defensive line, with Rakeem Nunez-Roches and Jarvis Jenkins missing practice time this week. That could prove pivotal in a game in which the Chiefs hope to slow down the Titans' rushing attack and contain Mariota in the pocket.

 

Running back DeMarco Murray has been ruled out with an MCL tear, leaving Derrick Henry as the team's lead back against the Chiefs. Starting cornerback Logan Ryan and Da'Norris Searcy both missed practice Wednesday with an illness.

 

While the Chiefs' veteran roster has four playoff appearances in four seasons under Reid, this marks the first appearance for most of the Titans' players as well as the first for Mularkey in six seasons as a head coach. He doesn't believe postseason experience makes much of a difference in matchup such as this.

 

"I don't think so," Mularkey said. "Everything gets amped up and that won't be any different for this one. I don't think there's any advantage by having it."

 

Kansas City may have the experience but they also history working against them. The Chiefs haven't won a playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium in 24 years. Smith wouldn't mind seeing that streak come to an end.

 

"It would be nice to break that but you can't add any extra motivation once you get to this stage," Smith said. "It is tough to add any more motivation with historic streaks or things like that. We would love for that to be a byproduct of hard work and getting a win."

 

 

[RazorStar 4,025]

Mariota would have to drag the Titans to victory on the strength of his legs and winning smile alone to even compete with the Chiefs.

 

28

6

[SteVo+ 3,702]

The Titans got into the playoffs by virtue of a weak AFC, and they will get promptly bounced here, unless Kansas City reverts to midseason form, which is possible given Andy Reid. I'll find a middle ground.

 

23

13

[BigBen07 285]

Tight battle through three, Chiefs pull away in the 4th.

 

24

14

Edited January 6, 2018 by BigBen07

[.AirMcNair. 1,232]

Titans are 10-4 vs teams with a winning record under Mularkey as permanent HC and only 1 of the losses was by double digits(Pittsburgh). KC should win, but a blowout should be unlikely.

[seanbrock 1,684]

Titans are getting 8.5 points? That's easy money, wow.

[seanbrock 1,684]

Man the refs sure do love the Chiefs tonight.

 

If I was the Chiefs owner Andy Reid would be fired immediately. Like, he would know he was fired before the post game press conference.

Edited January 7, 2018 by seanbrock

[BwareDWare94 723]

Chiefs

Historical collapse against a team that's going to go get skull-fucked by either Pittsburgh or NE in the Divisional Round. Yeah, Travis Kelce is pretty much 1b to Gronk's 1a for best TE in the game, but your offense can't just die because a dude gets hurt, especially when he ain't the QB. Truly fucking pathetic effort.

 

That being said, the Titans deserve credit for 2 things. 1. The grit needed to not fold like pansies and let KC walk all over them en route to something like a 38-10 final and 2. Drafting Derrick Henry. Dude is the perfect fit in their offense, and a perfect playoff RB. If the Titans make it a game next weekend, it'll be because of Derrick Henry.

[seanbrock 1,684]

There is absolutely no good reason that Kareem Hunt should have only had 13 touches. Andy Reid blew this game HARD.

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

I am not saying it changed the outcome of the game.. But that was one of the worst officiated games I've ever seen. Jeff Triplette and his crew should be banned from future playoff games at least for the forseeable future. Seeing him in this game was worrisome, but to see him potentially ref a conference title game or god forbid the SB would be a travesty.

Edited January 7, 2018 by Olenna4Ever

[Thanatos 2,847]

Was awful, two missed fumbles one each way by this reffing crew. Huge calls with huge impact on the game.

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

And I realize they got the end result correct, but I found it troubling that Triplette made up something to justify Mariota catching his own pass.. "The QB was and eligible receiver because he took the snap from the shotgun formation" Uhhhh... lol. What the fuck. lmao.

Also to tag onto what Sean mentioned... Chiefs had an 18 point lead at one point with the owner of the league rushing title in their backfield and in the final 3 quarters.... Kareem Hunt had 6 carries. Travis Kelce went down and the Chiefs master plan was to throw to Demetrius Harris over and over again without success.

Brilliant. I don't know if you can move forward with Andy Reid after that. Just... inexcusable. With that said, they probably will keep him to continue tutoring Mahomes who will almost definitely starting at QB next year.

[BigBen07 285]

Congrats to the Titans on snapping a 14 year playoff win drought. This one is gonna haunt the Chiefs for a long time.

And I realize they got the end result correct, but I found it troubling that Triplette made up something to justify Mariota catching his own pass.. "The QB was and eligible receiver because he took the snap from the shotgun formation" Uhhhh... lol. What the fuck. lmao.

It's especially stupid when it's stated in the rules that ANYONE on the offense is an eligible receiver on a deflected pass.

[56AceInDaPlace 110]

I am not saying it changed the outcome of the game.. But that was one of the worst officiated games I've ever seen. Jeff Triplette and his crew should be banned from future playoff games at least for the forseeable future. Seeing him in this game was worrisome, but to see him potentially ref a conference title game or god forbid the SB would be a travesty.

Karma for the bullshit we had to go through the past couple of weeks. Some of the worst calls I've ever seen against us in that time frame. Chiefs will be aight lol

 

We also had to come back down 21-3 so yes the Chiefs choked that game away. Up 18 no reason they should of lost

Edited January 7, 2018 by 56AceInDaPlace

[Thanatos 2,847]

It wasn't just against the Chiefs, broski, we're pretty sure Kelce fumbled on that hit and the Titans recovered.

 

We can't know for sure because they made sure not to give us more than one replay.

 

Certainly was close enough to warrant a look inside of two minutes.

[Vin+ 3,121]

Chiefs are cursed. Stupid stuff always happens, remember their 45-44 loss to the Colts?

 

Also, we're blaming Andy for this game, but didn't he give up play-calling weeks ago?

Edited January 7, 2018 by Vin

[seanbrock 1,684]

Chiefs are cursed. Stupid stuff always happens, remember their 45-44 loss to the Colts?

Also, we're blaming Andy for this game, but didn't he give up play-calling weeks ago?

Supposedly but this has happened to so many Andy Reid teams.

[SteVo+ 3,702]

I feel bad for Andy Reid. He's a great coach in so many facets: gets his players to buy in, gets the most of them on the field, identifies talent in the draft, manages a stable organization, maintains a strong locker room. But good god the man will never win a Super Bowl. And I don't care if he's the direct play-caller or not. Kareem Hunt touching the ball as little as he did was unacceptable, and the offense failing to adjust after Travis Kelce went down may be worse. Such a shame.

 

Do you guys think that's the final nail in Alex Smith's coffin? There was already speculation he would be traded. And I'm not saying this game was his fault, but someone has to go down after a game like this.

 

The story of the game is the Chiefs' collapse, but credit to the Titans for coming back. It still takes a lot to win a playoff game when you're trailing 21-3 at halftime.

[Sarge+ 3,436]

I am not saying it changed the outcome of the game.. But that was one of the worst officiated games I've ever seen. Jeff Triplette and his crew should be banned from future playoff games at least for the forseeable future. Seeing him in this game was worrisome, but to see him potentially ref a conference title game or god forbid the SB would be a travesty.

 

@ProFootballTalk: Jeff Triplette has reportedly decided to retire from officiating

 

So, there's that.

[seanbrock 1,684]

It wasn't just against the Chiefs, broski, we're pretty sure Kelce fumbled on that hit and the Titans recovered.

 

We can't know for sure because they made sure not to give us more than one replay.

 

Certainly was close enough to warrant a look inside of two minutes.

He fumbled but it was also an uncalled helmet to helmet hit so that would probably be why they didn't review it. Honestly though, the Titans are very rarely penalized and while some were warranted, some were b.s. I saw multiple missed holding calls on Eric Fisher too. One if them was literally right in front of Alex Smith. It was just an all around poorly officiated game that didn't favor any side imo.

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

 

@ProFootballTalk: Jeff Triplette has reportedly decided to retire from officiating

 

So, there's that.

 

Whelp. Lmao.

 

 

 

I feel bad for Andy Reid. He's a great coach in so many facets: gets his players to buy in, gets the most of them on the field, identifies talent in the draft, manages a stable organization, maintains a strong locker room. But good god the man will never win a Super Bowl. And I don't care if he's the direct play-caller or not. Kareem Hunt touching the ball as little as he did was unacceptable, and the offense failing to adjust after Travis Kelce went down may be worse. Such a shame.

 

Do you guys think that's the final nail in Alex Smith's coffin? There was already speculation he would be traded. And I'm not saying this game was his fault, but someone has to go down after a game like this.

 

The story of the game is the Chiefs' collapse, but credit to the Titans for coming back. It still takes a lot to win a playoff game when you're trailing 21-3 at halftime.

 

This is my same dilemma with Reid, even in Philly... He is such a nice guy, he runs his team and organization practically as well as you could ever hope as a fan or owner or GM or whatever. But it is impossible to think of him as a champion.

 

Also @Vin.. I don't think it matters if he was actually calling plays or not directly.. He's the head coach, he has to have some oversight. If you are Reid and you see Kareem Hunt averaging 2 carries a quarter with a big lead and Kelce down... you need to step in and get that corrected.

[FartWaffles 1,857]

 

[Zack_of_Steel+ 3,014]

@ProFootballTalk: Jeff Triplette has reportedly decided to retire from officiating[/size]

So, there's that. [/size]

 

Just letting him save face for being in the league so long.

 

I feel bad for Andy Reid. He's a great coach in so many facets: gets his players to buy in, gets the most of them on the field, identifies talent in the draft, manages a stable organization, maintains a strong locker room. But good god the man will never win a Super Bowl. And I don't care if he's the direct play-caller or not. Kareem Hunt touching the ball as little as he did was unacceptable, and the offense failing to adjust after Travis Kelce went down may be worse. Such a shame.

 

Do you guys think that's the final nail in Alex Smith's coffin? There was already speculation he would be traded. And I'm not saying this game was his fault, but someone has to go down after a game like this.

 

The story of the game is the Chiefs' collapse, but credit to the Titans for coming back. It still takes a lot to win a playoff game when you're trailing 21-3 at halftime.

Why feel bad for him when he can't manage a game? Put him at GM or Director of Player Personnel or something, but my fucking god get him off the field. He is an awful coach and has nobody but himself to blame.

[FartWaffles 1,857]