AFC Wildcard Tennessee Titans at Kansas City Chiefs: Preview and Prediction

Playoff Preview

Author:

Mike Goodpaster

Publish Date:

06/01/2018

Experiences:

The man behind The Grueling Truth - Where Legends Speak

Who: Titans vs. Chiefs
Where: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
When: Saturday, Jan. 6, 4:35 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN/ABC

This is a match up of two teams who have actually been kind of a let down so far this season. The Chiefs started off like gang busters destroying the Patriots in New England and looked to be the best team in the NFL thru the first month of the season. The Titans are a young and Talented team that instead of winning the AFC South barely squeaked into the playoffs. So this is the kind of game were it’s hard to expect what will happen but we are going to try and break it down and see who has the advantage in this game.

Is this it for Alex Smith?

With heir apparent Quarterback Patrick Mahomes waiting in the wings this could be the last go around for Chiefs Quarterback Alex Smith. Mahomes looked very good in his first outing in Denver and should be the starter next year. For now this is Smith’s ship and Tight End Travis Kelce will be Smith’s security blanket in this game. On top of Kelce the Chiefs have given Smith probably the most weapons he has ever had when you throw in a 1,000-yard back (NFL rushing king Kareem Hunt) and a 1,000-yard wideout (Tyreek Hill) to go with Kelce. They key maybe if Head Coach Andy Reid will take the chains off the offense and let Smith use those weapons?

Can the Titans run the ball efectivley?

The Titans were very good at playing smash mouth football last year and the start of this season, but over the last ten weeks the Titans have not been good on the ground. Hopefully Quarterback Marcus Mariota gets involved in the run game like he did in last weekends win over the Jaguars as Mariota ran the ball 10 times for 60 tards. Without a solid run game the Titans have very little chance to win this game.

Prediction:The Titans will need a big day from the running game to have a chance in this one and the Chiefs are dead last against the run. The Titans defense on the other hand is good against the rush but ranked in the 20’s against the pass. I think what happens here is that Alex Smith has a big day throwing to Kelce and Hill and the Titans will not be able to respond with enough points to keep up.