Defense holds strong against Titans in Week 9 | KCSN Daily 11.7
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The Chiefs secured a hard-fought victory on Sunday night over the Tennessee Titans. After an early lead dissolved in the second quarter, the defense rallied in the second half of the game while the offense floundered.
From the third quarter onward, the defense allowed one field goal, forced six punts and forced a turnover on downs. Outside of a few big plays, Chiefs HC Andy Reid thought the defense played great all night.
“Really, with the exception of the two long runs, I thought they played well the whole time,” Reid said of the defensive performance. “I just – yeah, he (Titans RB Derrick Henry) got us a couple (of times). He’s going to be a future Hall of Famer. He’s going to bust a couple on you. So, you just want to make sure, No. 1, you chase him down which we haven’t been able to do before. When he busted it, he took it all the way and we were able to catch him (in Week 9). But really, with the exception of those two long ones, they didn’t get a whole lot. They’ve got a young quarterback that I think is going to be a real good one down the road. He did some nice things too. He can run likewise.”
For the defensive players who helped mount the comeback, this performance was about proving one thing to themselves and to the rest of the league.
“Perseverance — doing whatever it took to give our team the opportunity to close it out and win,” Chiefs DE Carlos Dunlap told reporters following the game. “That’s what we just focused on. Wherever they put the ball down — put the ball down and get off the field. It didn’t matter whatever scenario or whatever field position they had, get off the field is what we were thinking.”
Ahead of this season, the defense set out to be a reason that this team won games. Well, they got a big piece of the pie for Sunday’s victory.
10 Things: Standout stats to know from Chiefs’ OT win vs. Titans
KCSN’s BJ Kissel gives his 10 stand-out stats from the Kansas City Chiefs' 20-17 overtime victory over the Tennesee Titans on Sunday Night Football.
Stats to know ahead of Week 10 vs. Jaguars:
Series history: The Chiefs lead the all-time series over the Jaguars 7-6 with the first matchup between the two clubs coming back in 1997. Kansas City has won the last five straight against Jacksonville, including the four matchups during the Andy Reid era.
Close losses: The Jags have a 3-6 record in the 2022 NFL season, but don’t let that fool you. This football team is better than their record might indicate. In all five of the games they’ve lost this season, Jacksonville has lost by a touchdown or less.
Turnover troubles: One of the reasons that the Jaguars have been losing games is because of costly turnovers. Prior to Week 9, every single game they failed to win had at least one lost fumble or interception. In their first two wins of the season, the Jags didn’t turn over the football once. Last week, Jacksonville was able to overcome a fumble to win against the Raiders.
KCSN Update:
KCSN’s BJ Kissel sits down with ESPN's Matt Miller to get his stock up and stock down report following the Kansas City Chiefs' 20-17 overtime victory against the Tennessee Titans.
Quotable:
“Just the team. The team aspect that we had, just being with my teammates. That’s my biggest, fondest memory. Just going out there and being able to compete and go out there for a football game and be with your brothers on the field and go out there and have some fun.” - Chiefs Hall of Fame & Ring of Honor inductee Kimble Anders on his fondest memory
“It’s funny. I think I said it in training camp, I feel like I don’t target Noah (Gray) enough because a lot of times plays are called either too him or he’s one of the options I can give him a chance on and it seems like I don’t throw it to him and he’s always open and so as the season’s going on and as our careers go on I want to give him more and more chances because I think he can be a big part of this offense. That whole tight end room has been great for us this season. But for him to make that catch in that moment - I mean that was a tough catch that he made, that was a big one for us. That was probably the reason that we were able to get down there and win.” - Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes on targeting Noah Gray in the overtime
Quick hits:
From NFL Research: There was a pretty big disparity in the passing game between the Titans and Chiefs on Sunday night. The gap in completed passes between Patrick Mahomes and Malik Willis was the largest in a single game in the Super Bowl era.
From CBS Sports: Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes has the NFL’s lead in passing yards and passing touchdowns, but he’s also pacing to set the NFL record for passing yards in a single season.
From ESPN: Chiefs WR JuJu Smith-Schuster earned $500K in NLTBE incentives with his Week 10 performance per ESPN’s Field Yates. He’s on his way to earning the max incentives on his contract should he continue to produce this season.
Important dates ahead:
Sunday, Nov. 13 at Noon CT - Week 10: Chiefs vs. Jaguars - GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium - Kansas City, Missouri
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