The Chiefs' defense turned things around in the second half to defeat the Titans.
The Kansas City defense buckled down to prevent Tennessee's scoring after a poor second quarter.
The Kansas City Chiefs were conceding a touchdown, the second of the Tennessee Titans' first three drives, just a few plays after running back Derrick Henry gained 56 yards on a rush for the Tennessee Titans midway in the second quarter. This gave Tennessee an early 14-9 lead.
The Titans had already created gains of 16 or more yards on six different plays at that time, hammering Kansas City's defense in a number of different ways.
However, they turned out to be Tennessee's final significant plays of the evening. From that point on, the Titans were only able to score three more scores against the Kansas City defense, and even those came on a short field following a turnover. The main contributing factor was their modification to close out big-play chances.
After the game, defensive tackle Khalen Saunders told reporters, "All you can do is try to restrict the explosives." "I believe that in the first half, he had like two major ones there... We entered the locker room at halftime and said, "If we stop that," you can see how it kind of restricts the situation. I therefore felt satisfied exiting the half to obtain those stops.
Henry had only 27 rushing yards after the Titans' second touchdown, and quarterback Malik Willis had already accumulated nearly half of his passing yards at that point. After the Chiefs' defense cleared the field, Tennessee's offensive effort was effectively stifled.
Linebacker Nick Bolton said, "We were sort of knocked the rust off [after coming] off the bye week." "Our tackling was a touch sloppy to begin with. We occasionally had poor fits, which occasionally resulted in frenzied runs.
We managed to calm down and refocus on playing Chiefs defense and preventing the run. We managed to have a far better second half.
The Chiefs stopped every big play the Titans attempted, either with a wall of defenders to stop a run or a single defender to stop a pass. Really, Tennessee only required one, particularly on a third down late in the game. The Titans had an eight-point advantage at that time and were in danger of increasing it.
The screen pass was successfully completed by the Titans, but Bolton completely misread it and ran over the receiver as soon as he turned around. One of the game's most important plays was that one.
Bolton said, "It was kind of a key third down." They were somewhat in range of making a field goal. To kind of talk them out of kicking a field goal there and force a punt, it was kind of fantastic to get another negative play. It was basically a play that I watched on tape and kind of discussed all week. I was able to make that play because Coach did a terrific job of providing us with keys and other items all during the week.
That was the overarching concept of the turnaround, according to the linebacker.
Bolton insisted, "We executed down the stretch." In the previous 40 minutes, I don't believe they had a single first down. We were able to stop them on first down and drive them into second-and-long situations, which allowed our pass rush and corners to do their jobs.
In the fourth quarter and overtime, the pass rush did start to pick up the pace, recording three sacks. The defensive line for Kansas City sacked the quarterback on two of the final three plays of the game, but not all the typical suspects were involved. These pivotal plays involved defensive end Carlos Dunlap and linebacker Khalen Saunders.
After the game, Dunlap noted, "We shared the riches." "We have a lot of depth here, and we have a lot of playmakers among our guys. As you can see, everyone pitched in and took on the necessary roles; we shared the wealth and did whatever was necessary.
It feels fantastic to finish off a victory in such a manner, especially in a close game.
Chris Jones, a defensive tackle, remarked, "We had a lot of young people rise up." "Khalen Saunders made a bunch of key plays tonight. Malik Herring, George Karlaftis, and then Carlos. Therefore, there is a lot of depth and young men in the room.
The Chiefs' defenders felt they would need to match a good defensive effort from their opponent because their own attack was going up against a formidable Titans defense. Up until the very last few seconds of the fourth quarter, Kansas City's offense could only muster nine points.
Bolton said, "We kind of knew going into the game we had to outplay their defense. We didn't do that during the first half, he said. We were able to come out in the second half, execute, and play better than their defense, which contributed to our victory.
The Chiefs' offense continued to sputter, which gave the Titans more opportunities to score and win, making every ounce of effort vital. Actually, the defense was left to make the final decision. That can be a satisfying sensation for Steve Spagnuolo's unit, which is typically considered to be secondary to the offense.
Saunders said, "We know the Kansas City Chiefs' identity: it's offense. Our quarterback is the best ever, which is great and I love having him on offense, but occasionally Spags wants us to go out and win the game on defense. I believe that is what we accomplished tonight—a first.
And it was gratifying to play well on defense rather than relying just on Pat to provide the goods.
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