NFL: Wildcard Analysis: Henry!

The Tennessee Titans (9-7) are in the Divisional Round – and must either go to the New England Patriots or the Pittsburgh Steelers! The Kansas City Chiefs (10-6) dominate against initially overtaxed guests, but in the second half KC collapses completely. In the end, Tennessee’s 22:21 win in the ice-cold Arrowhead Stadium.

Chiefs-Quarterback Alex Smith (24/33,264 YDS, 2 TD) attacked the Man Coverage of the Titans directly, two early drops of Tyreek Hill, against which Rookie-Cornerback Adoree’ Jackson repeatedly played press coverage, prevented early explosive placements. But Tennessee’s offense had no rhythm at first, especially not in passing and so KC had enough time to wake up: Big Plays to Hill and Travis Kelce quickly brought the hosts to the Red Zone, where Kareem Hunt provided the first touchdown of the postseason.

A bitter drop from Eric Decker and a little later a chiefs sack at Third Down, an interception from Marcus Mariota (19/31,205 YDS, 2 TD, INT) with a bad passing concept – whenever Tennessee found a kind of offensive rhythm through the No-Huddle-Offense, the drive was quickly finished again, while Kansas City found a Kelce in the first quarter. The minutes just before the half-time break were the most dramatic in view of the Titans’ playful inferiority, which should have resulted in a higher Chiefs lead at this point in time.

At first Mariota was lucky when a fumble wasn’t whistled, but soon after KC got the same luck – however, Kelce was injured during the play and had to leave. Three seconds to go before the end of the half, Smith found a great pump fake Robinson to the 21:3, it seemed like the preliminary round. Also because the game was getting tougher: individual mistakes, culminating in the point-drop of Adoree’ Jackson shortly before the end of the third quarter, a field goal miss of the chiefs, unnecessary penalties – it was not a nice game in the third quarter.

But there was also the scene of the game, which became a turning point: in the middle of the quarter, Tennessee came to the Red Zone for the first time, where Mariota managed a rare feat: his pass just before the end zone was fought off by Darrelle Revis and landed again in the hands of the quarterback! He fell into the end zone with the ball for a touchdown. It was supposed to be the beginning of the end for Kansas City. The engine of the Chiefs-Offense stuttered more than tremendously without Kelce, Kansas City did not take place in the third quarter and at the latest with the 35-yard-TD-Run of Derrick Henry everything was open again after former 21:3 lead for KC!

The Chiefs no longer found any rhythm and quickly returned the ball. Finally, Tennessee took advantage of this: Mariota and Henry’s good runs put the Titans into position, Mariota finally found Decker in the final zone – and the guests took the lead for the first time! Although the two-point conversion did not work, Kansas City was unable to respond aggressively in the last attempt. The Chiefs are out, Tennessee’s in the divisional round!

Kansas City Chiefs (10-6) – Tennessee Titans (9-7)21:22 (14:0.7:3.0:7.0:12) BOXSCORE

With just over two minutes on the clock, Kansas City could have tried a 61-yard field goal – unlikely in the cold. Instead, the Chiefs played 4th&9 and Smiths Downfield Pass didn’t arrive! As a result, Henry ran the clock down.

Only occasionally the pass rush of the Chiefs came through, and over long distances the line did a good job in pass protection. But especially in run-blocking the Titans could finally remember the previous season when hardly any line in run-blocking was better. Tennessee has repeatedly and successfully attacked the great weakness of the Chiefs-Defense.

After a weak first half, it was a completely different performance of the Titan-Offense after the break. More no-huddle, more zone reads, more fast passes with clear center readings – and finally a dominant run game. Henry (23 ATT, 156 YDS, TD) was the engine of the offense when Tennessee needed him: hard runs, explosiveness on the second level. It was clear that the Titans would need a dominant run game against a vulnerable Chiefs defense to have a chance. Henry gave them exactly that.

Of course, the loss of Kelce hurt and prevented some of the pass concepts, which the Chiefs could implement so dangerously, especially against the man coverage of the Titans. However, this is no excuse for the fact that Kansas City almost completely ignored the run game in the second half of the play-calling despite their own lead: Kareem Hunt ended the game with 11 (!) runs for 42 yards and a touchdown. Instead of betting on Zone Reads, Run Pass Options, Misdirection and the like to succeed in the Run Game against a good Titans front and to find an offensive rhythm, Reid remained stubborn in the passing game. It cost him the game offensively.