For the first time in 50 years, the Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl-bound. The 35-24 victory over the Tennessee Titans will end what has been a long wait for the Hunt family, the franchise, and the fans.
With the offense and defense working in tandem, the Chiefs were able to pull off a phenomenal performance against the Titans. Their performance was rewarded as Chiefs Hall of Famer Bobby Bell presented the Lamar Hunt Trophy to Clark Hunt and the team.
Many believed it would be a close football game because of not only how the Titans played against the Chiefs in Week 10, but also because of their victories against the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens. The Titans love to play a certain way, and it’s worked for them, especially in the latter part of the season going into the playoffs. Running the ball and possession time can work in a team’s favor, but when you have an opponent like the Chiefs who can score in a matter of minutes or seconds, that explosiveness is something that can be difficult to match or contain.
For the first quarter, it was looking like the Titans had figured out the Chiefs. Again. The penalties the Chiefs took didn’t help either.
The Chiefs, as they did against the Houston Texans, got off to a slow start, letting the Titans get out to a 17-7 lead, which lasted until almost the end of the second quarter. The Chiefs were able to go into halftime with a 21-17 lead thanks to a pass to Tyreek Hill for a touchdown and then a rushing touchdown by Patrick Mahomes. After a scoreless third quarter, the Chiefs were able to accumulate 14 more points on touchdowns from Damien Williams and Sammy Watkins while successfully holding the Titans to only seven more points.
In the end, the Chiefs’ defense were the ones who figured out how to stop the Titans’ offense and their main star, Derrick Henry. After seeing and hearing about how great Henry was for the past few weeks, the Chiefs were able to hold him to 69 yards on 19 carries, and only seven of those yards occurred in the second half of the game.
Mahomes was 23 of 35 for 294 yards and three touchdowns, but he also was responsible for 53 of the 112 total rushing yards the Chiefs had, as well as a rushing touchdown. The Chiefs’ offense was able to accumulate 112 rushing yards, 294 passing yards, and 27 first downs. When comparing the two teams, time of possession favored the Titans, but only by less than a minute.
The one area of improvement would be the nine penalties the Chiefs took throughout the game. That can’t happen in the Super Bowl if a team is expecting to win.
The Chiefs were able to win because they were able to break out and create plays, and they were able to stifle the Titans’ offense. They succeeded in their main goal of keeping Derrick Henry from being a threat and also were able to get to Ryan Tannehill, especially in the second half of the game.
While it wasn’t a pretty win, the Chiefs didn’t panic and continued to do their job. As they face the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV, they will need to continue to do what they do best. Then, they will be able to check the Lombardi Trophy off their to-do list.
Final Score: Chiefs 35, Titans 24
