Another must win game for the Chiefs

Chiefs could not stop the Titans running game last time.

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Despite what may prove to be Jeff Fisher’s final attempt to rally his troops, Kansas City is far too strong at home to drop a game of this magnitude.

As far as evil twins go, the Chiefs may have found theirs in the Tennessee Titans. Their blueprints border on plagiarism; both are built on run-first principles, play-action passing and a stout defense. Despite their similarities in gameplan and talent, the key differences that fall in Kansas City’s favor are the Quarterback position and team discipline.

At first glance, Tennessee is simply a bad football team. While designed in a comparable fashion to the Chiefs, the Titans are not only prone to mistakes (-4 turnover margin, 29th in penalties), they’re wildly unpredictable. After starting the season 5-2, the Titans lost six games in a row. Last week’s win over the Houston Texans had more to do with pride than actually being a solid football team.

The Titans are 1-2 against the AFC West this year, with very mixed results. In week one, they manhandled the Raiders and looked like one of the best teams in the NFL. Yet in week four, the Broncos came to Nashville and pulled-out a 26-20 win in what were arguably the most embarrassing final two minutes for any team this season... including the Giants’ melt-down last week.

So, what Titans team will show-up on Sunday? I’ll let you in on a little secret: it doesn’t matter.

When Tennessee is at their best, they still have 37-year old Kerry Collins playing Quarterback. The formula against the Titans is simple… Stop. Chris. Johnson. While last year that feat seemed downright impossible, 2010’s Chris Johnson has been pedestrian by comparison. The explosive product from East Carolina has been bottled up by the likes of the Denver Broncos, Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars. Expect a tough Chiefs run defense to keep Johnson in check on Sunday.

As for the passing attack, the Titans have been remarkably disappointing since the acquisition of Randy Moss. In his six games as a Titan he has only five catches. At this point, he’s only being used in sub packages and received fewer than 10 total snaps last week against Houston’s abysmal pass defense. The focus has to be on second year player Kenny Britt, whose 84 targets are nearly 30 more than any other Tennessee player despite missing four games with a hamstring injury. Quarterback Kerry Collins has shown a propensity to go deep, so rookie Safeties Eric Berry and Kendrick Lewis will have plenty of opportunities to make plays.

Defensively the Titans are among the league’s best in sacks, led by former Chief Jason Babin with 12. Some of that may have to do with the effectiveness of opposing passing games, as the Titans have surrendered over 1,000 more yards than they’ve thrown for this season; as a result, four of their five leading tacklers make-up their starting secondary. The Chiefs may pass early in order to open-up some running lanes, but there will definitely be a healthy dose of Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones throughout the game.

Given the fact that Tennessee is averaging only 26 minutes of possession per game, the Chiefs should be able to control the clock and impose their will against such an aggressive and undisciplined football team. The key will once again be to eliminate mistakes and big plays, while remaining balanced and consistent offensively.

Despite what may prove to be Jeff Fisher’s final attempt to rally his troops, Kansas City is far too strong at home to drop a game of this magnitude.