Don’t let second-half improvement fool you: KC Chiefs lost Sunday’s game in first half

Herbie Teope
·2 min read
2
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

As they had the previous weekend against the Washington Football Team, the Chiefs hunkered down defensively in the second half of Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans.

The Chiefs didn’t allow a score after halftime and limited the Titans to 92 total yards of second-half offense at Nissan Stadium.

There’s just one problem in those statistics. The Titans cruised to a 27-3 victory, having scored on their first five possessions of the game and amassing 277 total yards in the first half.

Any good vibes that might’s been taken from the second half of this game were really lost in the first two quarters, especially when the Chiefs totaled just 67 yards of offense before the half.

“We really need to get both sides playing well,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said.

Defensively, the Chiefs held their own against Titans star Derrick Henry, limiting him to 86 yards rushing — his second-lowest output this season.

“I thought in the second half, the defense was a positive and how they held the run game down,” Reid said.

But unlike the Chiefs’ last opponent, Tennessee had done more than enough damage in the first half. And it was accomplished without bug rushing numbers from Henry, who did throw a rare touchdown pass in the first quarter.

The Chiefs allowed too many big plays. The Titans’ explosive downfield gains included wide receiver A.J. Brown’s 46-yard catch and 24-yard touchdown reception.

Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill started the game by connecting on 11 straight passes and finished 21 of 27 for 270 yards and a touchdown. He also scored a touchdown on a 2-yard run.

Rookie linebacker Nick Bolton, who led Kansas City’s defense with 15 tackles Sunday, said after the game that he believes the Chiefs’ issues were owing to an inability to execute.

The emerging NFL standout from Mizzou also said he believes the best is yet to come for the Chiefs’ defense.

“We’ve got to be a little better coming out early in the first half,” he said, “and we will be better.”