Coming off a short week, the Tennessee Titans dominated the Kansas City Chiefs, 27-3, behind their strongest defensive performance of the 2021 season.
Turnovers have been a point of emphasis all year long year, and the Titans forced three of them against the Chiefs on Sunday.
Tennessee jumped out to a 17-0 lead before linebacker Rashaan Evans intercepted Patrick Mahomes’ pass intended for Josh Gordon, which was a result of great coverage and a deflection by David Long.
With a short field, the Titans extended their lead to 24-0 on Ryan Tannehill’s third rushing touchdown of the season.
On the next series, and facing a second-and-10 at their own 35-yard line, Mahomes was flushed out of the pocket before carrying the ball himself for 13 yards, but Kevin Byard caught up to him and punched the ball out.
“All the time I was running over there, you know I was seeing bad, poor ball security,” Byard explained after the Titans’ 27-3 victory. “So I was thinking I could get close enough to try and hammer it out. And honestly it is something I work on weekly, working on weekly, and finally an opportunity to hammer the ball out, make a play for the team. It is just a great win.”
👀 @KevinByard 👀
📺: Watch #KCvsTEN on @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/QxV2gddiMc
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) October 24, 2021
The Titans scored on every drive in the first half, with a balanced attack through the air and on the ground. A.J. Brown, who dealt with food poisoning all week, provided a significant receiving threat over the middle.
He hauled in eight catches for 133 yards and a touchdown on the day — 101 of those yards came in the first half — helping the Titans take a 27-0 lead into halftime.
The Chiefs began the second half with a rejuvenated offensive attack but mustered only a field goal in the final two quarters. While the Titans didn’t score any points in the second half, the defense showed up whenever they needed a big play, recording three sacks and a game-ending fumble.
In all, the Titans recorded more sacks (4) than points allowed (3), the first time the team has done that since Week 15 of the 2018 season when they pitched a shutout against the New York Giants and notched three sacks, according to WKRN’s Emily Proud.
“Probably, since I have been here, the most complete win we have had from start to finish,” Byard added. “It doesn’t matter what you do previous weeks and stuff like that. Every single week you got to come out here and bring it, you got to prove it every single week so obviously we know how explosive that offense is, so to hold them to only three points you have to give a lot of credit to the defensive line.”
After a nail-biting game against the Buffalo Bills last Monday, the Titans dominated the Chiefs in every facet from start to finish.
They made Mahomes look pedestrian at best, holding him to a career-low 62.3 passer rating. Sunday also marked the first time that Kansas City failed to score a touchdown in the Mahomes era.
Byard has continued to play at a All-Pro-caliber level this season, forcing four turnovers and one fumble recovery returned for a touchdown through the first seven weeks.
Looking ahead to next week, the Titans’ schedule doesn’t provide any relief with a healthy Carson Wentz-led Indianapolis Colts team looking for revenge.
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