Here are former Jets players and coaches that will be participating in Sunday’s AFC and NFC Championship games.
Rise and shine, it’s Championship Sunday.
The last time the Jets made it this far in the playoffs was the 2010 season. Rex Ryan was the head coach and the current Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator was leading New York’s defense.
Now, as the 2019 Jets sit at home, the six-seeded Titans are in Kansas City to take on the No. 2 Chiefs. Meanwhile, the No. 2 Packers are in San Francisco to take on the No. 1 49ers.
With these four teams just one win away from the Super Bowl, we thought we would take a look at a few ex-Jets participating in the second to last round of the playoffs.
Tennesee Titans
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Anthony Firkser, who was originally signed by the Jets as an undrafted free agent out of Harvard, was part of final camp cuts for Gang Green in 2017.
Since then, Firkser has carved out a role as the third-string tight end for Tennesee. Over the past two seasons, Firkser has 33 receptions for 429 yards and two touchdowns. He had the game-winning touchdown reception for the Titans in their wild-card round win over the New England Patriots.
At wide receiver, Kalif Raymond had a cup of coffee with the Jets back in 2017. Raymond was with the Jets organization for a total of 23 days after the returner demonstrated poor hands on special teams.
In the Divisional Round of the playoffs against the Baltimore Ravens, Raymond caught one pass for a 45-yard touchdown during the Titans’ 28–12 win.
Previewing the Tennessee Titans at Kansas City Chiefs AFC Championship Game, with NFL betting odds, picks, futures and best bets.
The Tennessee Titans (11-7) look for a third straight upset on the road when they travel to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Kansas City Chiefs (13-4) in Sunday’s AFC Championship. The Titans pulled off a surprising 28-12 victory over the Baltimore Ravens last week, which was the team’s fifth straight road win, a span in which they have outscored their opponents by 16 points per game.
Tennessee has been playing extremely well with QB Ryan Tannehill under center, going 9-3 in his 12 starts. He hasn’t been asked to do much with his arm in the playoffs, as the team has leaned very heavily on RB Derrick Henry, who topped 180 rushing yards in both games.
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These teams met in Nashville back in Week 10, and there were plenty of offensive fireworks in Tennessee’s 35-32 win. In that game, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes exploded for 446 yards and three touchdowns, while Henry ran all over the Kansas City defense, racking up 188 yards and two scores.
It will be tough to steal a win in Kansas City, but this game stands a strong chance of going down to the wire. The Titans are getting 7.5 points (-121) on the spread and +260 odds on the moneyline. Both represent solid value.
Establishing the run
(Photo Credit: Geoff Burke – USA TODAY Sports)
Henry led the NFL with 1,540 rushing yards in the regular season, and he has been virtually unstoppable lately. He is averaging 196 rushing yards over his past three games and has topped 100 yards in seven of his last eight, including 149 yards or more in six of those contests.
The Kansas City defense has been vulnerable against the run all season. They have surrendered the fourth-most yards per attempt on the ground, and seventh-most yards per game. The Titans offensive game plan looks pretty obvious, and Henry should have another huge day.
Which defense will step up?
(Photo Credit: Evan Habeeb – USA TODAY Sports)
The Titans aren’t built to play from behind, so they can’t afford to get down a couple scores. As long as the game is close, they should be able to continue feeding the ball to Henry, and he should run wild on the porous Chief run defense.
The Tennessee defense will need to do a better job of containing Mahomes, who went off for 446 yards and three scores in the Week 10 matchup.
This should be a high-scoring affair, as the Titans should move the ball at will on the ground, but they will have a hard time slowing down the Kansas City air attack. The Chiefs, winners of six straight, deserve to be slight favorites, but Tennessee has beat them once already, and has a good chance to hand them their fourth home loss of the season. Back the Titans in this one.
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