This isn’t how the Tennessee Titans wanted it to end.
After a 2-4 start to the season, the team reversed its bad luck under the quarterbacking of former Miami Dolphins signal-caller Ryan Tannehill, and was just one win away from their first Super Bowl appearance since the 1999 season.
But it all came to a halt in Arrowhead Stadium as the Titans fell, 35-24 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium.
Players took it hard, including star running back Derrick Henry, who was held to just 69 yards and one rushing touchdown on 19 carries after finishing the 2019 regular season with the NFL’s rushing title and being such a force in the postseason.
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“I’ll definitely shed a couple of tears,” he said after the game. “Just because I love my teammates. I love playing football, I love competing and I love my teammates.
“Those guys helped me get through a lot. … Throughout the whole season, you have to stick together through all the adversity. We have a lot of great guys in the locker room. It’s football, you know the locker room is going to change.
“Right now, we just lost a game. I am not even thinking about no contracts or things like that. When that time comes, I am sure it will get worked out.”
Now that the offseason has started, the Titans have a lot to think about and there are definitely some players who have made Nashville their home who won’t be returning in the 2020 season.
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Expect Henry to secure a big extension, and for the Titans to do all that it takes to keep him with the team.