October 23, 2021
By Fred Liggett
FredL@lstribune.net
Playing a game of “keep away” is fun to do as a child and the Kansas City Chiefs will look to do just that this week as they travel to play the Tennessee Titans. The Chiefs, going all the way to Nashville to play this game, will try to keep the ball away from Titans All Pro Running Back Derrick Henry. The Titans will try to keep the ball away from Chiefs All Pro QB Patrick Mahomes.
Titans Running Back Derrick Henry has run for over 100 yards in each of the last five games for the now 4-2 Titans. Henry’s impressive streak started with a 182 yard effort which was followed by 130, 157 and 113 and 143. Henry’s 143 yard performance on Monday night this week was good enough for the Titans in a win over the Buffalo Bills, a team who beat the Chiefs earlier in the season. Keeping the ball out of Henry’s hands will be a key for the Chiefs to have success.
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes threw for 397 yards last week in a 31-13 win at Washington. For Mahomes it was the 29th career game for 300+ yard effort the most in Chiefs franchise history. Mahomes has thrown for 18 Touchdowns which leads the NFL. One of the second half scoring drives for the Chiefs last Sunday went for 95 yards. Keeping the ball away from Mahomes will be a key for the Titans to have success.
Besides Mahomes and Henry there is a lot of reason to give this AFC match up a lot of attention. For one the host Titans are 4-2 and in first place in the AFC South. The Chiefs are 3-3 and looking to return to the top of the AFC West. Seems every time these two teams play it turns out to be very entertaining. The last time the two played Chiefs fans was given a very happy memory as the Chiefs beat the Titans 35-24 in the 2019 AFC Championship game. The Chiefs/Titans series actually goes all the way back to the AFC inception in 1960. The Titans were originally known as the Houston Oilers.
On Wednesday when the Chiefs began preparations for the Titans the team listed 11 players as limited or did not practice. While that number seems pretty high the team is entering week seven of the NFL season and many teams have players with bumps and bruises as they say. Good news the Chiefs list WR Tyreek Hill but he is still expected to start. DE Chris Jones is expected to return to the field after missing two weeks to a wrist injury. Having Hill around will help the Chiefs keep Mahomes and company on the field. Having Jones available will help the Chiefs limit the damage Henry does for the Titans.
The Chiefs visit to the Music City to face the Titans coached by Mike Vrabel, a former Chief, will give fans an entertaining afternoon of football. The road record for the Chiefs the last two seasons is 10-1 the best in the NFL. Expect the Chiefs to win this game of keep away and keep the Titans away from the victory column. Chiefs return home singing a happy tune with a 4-3 record. That’s What I REID Into It for this week.
