Chiefs vs. Titans: Players Who Need to Step Up for Kansas City to Go 5-0

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The Kansas City Chiefs have just beaten the New York (playing terrible) Football Giants 31-7 and are now 4-0. No big deal. Now that we’ve established that fact, it’s time to look forward. The Chiefs will be heading east to face the surging Tennessee Titans in an extremely winnable game. The Titans are coming off a 38-13 blowout of the New York Jets. Titans’ quarterback Jake Locker left the game with a major hip injury and will most likely not be playing against the Chiefs next week. That means the Chiefs will be facing an old enemy in Ryan Fitzpatrick. This guy has torched Kansas City for the past two years for the Buffalo Bills and how has weapons such as Kenny Britt, Nate Washington, and Chris Johnson aka CJ2K. The Chiefs will need guys to step up to go 5-0 and these are the guys that need to do it.

1. Donald Stephenson (And the rest of the Offensive Line for that matter):

The Kansas City Chiefs offensive line has looked extremely shaky in the past couple games. It held up versus the Giants, but looked very shaky against the Cowboys and the Eagles. The Tennessee Titans are tied for third in the league with 14 sacks on the year. Alex Smith is excellent at running the football, but against the Giants he started taking shots down the field (much to my pleasure). If he is to continue to make big plays the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive line needs to protect him. This is a formidable pass rush they are facing. Offensive tackle Donald Stephenson stepped in at right tackle when right tackle Eric Fisher suffered a concussion. He did pretty well. He, and the rest of the offensive line will need to continue to play well to beat the Tennessee Titans in Tennessee.

2. Marcus Cooper/Dunta Robinson:

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I watched the Giants game back at my alma mater (I’m one year removed from college) with some of my college friends who are Giants fans and they can attest that I predicted at some point Victor Cruz would roast the Chiefs for a long touchdown. I WAS RIGHT GUYS. Dunta Robinson just looked so slow compared to him on that play, but when Marcus Cooper stepped in things looked up. Cruz still had 164 yards receiving, but he didn’t beat the Chiefs deep again. Cooper also made some great defensive plays towards the end of the game. If Brandon Flowers cannot play against the Titans in week five, Cooper and Robinson need to be able to stop Titans’ wide receiver Nate Washington, who had a monster game against the Jets.

3. Alex Smith:

Alex Smith threw two* interceptions this past week. I put the asterisk by two because that second interception wasn’t really on him. He currently stands at seven touchdowns and two interceptions and is on pace for 28 touchdowns and eight interceptions. The Tennessee Titans have the league’s 23rd best pass defense. If the Chiefs plan on winning in Tennessee, Smith needs to keep playing like he has been and not turn the ball over. However, I did like many of the throws he made against the Giants. My favorite of those throws was a 23 yard strike to tight end Sean McGrath that was fit into a very tight window.

4. Donnie Avery

After an awesome game against the Eagles, we saw why some were worried about Donnie Avery in the offseason. He dropped a bunch of balls that a number two receiver should make. Donnie Avery needs to make plays when he isn’t wide open. He needs to hang on to that football so can use that special speed that he has.

Addicts, I’m going to stick with just these players because the rest of the Chiefs defense is phenomenal and really doesn’t have to step up. On offense, Charles will continue to close games out. They just have to keep playing the way they’re playing and the Chiefs will end up 5-0