Grant’s Slants: Faith is (somewhat) restored in Kansas City Chiefs

Preview: Kansas City Chiefs @ Tennessee Titans

Tennessee is hosting the Chiefs in what many expected to be a preview of the AFC Championship Game. Instead, fans are getting two teams that have not lived up to expectations to start the year. While Kansas City is thrilled to be coming off of a victory in Washington, they have a lot to prove in terms of consistency. After holding Washington to a mere 13 points that were all scored in the first half, the Chiefs are looking to replicate that success against the high-powered Titans offense.

Tennessee enters the week coming off a huge win against the Bills on late game heroics on a defensive stop. While the Bills could have sent it in to overtime, they went for the win and they just came up short. Tennessee’s spirits and energy should be high for the Chiefs game this weekend.

While the season has not gone according to plan, there is no doubt that this game will played with a lot of passion. When Kansas City went to Super Bowl in 2019, the Titans were the last team to get by in the AFC Championship. Tennessee will be out for blood and will certainly look to get revenge in a game that could be the determining factor as to how their season goes.

Prediction: Chiefs 34, Titans 28

While it would be great to see the Chiefs win by 10 points or more, I don’t think it is objective to expect that from Kansas City at this point. While it is encouraging that they defeated the Washington Football Team in commanding fashion, Tennessee is a different animal.

While they have underperformed as a team, they have some incredible talent. Julio Jones, AJ Brown, and Derrick Henry make the offense incredible formidable. In fact, one could argue that there is no better trio on any offense in the NFL. The Chiefs will likely have some hiccups in their defensive game plan, but the hope is that they will look more like last week than the weeks prior.

Looking at Tennessee’s defense, the Chiefs should be able to take advantage of some key weaknesses. While the front seven is pretty talented, especially against the run, the back half of the defense has struggled to slow down passing offenses so far this season. Although they have invested a lot of money and resources in the cornerback position, they have not produced in the way that Titans fans had hoped.

Player of the Game: Travis Kelce

Travis Kelce has been due for a huge game. While he has been consistently solid all season, he has only one game with multiple touchdowns. In this one, I hope and believe it could be an excellent opportunity for Kelce to have a monster game. Look for Kelce to get open in the middle of the field early and often.