Arrowhead Pride
In the NFL’s Week 16, the (6-8) Kansas City Chiefs find themselves in an unfamiliar position: eliminated from the postseason with three weeks left in the regular season. So as the Chiefs close out their schedule, they’ll have to learn what they can about their younger players as they try to finish a disappointing season on a positive note. Kansas City’s first opportunity to do all of that comes against the (2-12) Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.
Tennessee won the coin toss and elected to defer, giving Kansas City the opening possession. The Chiefs began at their own 28, where Xavier Worthy took an end-around to the left but was forced out for no gain by Amani Hooker. The drive then went backward on consecutive false starts by Esa Pole and Kingsley Suamataia, pushing Kansas City into a long-yardage situation. Gardner Minshew’s short throw to Travis Kelce fell incomplete, and on third-and-20 Minshew scrambled up the middle for eight yards to regain some field position, but it wasn’t enough to keep the possession alive.
Tennessee opened its first possession with a short completion from Caleb Ward to Chigoziem Okonkwo that moved the ball out to the Titans’ 47. Tony Pollard followed with consecutive runs, first gaining three yards to midfield and then six more on a left tackle to move into Kansas City territory. Facing third-and-1 at the Chiefs’ 44, Kalel Mullings was stuffed at the line by Nick Bolton, forcing fourth down. Tennessee elected to throw, but Ward’s short pass toward tight end Griffin Helm fell incomplete, giving the Chiefs the ball on downs near midfield.
Kansas City took over near midfield but went backward quickly. Minshew opened the series with a short throw to Pacheco that lost three yards, then checked down to Pacheco again on the left side, where the running back gained six yards back to the Kansas City 48. On third-and-7, Minshew looked for Kelce on a short route but could not connect. Araiza punted from his own 48, dropping the ball inside the 10, where Cody Dike called for a fair catch to end another brief Chiefs possession.
