Arrowhead Pride
Out of the postseason race with three games remaining in the 2025 season, the Kansas City Chiefs went to Nashville in Week 16, hoping to finish a disappointing season with some positive energy. But against the Tennessee Titans, all the energy went the other way in a 26-9 road loss that dropped their record to 6-9.
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.
Tennessee began the drive backed up near its own goal line, with Pollard breaking out of the end zone on a 10-yard run. The Titans tried to build momentum through the air, but Cameron Ward’s short completion to Van Jefferson gained only nine yards and a false start by Udoh stalled the drive. Pollard picked up four yards on the ground, and Ward converted a third down by finding Dike for nine yards along the right sideline. After Pollard added six yards on a run, Ward dumped the ball to Spears for a short gain. Facing third-and-3, Ward hit tight end Okonkwo for 15 yards to move the chains. The Chiefs’ defense responded when Karlaftis dropped Ward for an eight-yard sack, forcing third-and-long. Ward’s deep attempt for Dike fell incomplete, setting up fourth down and ending the possession.
Kansas City took over at its own 6-yard line late in the first quarter. Minshew started the drive with a quick completion to Smith-Schuster...
