NFL Playoffs 2018: Titans vs. Chiefs preview, score prediction

Tennessee Titans vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Wildcard weekend for the AFC playoffs begins with the Tennessee Titans traveling to face the Kansas City Chiefs in the first game of the playoffs on Saturday afternoon at 4:35 p.m. ET on ESPN. The Titans enter the playoffs with a 9-7 record and are ranked as the No. 5 seed team in the AFC, while the Chiefs — the AFC West champions — are the fourth-ranked team in the conference with a 10-6 overall record.

In comparison of the two teams, the offense of the Titans come in averaging 314 yards per game, while the Chiefs average 375.4 yards per contest on offense. Breaking that down, the passing of the Chiefs averages 256.5 yards per game, while the Titans are at 199.4 yards per game this season. The rushing is nearly even with Tennessee at 114.6 yards per and the Chiefs at 118.9, but the Titans won’t be at full health as DeMarco Murray has been ruled out with a knee injury.

In a closer look at the offense of the Titans, Marcus Mariota has passed for just over 3,200 yards, 13 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. As for the Chiefs, Alex Smith has passed for just over 4,000 yards with 26 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Chiefs Keys To Victory

1. Give the ball to Kareem Hunt — The Chiefs have the better team in this playoff game, and if they want to move on to the divisional round, they must do what they do best and give the ball to Kareem Hunt and let him do his thing. Hunt this season is averaging 4.9 yards per carry with 1,327 yards rushing and eight touchdowns. In more recent games (Week 14-16), Hunt rushed for 116, 115 and 91 yards in games that were all wins. Hunt totaled six games with at least 100 yards rushing, and in those games, the Chiefs were 6-0.

2. Defense will need to step up more than ever — This season, the Chiefs were 28th in the NFL in allowing 365.1 yards per game. The defense has a chance to make that number smaller if they take advantage of not having Murray on the opposite field against them.

Titans Keys to Victory

1. Overcome losing DeMarco Murray — The Titans must overcome the loss of not having DeMarco Murray on the field this Saturday. The positive is they still have Derrick Henry at running back as well. He enters this game with a team-high 744 yards rushing, plus five touchdowns. Henry has had just one game this season with over 20 carries, that coming in Week 17 in a 15-10 win over Jacksonville. Henry rushed for 51 yards on 28 carries, so that number must improve for the Titans to win.

2. Titans defense must stop Hunt — It will be exciting to watch the run defense of Tennessee against the rushing attack of the Chiefs. The Titans are fourth in the NFL in rushing yards allowed at 8.8, so if that unit can stop Hunt from taking over the game, the Titans defense will make this a very close game.

Odds

Point Spread: Kansas City -9
Moneyline: Tennessee Titans +310 , Kansas City Chiefs -420
Over/Under: 44.5

Next: 2018 NFL Mock Draft: QBs declare, rule first round

Prediction

This game has all of the writing on the wall for the Kansas City Chiefs to not only be the favorites, but to do so in convincing fashion. The issue with Kansas City is sometimes they don’t step up to the plate when they need to the most. That said, the Chiefs will take control of the Wild Card game and use Hunt and his rushing abilities to win the battle against Tennessee’s defensive run game.

Pick: Tennessee Titans: 17, Kansas CIty Chiefs: 27

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