Seven Things That Happened in Loss to Chiefs
It happened again.
For the second time this season, the Tennessee Titans (5-3) lost a game they led at the start of the fourth quarter. They fell 20-17 in overtime to the Kansas City Chiefs (6-2) in a game they led by eight (17-9) with 15 minutes to go. Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ 14-yard touchdown run and subsequent two-point conversion erased that lead and forced things to go beyond regulation.
In their first four seasons under coach Mike Vrabel (2018-21), the Titans were 27-2 when they had a lead at the start of the final period.
This season, they are now 5-2. They started the campaign with a 21-20 loss to the New York Giants after having led 20-12 through three quarters.
Here are six more things that happened against the Chiefs:
• Wideouts shutout: Tennessee’s wide receivers finished the game with no receptions.
Granted, it is not as if the offense, led by rookie Malik Willis, threw it all over the lot. Willis completed just five passes for 60 yards. Three of the completions were to tight ends (Austin Hooper two, Chig Okonkwo one) and two were to running backs (Hassan Haskins and Dontrell Hilliard).
All four wide receivers in uniform – Robert Woods, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Cody Hollister and Chris Conley – were targeted on the night. The ball came Woods’ way twice and went to the other three once each. None of them ended up with a catch.
Tennessee entered the week last in the NFL in collective receptions, yards and touchdowns by its wide receivers. With this performance, it fell even farther behind in that regard.
• Missing the mark: Harrison Butker’s 28-yard field goal with 4:04 to play in overtime ended up as the game-winner. That is not to say it was a banner night for the veteran kicker. It was, however, typical of when he faces the Titans.
Butker entered the night having made 89.2 percent of his field goal attempts and 94.2 percent of his PATs over five-plus seasons in the league. Before this game went to overtime, he missed one of each.
It was the third time in his career that Butker has faced Tennessee, and he has missed at least one kick in each. In 2019, he missed a PAT and had a game-tying field goal attempt blocked as time expired. In 2021, he missed a field goal try.
For his career, Butker is 6-for-9 (67 percent) on field goals and 2-for-4 (50 percent) on PATs against the Titans.
• Oh-for-Two With a 2: The Chiefs became the second team this season to convert a two-point try against the Titans defense. Mahomes’ 1-yard run (a holding penalty against Josh Kalu lessened the necessary distance) with 2:56 remaining in regulation tied the score at 17-17 and forced overtime.
Two two-point conversions matches the most allowed by Tennessee in the four-plus seasons since Vrabel became coach. There are nine games to go in this one.
The difference is that this season the impact has been much greater. Saquon Barkley’s reception with 1:06 to play in the opener was the difference in the 21-20 loss to the Giants.
In the previous four seasons, opponents converted five two-point conversions, including two each in 2019 and 2021. The Titans won all five of those games.
• Hurting again: Outside linebacker Bud Dupree played less than half the game because of a hip injury.
It is not the first time he has dealt with this problem. Dupree missed two full contests earlier this season (vs. Las Vegas, at Washington) and parts of two others (at Buffalo, at Indianapolis) with a hip injury.
This was his third straight game played, his longest run thus far this season. Since he joined the Titans in 2021, he has not played more than five games in a row. Along the way, he has been inactive four times, missed three games while on injured reserve and did not play in one game for which he was in uniform.
Before he got hurt against the Chiefs, Dupree was credited with one assisted tackle.
• Getting there: The Titans sacked Mahomes four times. In his first seven games, he had been sacked just 12 times in all and never more than three in any one contest.
Tennessee now has gotten to the opposing quarterback at least three times in five straight games. In fact, in each of the previous four the number of sacks was exactly three. The only time this season the defense had more was in Week 1 against the Giants (five).
All of the sacks of Mahomes came from defensive linemen. Denico Autry had two, which gave him a team-leading seven on the season, two short of his career-high. Mario Edwards and DeMarcus Walker had one each.
With 23 through eight games, the Titans are on pace for 49 this season. That would be the most since 2000, when they finished with 55.
• Rookie showcase: The disappointment of defeat could not overshadow what was a big night for rookie tight end Chig Okonkwo.
The fourth-round pick out of Maryland set a career-high with 48 receiving yards – and he did so on one play. On Tennessee’s first offensive snap, Okonkwo caught a pass behind the line of scrimmage, broke four tackles and ran away from the another defender before he finally was caught.
Then late in the first half, he batted Ryan Stonehouse’s 57-yard punt out of the end zone, which allowed Kevin Rader to down the ball at the 3. From there, the Chiefs failed to reach midefield before they had to punt.
Those were winning plays – even though they happened in a defeat.
