Titans vs. Chiefs: Live Updates and Analysis

The Tennessee Titans have taken the approach that Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs is a must-win.

Then again, they say that has been their approach to every game this season. Thus far, all it has gotten them is a 4-5 record and last place in the AFC South as they approach their final contest before the bye.

“You take every game almost like it’s the Super Bowl,” Kevin Byard said. “At the end of the day, we have to find a way to string (together) some wins. And I think that’s how it should be every day for the season going [forward], no matter what the record is, not matter what’s going on. We have to play with a super level of urgency to be able to improve and keep getting better and try to get some Ws.”

All four Titans’ wins have been against teams that entered the week with a losing record (Cleveland, Atlanta, L.A. Chargers and Tampa Bay) .

Kansas City is 6-3.

“It should be 100 percent every single game, every single week because that’s the way this league is,” linebacker Cameron Wake said (hear more from Wake in the above video). “… And if you’re looking down the line then you’re going to trip over what’s right in front of you. It’s a one-week season every week from Game 1 until the last game.”

FIRST QUARTER

Tennessee wins the coin toss and defers its option until the second half. Titans have won the toss in six of 10 games this season. They are 3-2 in the first five.

Kansas City, with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, will start with the ball.

(14:44) First play, Mahomes rolls right, throws back and deep over the middle. Kenny Vaccaro with the interception. Titans’ ball at their own 37.

Video review determines Vaccaro did not complete the catch. Kansas keeps the ball, second-and-10.

(12:16) Titans defense using two defensive linemen, four linebackers and five defensive backs on most plays on this opening drive, which has now reached the Titans’ 24.

(9:19) Kansas City 7, Tennessee 0. Shovel pass to tight end Travis Kelce for the touchdown. Kansas City converted two third downs and threw the ball on eight of 11 plays of that opening possession. Scoring drive: 11 plays, 69 yards, 5:41.

Opponents have now scored first against the Titans in eight of 10 games this season (Tennessee was 2-5 in the first seven). Five times the opposition has scored on its opening possession.

(7:49) On third-and-3, Ryan Tannehill is sacked and fumbled. Chiefs recover. Kansas City ball at the Tennessee 20. Play is being reviewed. Call stands. Titans in some early trouble.

Titans quarterbacks have been sacked a league-high 39 times this season (Mariota 25, Tannehill 14).

(6:20). Penalties hurting the Chiefs. Offensive pass interference negated a 16-yard touchdown catch by Travis Kelce. Then a holding call makes it second-and-26 at the 36.

(4:43) Kansas City 10, Tennessee 7. Harrison Butker adds to Kansas City’s lead with a 30-yard field goal. Scoring drive: 4 plays, 8 yards, 3:05.

Mahomes is 9-11 for 95 yards on the first two drives.

This is the second game this season the Titans have allowed 10-plus points in the first quarter. The first was Jacksonville, which got 14.

(1:21) Titans become the first NFL team to allow 40 sacks this season. A third-and-5 from the KC 40 turns into fourth-and-14 … and a punt.

End of the first quarter. Total yards: Kansas City 134, Tennessee 16. First downs: Kansas City 7, Tennessee 2. Time of possession: Kansas City 9:33, Tennessee 5:27.

SECOND QUARTER

(14:40) Adoreé Jackson credited with his fifth tackle of the game, which ties his season-high (Cleveland), after Tyreek Hill goes out of bounds after a 12-yard gain. Jackson actually missed the tackle for what would have been a short game. Chiefs on the move again.

(12:05) Titans force a punt for the first time … but only after Mahomes overthrows an open Tyreek Hill deep on first down and Sammy Watkins drops a pass on third down, which would have moved the chains.

(11:43) On the offense's first play of the quarter, Ryan Tannehill hits Kalif Raymond deep down the middle on a play-action. Raymond had 31 career receiving yards on three catches coming into today. This one goes for 52 yards. Titans ball first-and-10 at the Kansas City 21.

(10:23) Kansas City 10, Tennessee 7. Anthony Firkser scores his second career touchdown on a 9-yard reception. Scoring drive: 4 plays, 73 yards, 1:34.

(6:14) Tennessee 13, Kansas City 10. Rashaan Evans returns a fumble 53 yards for the touchdown. That’s the good news. Bad news is Ryan Succop misses the extra-point to the left. That’s the league-leading 10missed kick by the Titans this season (eight field goals, two PATs). Rookie David Long caused the fumble by Darrel Williams. Chiefs had driven 38 yards in seven plays (three first downs).

(3:35) Kansas City converts a third-and-10 with a 29-yard catch-and-run by Tyreek Hill. Patrick Mahomes now has 198 passing yards (he is 19-for-25). Kansas City has a first down at the Tennessee 30.

Harold Landry comes up with his team-leading seventh sack of the year on the next play.

(2:00) Two-minute warning. Chiefs have it third-and-9 from the Tennessee 29. They’re 5-for-7 on third-down conversions thus far.

(1:12) Tennessee 13, Kansas City 13. The defense limits Kansas City to a six-yard gain on third down and the Chiefs settle for a 41-yard Harrison Butker field goal. Scoring drive: 10 plays, 52 yards, 5:02.

Tennessee gets the ball to start the second half. If it can do something with the final 72 seconds of this half, it could be huge.

(0:52) After a 12-yard run to the 34 by Derrick Henry, the Titans use their first timeout. Henry has 42 yards on just eight carries.

(0:29) Ryan Tannehill throws his first incompletion of the day. He was 5-for-5 87 yards and a touchdown. Titans still not to midfield.

(0:24) Titans punt it away. Kansas City with the fair catch it is own 4-yard line.

Halftime. Total yards: Kansas City 254, Tennessee 114. First downs: Kansas City 14, Tennessee 7. Time of possession: Kansas City 22:03, Tennessee 7:57. Score: Tennessee 13, Kansas City 13.

THIRD QUARTER

(14:16) Taylor Lewan with an unnecessary roughness penalty that turns a third-and-3 into a third-and-13 from the Tennessee 10.

(13:48) Lewan called for holding, which negates Jonnu Smith’s 20-yard catch-and-run for a third-down conversion. Titans punt one play later.

Lewan now has a team-high eight penalties for the season (recall that he missed the first four games). He passed Malcolm Butler, who had seven.

(6:54) Kansas City 19, Tennessee 13. Harrison Butker misses the extra point after the Chiefs score on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to Tyreek Hill. Big play was a holding call against LeShaun Sims that gave Kansas City a first down after an incomplete pass on third down. Scoring drive: 10 plays, 77 yards, 5:40.

Chiefs have 20 first downs. The most allowed by the Tennessee defense this season is 24, both in wins (Atlanta, L.A. Chargers).

(5:58) Tennessee 20, Kansas City 19. Derrick Henry finally breaks a big run – 68 yards for the touchdown, which doubles his previous long for the season – and Tennessee is back on top. Scoring drive: 2 plays, 74 yards, 0:56.

Henry with a season-high 123 yards on 12 carries. His previous season-high was 100 yards (on 27 carries) against Atlanta.

(1:58) Kansas City 22, Tennessee 20. Patrick Mahomes with 307 passing yards (he is 31-for-41). He joins Ryan, Rivers and Winston as the only quarterbacks to throw for more than 300 against Tennessee this season, but the Chiefs settle for a 43-yard Harrison Butker field goal. Scoring drive: 10 plays, 50 yards, 4:00.

Four of the Chiefs’ five scoring drives (two touchdowns, three field goals) have included at least 10 plays and three of the five have lasted longer than five minutes.

End of the quarter. Big plays have been the story for the Titans. Total yards: Kansas City 367, Tennessee 230. First downs: Kansas City 23, Tennessee 9. Time of possession: Kansas City 31:43, Tennessee 13:17.

FOURTH QUARTER

(11:54) Kansas City 29, Tennessee 20. The Titans blitz Mahomes on third-and-9. He avoids the rush and finds Mecole Hardman, whose catch-and-run goes 63 yards for a touchdown. That is the seventh third-down conversion (on 12 attempts) by Kansas City’s offense, which ties the most against Tennessee’s defense this season. Scoring drive: 5 plays, 79 yards, 2:06.

(6:26) Kansas City 29, Tennessee 27. The offense responds with a drive that includes a couple of Ryan Tannehill runs (one scramble, one designed), some no-huddle after crossing midfield, and a whole lot of Derrick Henry (seven carries, 39 yards), who capped it a with a 1-yard run. Scoring drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 5:08.

Henry has multiple touchdown runs in a game for the first time this season and the fifth time in his career.

(3:14) Kansas City 32, Tennessee 27. A 39-yard completion to Tyreek Hill gets the Chiefs deep into Tennessee territory, but the defense holds and forces Kansas City to settle for a 39-yard Harrison Butker field goal. Scoring drive: 7 plays, 53 yards, 3:12.

(2:01) Taylor Lewan again. A false start turns a third-and-5 at the Tennessee 44 into a third-and-10 from the 39.

(1:55) Tannehill is sacked. And now it is fourth-and-17. Offense staying on the field through the two-minute warning timeout. … Titans do have all of their timeouts.

(1:48) Deep fade to A.J. Brown against a blitz is incomplete. Titans want a pass interference call. Don’t get it.

(1:23) Field goal attempt (47 yards) fails when Kansas City holder Dustin Colquitt loses his balance as the ball arrives. Colquitt promptly throws the ball away and is called for intentional grounding, which gives the ball to the Titans at their own 39.

(0:23) Tennessee 35, Kansas City 32. Adam Humphries with his first catch of the day. It goes for 23 yards and a touchdown that puts the Titans on top. The drive started with an 18-yard scramble by Ryan Tannehill and included a 20-yard completion to Anthony Firkser. Tannheil keeps it for the two-point conversion and Tennessee leads by three. Scoring drive: 4 plays, 61 yards, 0:58.

(0:17). Kansas City starts at its own 38 with two timeouts. First play is a pass for 23 yards. Second play is a five-yard gain that puts the ball on the Titans’ 34 and stops the clock (out of bounds). An incomplete pass means a 52-yard field goal attempt.

(0:00) Kick is blocked. Josh Kalu, activated off IR a week ago, with the bock. Titans win.

CLOSING THOUGHT

Both teams leaned heavily on their best offensive weapons. Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes finished 36-for-50 for 446 yards and three touchdowns. Tennessee running back Derrick Henry rolled to 188 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries.

When the time came, the Titans found heroes elsewhere and got a much-needed win headed into the bye.