Titans start fast, dominate Mahomes, Chiefs 27-3 – KIRO 7 News Seattle

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – (AP) – Ryan Tannehill threw for 270 yards and a touchdown, and he also ran for a score and the Tennessee Titans beat the Kansas City Chiefs 27-3 on Sunday for their fifth win in six games.

It was also the Titans’ second win in six days (5-2) over teams playing for the AFC Championship in January.

They beat Buffalo 34:31 on Monday night and then simply dominated the two-time defending AFC champions as Tennessee took the 27-0 lead at halftime.

The Chiefs (3-4) have lost two out of three this season and have dropped to 1-4 in the AFC. They were also held on to the fewest points since a 38-3 loss to Denver on December 30, 2012.

This marked the first time Patrick Mahomes had been 27 deficit at halftime and the Chiefs’ third-largest deficit since 1991. It was the worst since the Chiefs were 29-0 down to Pittsburgh at halftime on October 2, 2016, and only the eighth time in franchise history that Kansas City was 27 or more behind in the half.

The Titans forced three turnovers – two from Mahomes – which turned them into 10 points. Denico Autry had two of the Titans’ four sacks.

Mahomes slowly stood up after knocking his head on the knee on the fourth sack from Autry. He went to the medical tent and didn’t come back late with Chad Henne. He finished with 206 yards passing and 35 yards rushing.

Chiefs trainer Andy Reid said Mahomes has cleared the concussion logs and will play the Giants on Nov. 1. But Reid decided not to use Mahomes again for the Chiefs’ final voyage. Mahomes said he was feeling fine.

“You get hit pretty hard, sometimes you just want to lie down,” said Mahomes. “It was also fourth behind. … It was a disappointing day and a disappointing conclusion. “

Kansas City won the throw and was postponed. The Titans didn’t look back despite Taylor Lewan being concussed three times at the Pro Bowl.

The Titans picked up pace as Tannehill distributed the ball to 2020 Pro Bowl wide receiver AJ Brown and seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Julio Jones. Derrick Henry, the NFL’s rushing leader, finished the drive out of the Wildcat and threw a 5-yard pass to tight end MyCole Pruitt for a 7-0 lead.

Outside linebacker Bud Dupree, Tennessee’s largest free agent signer, was fired for the first time this season to end the Chiefs’ inaugural move.

Tannehill drove the Titans 97 yards on the following drive, highlighted by a 46-yard throw to initially pronounce an incompleteness to Brown. Titans trainer Mike Vrabel won his challenge, and Tannehill finished the ride with a 24-yard TD pass for Brown, who had been dealing with food poisoning all week.

After intercepting linebacker Rashaan Evans, Tannehill ran for a 2-yard TD and a 24-0 lead. Randy Bullock added his second field goal after Mahomes’ fumble for the 27-0 lead.

MAHOMES ‘SALES

Mahomes was intercepted in six straight games, the longest time of his career. He had a total of 11 interceptions in 2019 and 2020 and has nine this season. His fumble with 1:46 remainder in the first half was his second this season, which brought him 11 sales for the season.

That’s most of what Mahomes has ever had in a single season, even if you count the playoffs. He only had nine in 17 games in 2019 and 10 in 18 games in 2020.

RARE COMPANY

Henry’s TD pass made him the second NFL player in the Super Bowl era to run for at least 10 TDs and throw a TD pass in his team’s first seven games. LaDainian Tomlinson was the first in 2005.

The running back’s first career TD pass came in a division playoff win over Baltimore in January 2020.

INJURIES

Titan’s left guard Roger Saffold injured a hamstring muscle in the first half but returned. Kendall Lamm, who started at Lewan’s place, injured his ankle in the first half and did not return. He was replaced by Bobby Hart, who was replaced by the Buffalo training team on Wednesday.

NEXT

The Chiefs will receive the New York Giants on November 1st at prime time.

Titans start next Sunday in Indianapolis with two games on the road.

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Follow Teresa M. Walker at https://twitter.com/TeresaMWalker

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