Matt Resnick

Chiefs look to punch first Super Bowl ticket in 50 years

Saturday, January 18, 2020

By Matt Resnick | Daily Mail Sports Editor

One of the biggest games in Kansas City Chiefs' franchise history is on tap Sunday, and the stakes couldn't be higher.

Heading into Sunday's AFC title game tilt with the upstart Tennessee Titans, no one is feeling more pressure than Kansas City head coach Andy Reid.

Reid is the second winningest active-coach and No. 7 on the all-tine list (207), trailing only six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichik (273) in the active coaches category. Further, Reid has had a long, tortured history of coming up just short, with a career 1-5 record in conference championship games. Four of the five losses came as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, where Reid's squads were favored in many of the title game clashes. Reid's lone trip to the Super Bowl came in January 2005, when the Eagles were edged by New England, 24-21.

The table is now set for Reid and company to punch their ticket to Super Bowl LIV in Miami.

Everything has broken the Chiefs' way over the past several weeks, including some things completely out of their control. In the final week of the regular-season Miami upset New England on the road, resulting in Kansas City earning the coveted first-round bye.

Sixth-seeded Tennessee then dispatched top-seeded juggernaut Baltimore in the divisional-round, paving the way for the Chiefs to host their second consecutive AFC Championship game.

In addition, Chiefs' starters are virtually injury-free, with the exception of all-pro defensive end Chris Jones, who is questionable for Sunday, and impact rookie safety Juan Thornhill, who was lost for the remainder of the season due to an ACL.

Thornhill's replacement, Dan Sorensen, has been phenomenal, making several huge plays in the Chiefs' 51-31 comeback victory over Houston last week — including a momentum-altering open field tackle on a fake punt.

Kansas City enters the marquee matchup as sizable seven point favorites. Of utmost importance is slowing Titans' tailback Derrick Henry, who ran roughshod over both the Ravens and the vaunted Patriots' defense a week prior.

Kansas City will also need a bend-but-don't-break type mentality on defense, as the Titans lead the NFL in red zone scoring, converting touchdowns from 20 yards and in at a whopping 77 percent clip. The next closest in the league is Green Bay at 66 percent, while the Chiefs reside at 53 percent. Tennessee's touchdown prowess in the red zone has rendered their place kicker almost non-existent, with their last field goal attempt dating back to Week 15.

The two teams previously met in Week 10, with Tennessee prevailing in a thriller in Nashville, 35-32. In that game Mahomes, in his first game back from a weeks-long knee injury, shredded the Titans secondary for 446 yards and three touchdowns, while wide receiver Tyreke Hill hauled in 11 catches for 157 yards and a touchdown. For Tennessee Henry gashed the Chiefs' defense for 188 yards and a pair of scores, while averaging a robust 8.2 yards per carry.

In their previous matchup before that the Titans upended the Chiefs at Arrowhead in the 2018 Wildcard round, 22-21, behind Marcus Mariota.