NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Titans made it look easy with their 27-3 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.
The offense scored on all five of its first-half possessions (three touchdowns, two field goals) and led by at least two touchdowns for each of the final three quarters.
The defense did not allow Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes to throw a touchdown pass for the first time in more than two years and sacked him four times, the last of which knocked him from the contest.
Here is a roundup of what players and coaches from both teams had to say after the contest:
• Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, on the loss: “You’re embarrassed. You got spanked pretty good. You were coming in here trying to build off the momentum of the week before and we didn’t do that, so I mean, it’s just trying to find a way to get better for next week because it pays for you to get better and better in this league if you want to get where you want to be at.”
• Titans DL Denico Autry, on four sacks of Mahomes and seven sacks in the last two games: “I just knew we had to put pressure on both of the two quarterbacks we faced the last two games. So, it was major.”
• Titans OLB Bud Dupree, on holding the Chiefs without a touchdown: “We put a good performance together as a unit and as a whole. We had a gameplan coming into the game where we didn’t want to allow many escape lanes. He was still able to get outside of the pocket, at the end of the day he is a great quarterback, so he is going to make plays. We just try to contain it as best as we can.”
• Titans OLB Harold Landry, on the defense forcing three turnovers: “It was big. It has definitely been a point of emphasis for us throughout the year. Every week we are working on that aspect, and I think guys are focused on it and we were able to do it. It is big especially when you are going up against a dynamic and explosive offense like the Chiefs.”
• Chiefs WR Byron Pringle, on the result: “They came out ready to play, and they executed. They executed well and then came ready to play. … We’re going to get everybody’s best shot, and we’ve got to go and apply pressure for four quarters. If we don’t, it’ll end up like (Sunday).”
• Titans C Ben Jones, on the overall performance: “We played our best ball. That first half was what Titans football is all about. We played well on defense, well on offense, and in the second half, the defense wouldn’t let them get in the end zone. We grinded it out and took up a lot of clock in the second half, and we won the way we wanted to.”
• Titans coach Mike Vrabel, on Derrick Henry failing to rush for 100 yards for the first time since Week 1: “Give them credit. They defended the run well, but we were able to hit some plays down the field. We talked about beating match coverage, and guys did that. A lot of guys stepped up and took care of the quarterback for the most part.”
• Chiefs coach Andy Reid, on allowing 27 first-half points: “I thought we were close. I mean, we were close. And it was just a fingertip away from taking care of a big play or a penalty, you know, happening. You know, they had a nice screen on third-and-long. You know, we were getting them into those good situations. And they were able to work their way out of it.”
• Titans ILB Rashaan Evans, on the margin of victory: “Coach (Mike Vrabel) constantly harps on us to not be surprised about how comfortable it is. Especially when you do what you’re supposed to do. All the countless hours of meetings, all the countless hours in practice, that is when it shows up in the game and that is what you saw (Sunday).”
• Titans S Kevin Byard, on beating the teams that played in last season’s AFC Championship in consecutive games: “Honestly our confidence is always high. There is not a team in this league that we don’t feel we can’t beat on any given Sunday. Power rankings, all that stuff doesn’t really matter. If you come out here and you don’t perform on Sunday, you are going to get your behinds whooped. But obviously, we know they are an explosive team and how great Kansas City is, but at the end of the day we felt like we can go out here and get a win and that’s the bottom line.”
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