Im more confident about this game than I was about last week and I knew the Texans didnt have a chance. I dont give a shit about your running back, because we have Patrick Mahomes and the Titans have Ryan fucking Tannehill. RBs are about the least important position on the field. Henry is averaging over 200 total yards a game in the postseason which has amounted fo 24 ppg for the Titans. The Chiefs have scored less than 24 points only 3 times. Derrick Henry isn't the reason the Titans have won both playoff games, its because Tom Brady is washed up and Lamar Jackson shit the bed when it mattered. So let Derrick Henry run his way to 200 yards and let the Titans score there 24 points, because we have Patrick Mahomes and we will score 40. They can even have the ball for 35 minutes, because TOP doesn't matter and we scored 51 points in 25 minutes. Im tired of hearing about Derrick Henry. [Reply]
What the Chiefs need to do to beat the Tits is something they had problems with early in the year. GAP DISCIPLINE. They've done better the 2nd half of the year but they need to do it well Sunday. You plug up the gaps and make Henry go east/west until the cavalry can arrive and gang tackle. Big bodies in the middle that hold their ground against a good Tennessee O-line. Nothing fancy, DL just got to sack up and do it. [Reply]
Guys, go and check out the play-by-play of the first HOU vs TEN game this year. Texans won 24-21, btw.
Check out how that game unfolded.
Henry ran 21 times for 88 yards, but as a team TEN ran for 166 yards, so they established their run game.
Watson had a respectable game, but screwed the team over by throwing two INTs.
But they scored 2 TDs in the first half and led 14-0 coming out of the half.
It took TEN 9 minutes and 16 plays to score their first TD. Run, run, pass. Run, run, pass . . .
But it eats up the entire 3rd quarter.
Then HOU goes on a long drive and scores another TD eating up 3 minutes. Up 21-7.
And then TEN goes on another long drive for a TD that takes 5 or so minutes. Still down by a TD and more than half-way thru the 4th, I think.
And then HOU goes on another long drive TD.
And so on.
My point is, at the end of the game, when TEN needed to score fast to have a chance to even tie, they couldn't do it. That grind-it-out heavy-run game is also their anchor. They can't score fast. They literally ran out of time because they took so much time to score on each drive. They ate up their own chance to get the ball back and tie.
Even against the worst scoring defense in the playoffs TEN couldn't score quickly.
Think about that.
Andy and Pat know this. They're going to score fast out of the gate; they aren't going to try to eat up clock in the first half. They're going to drop bombs on TEN and force them to try and score fast. Which they can't do.
I don't think we try to stop Henry completely. Just defend the big play, period. Let them grind up the clock. We already know that they only score about 33% of their possessions. Keep their receivers in front, double their best WR, and let Henry run for 5 yard a carry. 7 times out of 10 possessions they end up punting anyway. [Reply]
Or just do whatever the Pats did, now that I think about it. Pats held the Titans to just 14 points, 2 TDs, no offensive points in the second. We do that and just score on 4 of our first 6 drives and it's game over. [Reply]
You still have to stop Henry in the first half gents. Say what you want about "jumping out to a big lead," but you can't do that sitting on the sidelines watching Henry grind it away on you for a TD. They didn't get the win versus us the first time "just because" the Chiefs turned the ball over once and missed a field goal. They were able to keep the game close to the end by doing exactly what we need to stop this time around.
Tannehill may also be an "NFL QB" but he's surely not a great one. If you put the game on his shoulders, chances are he's not going to cut it and especially going point-for-point against the Chiefs' offense. He's very much Alex Smith reincarnate. If you keep things close and you support him with a run game, he's got enough to beat you with a solid play action and short passing game. If he gets into a position where he has to carry the team and go toe-to-toe with a high-powered offense coming from behind, chances are he's going to shit down his leg. [Reply]
