Click here to see all recaps on a single page
| Other Week 15 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI at NO | ATL at TB | BAL at MIA | BUF at CLE | CHI at MIN | CIN at SF | DEN at HOU | DET at SD |
| GB at STL | IND at OAK | JAX at PIT | NYJ at NE | PHI at DAL | SEA at CAR | TEN at KC | WAS at NYG |
Week 15 Game Recap: Tennessee Titans 26, Kansas City Chiefs 17
What you need to know
| Tennessee Titans |
The Tennessee Titans had never won in Kansas City. The last time the franchise had won at Arrowhead stadium was 17 years ago when they were the Houston Oilers. To have any hope of still making the playoffs this year, they had to find a way to win with second year quarterback Vince Young, a usually daunting task in the typical inhospitable confines of Arrowhead.
As a result of this game, Tennessee is still in the playoff hunt. The Titans' players will have extra meaning behind their upcoming performances. In this contest, the Titans came from behind in the second half and defeated the Chiefs 26-17. Tennessee played solid if unspectacular football against the mistake prone Chiefs. They turned one interception into a field goal and another interception halted the Chiefs' final drive of the day.
Vince Young gave an all around good effort, completing 16 out of 29 passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns. He added in 32 ground yards on seven carries. Probably the most impressive part of his play was his ability to scramble and avoid sacks. The Chiefs normally have success getting to opposing quarterbacks, but, with one exception, Young was able to evade the pass rush with his swift feet.
Young spread the ball around well with Roydell Williams making the most of it. Williams picked up four catches for 94 yards and two touchdowns. Justin Gage had three catches for 45 yards and Eric Moulds had four for 37 yards. The running game was working well for the Titans as LenDale White picked up 93 yards on the ground and Chris Brown added another 23 yards during breaks for White.
Rob Bironas solidified his standing as one of the top NFL kickers by successfully converting all four of his field goal attempts.
Tennessee hopefully will not have problems in upcoming games from defensive players being nicked up. At various times during this contest Titans defenders had to leave the game after some violent collisions. In particular, linebacker Keith Bulluck, defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson, and defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch each limped off the field for a brief period.
| Kansas City Chiefs |
The Kansas City Chiefs are floundering. The normally packed Kansas City stadium was displaying an awful lot of empty seats. Earlier in the year, Kansas City had a record of 4-3 and was leading their division. Then they had their bye week and they have not won since, including an astonishing five straight losses at their home stadium. With seven straight losses, they now sit at 4-10, tied for last place in the AFC West with Oakland.
A bright note to the game could be that the offense finally attempted to open up a bit. After extremely conservative play calling all year long, the Chiefs came out firing, letting Brodie Croyle air it out. Most of his passes were short, but he did throw several deep balls. He had some early success picking up two passing touchdowns in the first half as he led the Chiefs to a 14-10 halftime lead. He ended up completing 25 out of 43 for 217 yards with the two interceptions, but showed some mistakes from inexperience throwing two second half interceptions, one on the last play of the game. He had several dropped passes. Croyle has not won a game yet as a starter but if they let him keep putting on an offensive air show, he looks like a good prospect for the future.
Kolby Smith started again in place of the injured Larry Johnson and had a solid game rushing for 82 yards on only 18 carries. He seemed to do well as the extra passing opened up the rushing lanes. He also had 23 yards on three catches.
With all of the balls flying through the air for the Chiefs, Croyle favored Dwayne Bowe, Tony Gonzalez and Eddie Kennison. In fact, the veteran Kennison seems fully back from early season injuries, pulling in six passes for 39 yards. Unfortunately for him and the Chiefs, his best catch, a 45 yarder, was called back after a holding call. Kennison did briefly leave the field after one hard hit in the third quarter but came back showing no ill effects.
The Chiefs hurt themselves too often. They had too many dropped passes in addition to the two interceptions. They had eight penalties for 61 yards, sometimes wiping off good gains. Eddie Drummond muffed a punt in the second quarter that led to a Titans' field goal. Later in the game, Benny Sapp muffed a kickoff. He recovered it but was downed inside the Chiefs' own five yard line.
What you ought to know
| QB Vince Young, Pass: 16 - 26 - 191 - 2 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 7 - 32 - 0 |
Vince Young had a very creditable performance. He gained 191 yards through the air on 16 out of 29 throwing, passing for two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also gained 32 yards on the ground on seven carries. Young helped himself with good quickness and smart scrambling as he evaded the strong Kansas City pass rush pursuit. Young showed well against a usually strong Kansas City defense.
| RB LenDale White, Rush: 24 - 93 - 0, Rec: 1 - 0 - 0 (1 targets) |
LenDale White has a firm grasp on the starting running back position at Tennessee. He bulled his way through the Chiefs' defenders for 93 yards on 24 carries. He was punishing to the defensive line and linebackers as he gained quite a bit of his yardage after first contact.
| RB Chris Brown, Rush: 5 - 23 - 0, Rec: 2 - 6 - 0 (2 targets) |
Brown did well in his backup, change of pace role to LenDale White. On five carries, he gained 23 yards, while catching two passes for six yards. He is firmly entrenched in a support role for now.
| RB Ahmard Hall, Rec: 2 - 9 - 0 (3 targets) |
Fullback Hall saw three passes come his way and caught two of them. He was a little used option in a balanced attack.
| WR Eric Moulds, Rec: 4 - 37 - 0 (6 targets) |
After 12 years in the league, Moulds has still got it. He pulled in four of the six balls thrown his way for 37 yards. He can still be counted on for good routes and breakaway moves.
| WR Roydell Williams, Rec: 4 - 94 - 2 (6 targets) |
Speedy Roydell Williams was the third receiver to be targeted six times in this game by Young. He was the most successful too. He caught four passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns. On his second touchdown, he left the defenders behind and streaked into the end zone for a 41 yard scoring catch and run. Williams and Young have developed a nice chemistry.
| WR Justin Gage, Rec: 3 - 45 - 0 (6 targets) |
Gage played wide receiver at college at the University of Missouri and did well coming back to the state. He was a top target for Young while catching three passes for 45 yards.
| WR Biren Ealy (1 targets) |
Ealy did not catch any passes and was only targeted once in this contest. He has no fantasy value.
| TE Ben Hartsock (1 targets) |
Hartsock did not catch the only pass directed toward him and finished with no fantasy points.
| TE Bo Scaife (2 targets) |
Tight end Bo Scaife technically did not catch either of the two passes thrown towards him, but he actually nicely pulled in one of them for what could have been called an 18 yard touchdown. The catch was nullified due to a Tennessee holding penalty.
| PK Rob Bironas 4 - 4 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 14 points |
Bironas is having a great season and added to his growing impressive statistics by successfully converting all four of his field goal attempts. He also was accurate on both extra point attempts.
| TEN Rush Defense |
The Tennessee rush defense gave up good yardage to Kolby Smith, 82 yards on 18 carries, but they were able to stop the rush when it mattered and held the Chiefs to only 89 net yards and no scores.
| TEN Pass Defense |
The Titans were able to harass young Brodie Croyle in the second half, hurrying his throws, batting them away and making two opportunistic interceptions. They gave up 217 yards to Croyle and two aerial touchdowns in the first half but seemed to adjust well at halftime. They were able to rattle Croyle in the second half as the offense found its way and regained the lead for Tennessee.
| QB Brodie Croyle, Pass: 25 - 43 - 217 - 2 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 1 - 6 - 0 |
Croyle Looked like the quarterback the Chiefs hope to see in the future during the first half. Coach Herm Edwards let the offense open up and Croyle looked good as he twice drove the Chiefs to a touchdown through the air and provided the Chiefs with a lead at the break. He finished up with 217 yards as he attempted an amazing 43 passes, completing 25 of them. During the second half, Croyle still had good moments, but the Titans began to push him better and his choices were not as well conceived. He threw two critical interceptions in the second half and the game got away from the Chiefs. Croyle has yet to win a game that he started, but he is showing a lot of poise and skill. He should be able to continue to put up decent totals.
| RB Kolby Smith, Rush: 18 - 82 - 0, Rec: 3 - 23 - 0 (4 targets) |
Kolby Smith had another good rushing performance in relief of the still injured Larry Johnson. Smith collected 82 yards on only 18 carries. He was the beneficiary of the increased passing attack opening up the running lanes. Smith may have a good future but will probably move to first backup when Johnson does finally return.
| RB Gilbert Harris, Rush: 1 - -4 - 0, Rec: 1 - 14 - 0 (2 targets) |
Fullback Gilbert Harris did not have a good game. His only carry was for negative yards. He had one nice catch for 14 yards, but the other pass intended for him should have been caught. It would have been wiped out by a holding call, but it was a drop when he should have had it.
| WR Eddie Kennison, Rec: 6 - 39 - 0 (10 targets) |
Kennison was a bit of a surprise. The veteran looked like he had turned back the clock to the days before his season opening injury. He was Croyle's number one target, grabbing six of the ten passes intended for him. He picked up 39 yards, but one of the targets for him was actually an uncounted catch that would have been for 45 yards. It was called back due to a holding call on the Chiefs.
| WR Dwayne Bowe, Rec: 5 - 64 - 0 (9 targets) |
Rookie Dwayne Bowe had a couple of drops but still showed great flashes. He hauled in five of the nine passes sent his way for 64 yards. Bowe can now be counted on every game for production.
| WR Samie Parker, Rec: 3 - 33 - 1 (3 targets) |
Parker provided an outstanding effort for this contest. He caught all three passes thrown to him for 33 yards. On his touchdown catch, Croyle threw a short pass that Parker caught inside the ten yard line. Parker made a great move on the potential tackler leaving him clutching air and then ran in for the score.
| WR Jeff Webb, Rush: 1 - 5 - 0, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (4 targets) |
Jeff Webb had a short gain on the ground and caught one of the passes thrown to him. He had little impact.
| TE Tony Gonzalez, Rec: 3 - 17 - 0 (8 targets) |
Gonzalez was blanketed by the Titans defense, regularly finding three defenders attached to him. It was probably amazing that he caught three of the balls targeted for him considering the Tennessee coverage. Gonzalez was forced to play defense on the two interceptions picking up a tackle after each one.
| TE Kris Wilson, Rec: 3 - 18 - 1 (4 targets) |
Kris Wilson looked better out there than he has for a while. He caught three of the four balls thrown his way, but where he looked best was on his one scoring play. With the Chiefs at the nine yard line, Croyle threw a short pass to Wilson. Wilson broke through two tacklers at the five and then carried a third one with him as he leapt over the goal line.
| PK John Carney 1 - 1 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 5 points |
Carney remains perfect on the year for the Chiefs. He converted his first field goal attempt wearing a Kansas City uniform. He also was successful on both extra point attempts. He does not have the strongest kickoff leg however. He had one kick that went out of bounds, giving the Titans starting field position at their own 40 yard line.
| KC Rush Defense |
The Chiefs rush defense gave up 148 net yards to the Titans. They were often knocked back after the first hit by the large Tennessee running backs. They were pushed around by LenDale White and Chris Brown, while Vince Young had nice gains when breaking out of the pocket.
| KC Pass Defense |
The Kansas City pass defense had to have been exhausted after this contest. They managed one sack but were mostly grasping air despite many times getting into the backfield. Young's scrambling ability was too great for the Chiefs to catch up with. They kept Young from enjoying a good completion percentage but they gave up 191 yards and two touchdowns through the air. They were a good attacking unit, but did not know how to handle the elusive Titans' quarterback.
