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Week 7 Game Recap: Tennessee Titans 34, Kansas City Chiefs 10
What you need to know
| Tennessee Titans |
RB Chris Johnson was just incredible. He had six yards per carry average on the day without including his long TD run. Words cannot explain how good he was.
LenDale White was used a lot more in this game than in past weeks. He once again had double digit touches. On a play where Kansas City forgot to have their safeties in the defensive backfield White busted a TD for 80 yards.
Kerry Collins was efficient but didn't throw a long ball all day. There were only 18 passing attempts and he didn't need to throw much. Jeff Fisher said before the game that he would be very conservative with Collins.
| Kansas City Chiefs |
Tony Gonzalez reduced every concern over the trade talk from the past two weeks. It was clear he wanted to prove something to his teammates. He reached out for balls across the middle and played hard.
Brodie Croyle was hit from both directions and a play that bent his knee very awkwardly. He was walking out in a full leg air cast and is gone for the year. Damon Huard came in and hurt his thumb and was seen with a heavily wrapped thumb afterwards. Tyler Thigpen came in as the emergency QB and ran first and threw into the stands or grass with every attempt he could.
Kolby Smith started the game and played most of the first half. The second half was more split between Smith and Jamaal Charles. At the end of the game Tyler Thigpen was the leading rusher with a whopping 21 yards. The Chief running game looked very ugly.
What you ought to know
| QB Kerry Collins, Pass: 11 - 18 - 123 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 2 - -2 - 0 |
Jeff Fisher said that the Titans would use Kerry Collins very conservatively and he was true to his word. Collins did not have one deep target all day. He was very accurate and even hit guys in tough coverage. In the red zone the Titans ran, ran, and ran some more. Kansas City had DL Tamba Hali drop back into coverage on one play and it almost worked. If Hali didn't drop the ball it would have been a short field for Kansas City. Collins was much better with is judgment after that play. He only had two pass attempts in the second quarter. There might have been more passes in the fourth quarter if RBs LenDale White and Chris Johnson didn't break off highlight reel runs the second and third possession plays respectively. Tennessee did not need Collins to do much.
| RB Chris Johnson, Rush: 18 - 168 - 1, Rec: 2 - 4 - 0 (3 targets) |
Chris Johnson was amazing. He showed his burst with that NFL Combine record 40 speed. When there was a small hole he found it and blasted through. The safety was the only thing that stopped him from huge runs. And on one they couldn't catch him. On a nice off tackle play to burn the clock Johnson broke through the line for his TD. Even without that long TD he averaged six yards per carry. The big story of the day was Johnson's ability to break tackles. He broke two tackles more than once. He also made guys miss a lot with is quick moves and speed. On one play Kansas City piled up the line and Johnson just ran a half circle around it and went for another first down.
| RB LenDale White, Rush: 17 - 149 - 3, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (1 targets) |
Seventeen touches from the RB spot should remove some worries about whether LenDale White will get the ball or not. White was able to get yards every time the Titans gave it to him. He saw the backfield every time the Titans moved inside the ten. White's big run was on a play to chew up the clock and get first downs. Kansas City failed to have any safeties in the defensive backfield. White broke through the first layer just like he was all day and there was no one in front of him. It was entertaining watching the defensive backs catching up to him from behind but White had too much of a head start. It was a very good day of hard running and pushing guys back by White.
| RB Ahmard Hall, Rush: 1 - 6 - 0, Rec: 1 - 15 - 0 (1 targets) |
Ahmard Hall made a nice catch on a flare pass but wasn't heard from again in the game.
| RB Quinton Ganther, Rush: 2 - 11 - 0 |
Quinton Ganther was only in when the game was out of hand and the Titans did not want to risk injury.
| WR Lavelle Hawkins, Rec: 2 - 11 - 0 (3 targets) |
Lavelle Hawkins was the most targeted WR, but both TEs had more targets, yards, and mid-range throws. The Titans did not need to throw much today and they did not try one deep route all day.
| WR Brandon Jones (1 targets) |
Brandon Jones was targeted once but the ball was nowhere near him as he was the only player close to the ball on a throw away.
| TE Bo Scaife, Rec: 3 - 48 - 0 (6 targets) |
Bo Scaife was the focus of the Titans passing game. He was targeted in the middle and on out patterns. Scaife also lost yards on a blocking penalty on his longest catch of the day. That play would have been for over 40 yards without the penalty. He was able to get yards after the catch all day and it was very impressive to see him find the soft spot and then get more yards after he caught the ball.
| TE Alge Crumpler, Rec: 2 - 38 - 0 (2 targets) |
Alge was targeted twice and did well with the ball after he caught it. He ended up as the second leading receiver on the day but only had 38 yards to show for it.
| PK Rob Bironas 2 - 2 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 10 points |
Rob Bironas kept up his perfect field goal kicking streak today. He had two 40+ field goals and they were right down the middle.
| TEN Rush Defense |
Larry Johnson did not play and it is hard to know how much impact that had. The rush defense was punishing. There were three plays for over ten yards. RBs Kolby Smith and Jamaal Charles were stuffed at the line most of the day. Tyler Thigpen was able to scramble for a few yards in the fourth quarter. The end result was 58 total rushing yards and it was an impressive performance.
| TEN Pass Defense |
It says it all when you take two QBs out of the game. Tennessee pinned their ears back and went after Kansas City. Brodie Croyle was hurt when two rushers hit him high and low and it was a very clean hit. It was just a bad combination that ended Croyle's season. Huard had just as much trouble and did not have much room to throw. There were three sacks and four blocked passes. It was a very tough defense and hard for the Chiefs to get anything done.
| QB Damon Huard, Pass: 9 - 16 - 96 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0 |
Damon Huard was able to move the offense. However, Huard's thumb was reinjured and was heavily taped towards the end of the game. His passing was about the same as in the past. There is reason why Kansas City was excited for Brodie Croyle's return. TE Tony Gonzalez seemed to benefit the most from Huard.
| QB Tyler Thigpen, Pass: 5 - 11 - 76 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 3 - 21 - 1 |
Tyler Thigpen looked very nervous in the pocket. He really looked like he wanted to run first and pass second. Many of his passes went to the turf or the crowd and were not anywhere close to the receiver. He even missed RB Jamaal Charles on a short dump pass when he had little pressure and no one around Charles. His judgment was suspect when at the three yard line he could have thrown the ball away but he ran back to the middle of the field and was sacked for a five yard loss. He had a few attempts that the target was just whoever was closest to the ball.
| QB Brodie Croyle, Pass: 9 - 10 - 63 - 0 TD / 0 INT |
Brodie Croyle's season ended on a smothering pass rush. He was hit high and low simultaneously and his knee was bent awkwardly. He was just starting to get in sync with TE Tony Gonzalez.
| RB Kolby Smith, Rush: 10 - 20 - 0, Rec: 2 - 5 - 0 (2 targets) |
Kolby Smith started at RB but could not do anything with the ball. He did not have any burst and did not drive the pile.
| RB Jamaal Charles, Rush: 3 - 17 - 0, Rec: 4 - 26 - 0 (7 targets) |
Jamaal Charles did not start the game. He was used mostly in the second half and did not get many touches. He was actually at the WR position on a few plays and a few of his targets came early in the game at wideout. On one play he showed his youth in not getting to the first down marker before he turned back for the ball. The Chiefs were one yard short of the first down and turned the ball over again. QB Tyler Thigpen targeted Charles a lot in the fourth quarter as he was too nervous to sit in the pocket and throw downfield. Four of his targets were dump passes and two were uncatchable.
| RB Mike Cox, Rec: 2 - 2 - 0 (2 targets) |
Mike Cox had a few short receptions but it was nothing to write home about.
| WR Dwayne Bowe, Rec: 7 - 86 - 0 (10 targets) |
Dwayne Bowe had a decent day despite very poor QB play. There were a few passes that were right on the mark, but the passing game was not consistent enough to showcase his talent. He did end up with 86 yards and it was hard fought to get that much.
| WR Devard Darling, Rec: 1 - 11 - 0 (4 targets) |
Devard Darling was the leading WR in targets and yards. He had a whopping eleven yards.
| WR Mark Bradley, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (3 targets) |
Mark Bradley played his first game as a Chief. However, this wasn't a game to gauge whether he will work out or not. The passing game did not get the ball around very well today but it is clear that he will not be more than their #3 WR.
| TE Tony Gonzalez, Rec: 6 - 97 - 0 (8 targets) |
Tony Gonzalez wanted to prove to his team today that he was with them. He reached out for a ball across the middle and took it from a linebacker. Gonzalez was also able to showcase his basketball abilities going up for the ball. He ended up as today's leading receiver with 97 yards. The only concern is what can happen at QB with the injuries. Tyler Thigpen couldn't get composed enough to throw Gonzalez the ball. On the last few possessions it didn't appear Gonzalez was on the field.
| TE Brad Cottam (1 targets) |
Tyler Thigpen targeted Brad Cottam at the end of the game. Tony Gonzalez was not in the game.
| PK Nick Novak 1 - 3 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 4 points |
Nick Novak missed two field goals that could have really helped the Chiefs. One miss was from 50 yards but he didn't look very good all day. The other miss was from 39. The only one he made was from 26.
| KC Rush Defense |
The rush defense was non-existent. Chris Johnson averaged six yards per carry before he broke his long run. He made the Kansas City defense look like practice. LenDale White also ran for 4.3 yards per carry before his big run. It was a fun day for Tennessee RBs and a miserable day for anyone associated with the Chiefs.
| KC Pass Defense |
They didn't need one. The Titans running game provided the opportunity for very little passing. When QB Kerry Collins dropped back he had all day. The play action was working very well and there just was not any pressure. There were zero sacks and I can't remember Collins even getting touched.