Titans at Chiefs
Two teams with division title hopes on the line square off Sunday when the Kansas City Chiefs host the Tennessee Titans. The Chiefs can clinch a playoff spot with a win, while the Titans have little margin for error in a tight AFC South race while outside of the wild-card picture.
The Chiefs are tied with Oakland atop the AFC West and one game behind New England for the best record in the AFC, and they own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Raiders after finishing the season sweep with a 21-13 win last week. Kansas City has won three straight games by a combined 12 points, each seemingly more important than the last. "The games just get bigger every week when you are in this situation," Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith told reporters. "It's so close right now, you can't start counting the games and doing the math. You can't let yourself go there. We have a team coming in that's really playing good and we have to take care of our business." The Titans helped the Chiefs with a 13-10 win over Denver last week, keeping pace with Houston at the top of the AFC South standings with a second matchup with the Texans looming in Week 17.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, CBS. LINE: Chiefs -5.5. O/U: 42.
ABOUT THE TITANS (7-6): Tennessee’s offense has flourished with the addition of running back DeMarco Murray to complement second-year quarterback Marcus Mariota. Murray ranks second in the league in rushing (1,135 yards) and has taken the pressure off Mariota, who has limited his mistakes and hurt defenses with his arm and his legs. The Titans’ defense has been susceptible against the pass but outstanding against the run and held the Broncos to 18 yards on the ground last week.
ABOUT THE CHIEFS (10-3): Kansas City looks like a middle-of-the-pack team on paper, but the Chiefs have come up with big plays on both sides of the ball when needed. The defense has forced a league-high 25 turnovers and is coming off a dominant effort in holding the Raiders to 244 total yards, though the loss of linebacker Derrick Johnson (torn Achilles tendon) is a huge blow. Smith and the offense have done just enough to get by at times, though Jeremy Maclin’s return to the lineup last week provided some life to the passing game.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Kansas City's Travis Kelce has topped 100 receiving yards in four consecutive games, the fourth tight end in NFL history to do so.
2. Mariota has 21 touchdown passes and three interceptions in his past eight games.
3. Kansas City WR/KR Tyreek Hill ranks second among rookies with nine total touchdowns – six receiving, one rushing, one kick return, and one punt return.