Sophia Michaels
For the Titans led the Chiefs for more than 25 minutes of the first half and, as the game entered the final minute of the half, had not trailed. Tennessee was dominant early, marching down the field on the Chiefs, balancing Derrick Henry runs with play-action passes (including a touchdown pass to an offensive lineman), but as we learned a week ago, no early lead is safe in Kansas City.
After a sluggish start, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense came alive, with a pair of touchdown passes to Tyreek Hill to close the gap to 17-14. Then, their first stop of the game forced a punt around the two-minute warning and, despite trailing throughout, they had the chance to be tied or take a lead going into halftime.
Mahomes matriculated the ball down the field with short passes to the sidelines to work it into field goal range, but he had his eyes on the end zone and a 21-17 lead. It was then that he broke contain, shook free of a couple of defenders at the line of scrimmage and, somehow, tight roped the sideline before cutting inside for a touchdown that sent Arrowhead Stadium into a frenzy.
Typically when Mahomes makes plays with his legs, it’s extending a play and then rifling the ball downfield to one of his speedy receivers, but this time he just took it himself. It was a tremendous individual effort from him, assisted by some miserable angles taken by the Titans and worse tackling on the back end.
The end result was a 21-17 lead that left the Titans scratching their heads and the Chiefs jubilant as they headed to the locker room with a lead however improbably. Even more painfully, those that had the Titans +3.5 (or +4) in the first half had what seemed like a winner throughout ripped from their hands in the final seconds.
Written by: Uproxx
