2020 AFC Championship Preview: Titans vs. Chiefs Picks
by Scott —January 15, 2020 in All Sports, NFL
Tennessee Titans(11-7) @ Kansas City Chiefs(13-4)
- Where: Arrowhead Stadium. Kansas City, MO
- When: January 19, 2020 3:05 pm EST
- Spread: Titans +7.5 (-110) vs. Chiefs -7.5 (-110)
- Moneyline: Titans (+265) vs. Chiefs (-330)
- Over / Under: Over 52.5 (-110) vs. Under 52.5 (-110)
The Tennessee Titans (10-7-1 ATS) travel to Arrowhead to play the Kansas City Chiefs (11-5-1 ATS) in the 2020 AFC Championship Game this Sunday. Continue reading to find out my best bets.
KC went down 24-0 against the Texans early in the 2Q, but by HT the Chiefs were up 28-20 and they ended up going on to win the game in a blowout (51-31). Patrick Mahomes threw 5 TDs in the win.
Tennessee first upset the Patriots (20-13) in the WC round and then they upset the Ravens (28-12) in a game that wasn’t even that close. Derrick Henry already has 377 rushing yards (1 TD) in the playoffs.
Tennessee Titans at Kansas City Chiefs Playoffs Betting Lines
Kansas opened up at -7.5 point favorites and the line hasn’t moved at Bovada.
I doubt this line will move prior to kick-off, as the bookies are going to want to keep the hook with more action coming in on the Chiefs. If anything, this line may even go up another ½ point.
The game total opened up at 52 points and is now at 52.5 points at Bovada. The over/under could go either way and will largely depend upon which team dictates the flow of the game.
TEN @ KC Stats Pack
These two teams have differing playstyles, here’s how they stack up statistically:
- Points Scored: Titans 25.1 PPG (10th) vs. Chiefs 28.2 PPG (5th)
- Passing Yards (OFF): Titans 223.9 PYPG (21st) vs. Chiefs 281.1 PYPG (5th)
- Rushing Yards (OFF): Titans 138.9 RYPG (3rd) vs. Chiefs 98.1 RYPG (23rd)
- Points Allowed: Titans 20.7 PPG (12th) vs. Chiefs 19.2 PPG (7th)
- Passing Yards (DEF): Titans 255.0 PYPG (24th) vs. Chiefs 221.4 PYPG (8th)
- Rushing Yards (DEF): Titans 104.5 RYPG (12th) vs. Chiefs 128.2 RYPG (26th)
- Turnover Differential: Titans +6 (9th) vs. Chiefs +8 (7th)
These two teams played each other this season with the Titans winning (35-32) in week 10.
Henry rushed 23 times for 188 yards (8.2 Avg.) and 2 TDs. Ryan Tannehill was only 13/19 for 181 yards and 2 TDs, but he didn’t throw an INT, however, he did lose a fumble in the game.
Mahomes went 36/50 for 446 yards and 3 TDs in the loss. He threw TDs to three different players (Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce and Mecole Hardman). Hill had 11 receptions for 157 yards.
I expect this game to play out similarly. Mahomes is going to air it out and have success, while the Titans will look to run Henry as much as possible against a weak Chiefs run defense.
Titans vs. Chiefs Predictions – AFC Championship 2020
No team is playing better football than the Titans. I’m surprised we’re getting them at more than a TD on the point spread, especially when the Titans have already beat the Chiefs H2H this season.
The Chiefs went down big last week and if that happens again they won’t be able to score at will against the Titans defense, which has been able to shutdown the Patriots and Ravens.
Lamar Jackson threw for 365 yards (1 TD) and rushed for 143 yards last week against TEN, but the Titans defense was able to force Jackson into three turnovers (2 INTs / 1 Fumble). They’ve done a great job forcing turnovers as of late.
Another reason it’s tough coming back against the Titans is because Henry has been unstoppable lately. They can feed him 30+ touches while he moves the chains and eats up the clock.
If the Titans go down early that could be trouble for us, especially if they have to abandon the run game. Tannehill has only thrown for 160 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT in the playoffs.
A.J. Brown finished the regular season with 52 receptions for 1051 yards and 8 TDs. However, in two playoff games he has 2 receptions for 13 yards and he has only been targeted 4 times.
Running the football has worked up to this point, but it’d be nice to see Tannehill try and find his #1 WR more often to keep the Chiefs defense honest and prevent them from stacking the box.
My money is on this game playing out like the regular season match-up. There are going to be a lot of points scored in this one with both offenses finding the endzone regularly.
Mahomes looked great last week, but the Texans secondary is terrible. The Titans are better against the pass, but we’ve already seen Mahomes pick this defense apart during the regular season.
Kelce looked great against the Texans, as he had 10 receptions for 134 yards and 3 TDs. There are a ton of weapons to worry about on the Chiefs offense, which make them difficult to defend against.