Titans Come Up Short in 35-24 AFC Championship Game Loss to Chiefs

Jan 19, 2020 at 07:38 PM

Jim Wyatt

Senior Writer/Editor

KANSAS CITY – A season filled with so many high moments ended with a big low here on Sunday.

One win away from a trip to Super Bowl LIV, the Titans came up short. Instead, a 35-24 loss to the Chiefs ended the team's season after what most considered an improbable run to the AFC Championship Game.

"It's tough -- I'm kind of in shock a little bit," Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill said afterward. "You don't prepare yourself for this outcome. Everything in your preparation and your mind is: 'We're going to win this game.' So when it hits, it hits hard. I love this team, I love these guys, the way we competed this year.

"It hurts. You feel the pain across the locker room and how far we've come, only to come up short from our end goal. It hurts. It's going to take a while to get over."

The Titans, who entered the postseason as the No.6 seed in the AFC, knocked off the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Then, in the Divisional Round, the Titans beat the Baltimore Ravens, the AFC's top-seeded team.

With a win over the Chiefs, the Titans had a chance to join the 2010 Packers and the 2005 Steelers as the only No. 6 seeds to appear in the Super Bowl since 1990 when the NFL instituted the current 12-team playoff format.

But it didn't happen. After battling back from a 2-4 record at the beginning of the season and winning in must-win situations so many times, the Titans couldn't finish the way they wanted to on Sunday.

And in the locker room, many players began saying their goodbyes.

"I definitely shed a couple of tears, because I love my teammates and I love the chemistry that we have throughout the whole season," running back Derrick Henry said. "I just felt like I could have done more for this team. I love this team, I loved playing football and competing.

"I am definitely going to miss this team, and as I look back, I know I had a lot of good teammates, a lot of good moments I can look back on."

After a solid start, the Titans saw an early lead evaporate on a cold day at Arrowhead Stadium, where the temperature was 17 degrees at kickoff with a wind chill of five degrees.

Following the game, the Chiefs celebrated their AFC title on the field, while the Titans packed their belongings in a quiet locker room and headed back to Nashville.

"We always believed that we should be in this position," Titans safety Kevin Byard said. "The goal, the expectation, is always going to be to get to the Super Bowl. Maybe not a lot of people believed we could get to this point. Obviously, it didn't work out the way we all wanted it to – we wanted to go to the Super Bowl.

"Now we have to do what we need to do to put ourselves in a position to get back here again next year, and win."

The Titans jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, but they trailed 21-17 at the half and found themselves digging out of a deeper hole in the second half.

Henry, dominant in the first two games of the postseason, was held in check on a day when the Titans abandoned the run in the second half while playing from behind. Henry finished with 69 rushing yards on 19 carries, but he ran the ball just three times for seven yards in the second half.

Tannehill completed 21-of-31 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns in the contest.

The Titans took a 3-0 lead in their opening possession in a 30-yard field goal by kicker Greg Joseph, which capped an eight-play, 58-yard drive. Tannehill completed passes of 37 yards (to A.J. Brown) and 12 yards (to Corey Davis) on the drive, but the Titans had to settle for a field goal after reaching the Kansas City 12.

When the Titans got the ball back, Henry, who lined up in the "Wildcat" formation, finished off a nine-play, 58-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run to make it 10-0. A 22-yard pass from Tannehill to tight end Jonnu Smith set up the Henry run. Tannehill's three-yard pass to receiver Adam Humphries on fourth-and-two from the Kansas City 29 kept the drive alive.

Things were looking good right out of the gate.

"We started how we wanted to," Smith said. "We came out ready to play."

After the Chiefs cut the lead to 10-7 on an eight-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes to receiver Tyreek Hill, the Titans surged back ahead 17-7 on a one-yard touchdown pass from to Tannehill to tackle Dennis Kelly, who lined up as an eligible receiver on the play. The touchdown capped off a 15-play, 75-yard drive that took 9:07 off the clock. It was Kelly's second touchdown reception of the season.

But the Chiefs responded with a pair of touchdowns to close out the first half, first scoring on a 20-yard pass from Mahomes to Hill to make it 17-14 with 4:03 remaining in the first half.

When the Chiefs got the ball back, Mahomes scored on 27-yard touchdown run with 11 seconds left in the first half to give Kansas City a 21-17 lead. Mahomes tight-roped the sideline on the run and escaped some sloppy tackling by the Titans to get into the end zone.

The Chiefs extended their lead to 28-17 on a three-yard touchdown run by Damien Williams, which capped off a 13-play, 73-yard drive. The score came with 14:50 remaining in the contest.

A 60-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes to receiver Sammy Watkins made it 35-17 with 7:33 left, and confetti filled the skies at Arrowhead Stadium.

But the Titans kept fighting.

A 22-yard touchdown pass from Tannehill to tight end Anthony Firkser with 4:18 left made it 35-24 with 4:18 left. It followed a perfectly executed fake punt by the Titans – a pass from punter Brett Kern to safety Amani Hooker.

After a defensive stop, the Titans got the ball back again.

But on this day, the celebration came to an end for the Titans.

"You have to be proud of the things you accomplish in life," Smith said. "We came up short, and now we have to keep working. I know I will, and I know the guys in this locker room will, too.

"And next year, we want to put ourselves back in this position again, and win next time."

Titans coach Mike Vrabel delivered a message to his players before the plane ride back home.

On Monday, the Titans will clean out their lockers and head their separate ways for the offseason.

"I told them it was an honor to coach them," Vrabel said. "I felt like we left that locker room before the game as a family and we need to leave it as a family after the game. I'm proud to say that I coached them, and I appreciate their efforts. … I felt like they fought.

"… The expectations have always been really high, whether you lose in the AFC Championship Game, or you lose in the Super Bowl. I want the expectations to be high. That's what (controlling owner) Amy (Adams Strunk) wants, that's what (GM) Jon (Robinson) wants, and that's what I want."

1 / 96

KANSAS CITY, MO - JANUARY 19, 2020 - The Tennessee Titans take on the Kansas City Chiefs during the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO. Photo By Donald Page/Tennessee Titans

2 / 96

3 / 96

4 / 96

5 / 96

6 / 96

7 / 96

8 / 96

9 / 96

10 / 96

11 / 96

12 / 96

13 / 96

14 / 96

15 / 96

16 / 96

17 / 96

18 / 96

19 / 96

20 / 96

21 / 96

22 / 96

23 / 96

24 / 96

25 / 96

26 / 96

27 / 96

28 / 96

29 / 96

30 / 96

31 / 96

32 / 96

33 / 96

34 / 96

35 / 96

36 / 96

37 / 96

38 / 96

39 / 96

40 / 96

41 / 96

42 / 96

43 / 96

44 / 96

45 / 96

46 / 96

47 / 96

48 / 96

49 / 96

50 / 96

Donald Page/Tennessee Titans

51 / 96

52 / 96

53 / 96

54 / 96

55 / 96

56 / 96

57 / 96

58 / 96

59 / 96

Donald Page/Tennessee Titans

60 / 96

Donald Page/Tennessee Titans

61 / 96

Donald Page/Tennessee Titans

62 / 96

Donald Page/Tennessee Titans

63 / 96

64 / 96

65 / 96

66 / 96

Donald Page/Tennessee Titans

67 / 96

68 / 96

69 / 96

70 / 96

71 / 96

72 / 96

73 / 96

74 / 96

75 / 96

76 / 96

77 / 96

78 / 96

79 / 96

80 / 96

81 / 96

82 / 96

83 / 96

84 / 96

85 / 96

86 / 96

87 / 96

Donald Page/Tennessee Titans

88 / 96

Donald Page/Tennessee Titans

89 / 96

90 / 96

Donald Page/Tennessee Titans

91 / 96

92 / 96

93 / 96

94 / 96

95 / 96

96 / 96

Advertising

This Ad will close in 3

Related Content

news

Titans Select Michigan OLB Jaylen Harrell in Seventh Round of the NFL Draft

Harrell (6-4, 247) played in 46 games for the Wolverines over the past four seasons, with 31 starts, and he recorded 78 tackles, eight sacks, 19 tackles for a loss and 11 quarterback hits

news

Titans Select Miami LB/S James Williams in Seventh Round of the NFL Draft

Williams played safety with the Hurricanes, but he worked primarily at linebacker while at Senior Bowl practices after adding weight from the end of the season to work on a position change.

news

Titans Select Tulane WR Jha'Quan Jackson in Sixth Round of the NFL Draft

Jackson, who ran a 4.42 at the NFL Combine, is the nephew of Hall of Famer Ed Reed.

news

Titans Select Louisville CB Jarvis Brownlee Jr. in Fifth Round of the NFL Draft

Brownlee (5-10, 194) played the past two seasons at Louisville after playing his first three seasons at Florida State. Brownlee played in 48 career college games, with 37 starts, and he tallied 174 tackles, six interceptions, and 7.5 tackles for a loss.

news

Titans Select North Carolina LB Cedric Gray in Fourth Round of the NFL Draft

Over three seasons, Gray played in 51 games for the Tar Heels, with 37 starts. He tallied 369 tackles with 8.5 sacks and five interceptions, along with five forced fumbles and 13 pass break-ups.

news

Titans Select Texas DT T'Vondre Sweat in the Second Round of the NFL Draft

In 2023, Sweat recorded 45 tackles and two sacks, along with eight tackles for a loss. He won the Outland Trophy as the nation's best interior lineman. Sweat was also tabbed a first team All-American performer by the Associated Press, and the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year

news

From Motor City to Music City: Titans First Round Pick JC Latham Arrives in Nashville, and He's Ready to Get to Work

On Friday morning, he boarded a plane in Detroit with his mom, dad, stepmom, brother, girlfriend, and his best friend, and went from Detroit to Nashville.

news

Titans Select Alabama Tackle JC Latham in First Round of NFL Draft

Latham was taken with the seventh overall pick. Latham (6-6, 342) played in 41 games at Alabama over the past three seasons, with 27 starts.

news

Sights and Sounds From the NFL Draft in Detroit on Thursday

Senior Writer and Editor Jim Wyatt is in Detroit for the NFL Draft. Here's a look at some happenings in the Motor City on Thursday.

news

Who Will the Titans Pick? 150 Predictions in a Mammoth Mock Draft Roundup Before Tonight's NFL Draft

The NFL Draft is finally here. So, who will the Titans pick in the first round? Let's take one final tour of the mock drafts, to see what former players, sportswriters, broadcasters, radio hosts, celebs and more predict what they think the Titans will do.

news

Sights and Sounds From the NFL Draft in Detroit on Wednesday

Senior Writer and Editor Jim Wyatt is in Detroit for the NFL Draft. Here's a look at some happenings in the Motor City on Wednesday.

news

2024 Titans Draft Preview: How to Watch and Listen

The draft opens with the first round on Thursday, April 25 at 7 p.m. CDT. Rounds 2 and 3 are set for the following evening, beginning at 6 p.m. CDT, and the process concludes with Rounds 4-7 on Saturday, April 27, at 11 a.m. CDT.