Kansas City Chiefs vs Tennessee Titans: Where the AFC Championship game will be decided

By the end of Sunday night (or rather very early on Monday morning) we will know who will be taking the field in Miami in a fortnight’s time for Super Bowl LIV.

This weekend sees the final four teams left in contention playing off in their respective conference championship games.

The first of them, in the AFC, sees the Kansas City Chiefs welcome the Tennessee Titans to Arrowhead Stadium, and, with the help of the NFL’s all-time leading appearance-maker, Morten Andersen, Standard Sport has picked out three key areas where the game may be won or lost…

Who will win the quarterback battle?

Under centre for the Chiefs is last season’s MVP, Patrick Mahomes. While an injury-disrupted campaign meant he didn’t hit the highs of last year’s 50-TD haul in the regular season, he looked back to his best in the win over Houston last weekend, tossing five touchdown passes.

Andersen says: “He had an injury for a while there but he's absolutely back full strength and they have an amazing arsenal of receivers and a great tight end.

“But I don't know if he'll have the same amount of success as he had against Houston, I think the Tennessee defence is vastly better. Their pass defense is better than what Houston was able to do.”

The Titans, meanwhile, have Ryan Tannehill at quarterback, who they initially brought in as back-up from the Miami Dolphins, but he won the starting job from Marcus Mariota midway through the regular season and has not looked back since.

Andersen says: “To me, that's the best trade in the NFL, that Tennessee was able to get Ryan Tannehill and he's played fantastically. He doesn't kill you, he doesn't make mistakes that kill you like some other quarterbacks that we don't need to mention.

“He didn't get deflated when Miami shipped him off - in fact, he almost looks like he's been rejuvenated, reborn. It happened to me in '95 when the Saints shipped me off to Atlanta. A change is sometimes good, it refocuses a player, it realigns you with what really needs to be done and makes you hungry.”

Can Derrick Henry keep up his incredible form?

The star of the NFL postseason so far has been Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry. He led the league in rushing yards during the regular season, and has a whopping 377 yards in just two games in the playoffs.

Andersen says: “I have a bold prediction that he will set a running record for the AFC Championship game.

“If the Chiefs stop Henry then the Titans are in real trouble. I think as Henry goes so goes the Titans because what you can do with him is you can gobble up clock. Time of possession becomes amazing. That's one of the keys to the game - can Tennessee keep Mahomes and that dangerous offence off the field for most of the game?”

The Chiefs caught cold?

Last weekend against the Texans, the Chiefs crawled out of the blocks, going 24-0 down, before an incredible run of seven consecutive touchdown-scoring drives turned the game on its head.

However, in last year’s AFC Championship game, against the New England Patriots, the Chiefs were made to pay for a slow start, as they were eliminated after trailing 14-0 at half-time, despite eventually scoring 24 points in the fourth quarter.

Andersen says: “[If they start slowly] they're not coming back. If they go down 24-0 you're going to see a huge dose of Henry, the Titans are just going to assert themselves.

“If Tennessee are able to get up by two or three scores, it's over. This is not Houston, Tennessee's a much better football team.”

Andersen was speaking to Standard Sport in his role as an ambassador for betting comparison site BonusCodeBets.co.uk.