Titans vs. Chiefs live stream: How to watch 2018 NFL playoffs online

Wild Card Weekend will kick off with the AFC Wild Card Round on Saturday at 4:35 p.m. ET on ABC/ESPN (live stream) when the Kansas City Chiefs play host to the Tennessee Titans. These two teams met in the preseason, but a lot has changed since then. Kansas City isn’t quite the same dominant team it was in the first half of the season.

Things have even changed for the Chiefs in the last week, who were forced to put running back Akeem Hunt on IR after he suffered an ankle injury in Week 17. Still, the team’s lead back is Kareem Hunt, a rookie out of Toledo, who finished the regular season with 1,327 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. They’ll also likely have Charcandrick West back, and the team re-signed C.J. Spiller earlier this week as well to round out the rushing attack.

The Titans are a run-heavy offense in their own right and will rely on DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry. Murray was essentially brought to Tennessee to mentor the young Henry and pass the baton. Murray’s second season with the Titans resulted in a career-low 659 yards rushing — almost exactly half of his total from 2016 — and six touchdowns. Henry didn’t quite make up for all of that lack of production, upping his career high in yards rushing to 744 — from 490 in his rookie season — with five scores.

Both teams will need to make some adjustments, especially on offense, in the offseason, but first, they’ll try to make their way through the playoffs.

Here’s the thing though, the Titans can beat the Chiefs. Don’t believe me? Let’s talk about some numbers. Kansas City has really struggled on defense this year. They are 32nd DVOA against the run this year. 32nd. Do you know what the Titans are bound and determined to do? Yep, that’s right, run the football.

“They have a good defense,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of the Titans. “We had a chance when we were able to play them last year and they’ve got a couple new people there, but it’s an active defense.”

That play may not have happened if it weren’t for a conversation Mariota had with a couple of the Titans linebackers in the week leading up to this game. Brian Orakpo and Wesley Woodyard sought out their quarterback and encouraged him to just go out there and make plays as John Glennon detailed in his piece after the game. You have to love two of the leaders on defense going out of their way to inspire one of their teammates on the other side of the ball.

Mariota may have found his passion in Week 17, but it will prove to be too little, too late to go up against a Kansas City team that started the season on top. Despite the Chiefs’ descent into mediocrity, Andy Reid knows how to get his team at least past the first round of the playoffs and manages to do it again on Saturday.

Check out our Wild Card Weekend picks for even more expert opinions.