The Kansas City Chiefs have one of the weakest run defences in the NFL. Not good omens for the duel against the Tennessee Titans, who have the most dangerous ball carrier in the league in Derrick Henry in their own ranks. But not all hope is lost for the 2019 champions.

Munich/Kansas City – Starting the season as favourites and back-to-back Super Bowl contenders, the Kansas City Chiefs stand at three wins and three losses each after six games.

While Patrick Mahomes and the offence are struggling but making significantly more mistakes than in previous years, Missouri State’s defence is also causing concern. Ahead of the clash with the Tennessee Titans, the defence is once again the focus.

Fear of King Henry

After a more than discreet start to the season against the Arizona Cardinals (58 rushing yards), Titans running back Derrick Henry has more than found his feet. The rushing leader of the last two seasons also leads the running backs’ rankings this season (783 yards) – and by a wide margin.

The next victim should be the Chiefs, and all the stats point to it: the Chiefs’ run defence is ranked 27th out of 32 teams, while the Tennessee Titans have the third most rushing yards per game.

Even worse from defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s team’s perspective is rushing yards per run attempt. There, the Chiefs defence is ranked 30th and the Titans offence is ranked second (5.2 each). In addition to Henry, Jeremy McNichols is also on the Titans roster, but he’s more responsible for pass routes out of the backfield and rarely actually runs the ball.

All hands against the run? Tennessee plays it into their cards

The Tennessee Titans will be a mammoth task for Spagnuolo, as the Titans offense is vastly superior in personnel to the current Chiefs defense, of that there should be relatively little doubt.

The first and easiest approach to stopping the dominant running game is to fully staff the so-called “box,” the area in front of the offensive line, making it difficult to run against.

This, however, should only play into the hands of the Titans, who have two excellent wide receivers in A.J. Brown and Julio Jones who, if the box were full, would each have one-on-one matchups that quarterback Ryan Tannehill “only” has to hit to move the ball through the air as well.

Hope for the Chiefs: Jones, Ward and the momentum

So the Chiefs must succeed without personnel focused solely on the run game to keep Derrick Henry under control and thus retain the ability to double-team in the passing game.

Defensive end Chris Jones and cornerback Charvarius Ward, who returned to practice this week after injury layoffs and are actually undisputed starters, are expected to help. However, Head Coach Andy Reid put the brakes on expectations for the two: “They haven’t practiced yet, we have to knock off the rust first. “

In addition, the Chiefs played their best game against the ball last at the away game at Washington Football Team. In the 2nd half, Kansas City didn’t allow any points. Even though it was “only” Taylor Heinicke and Washington, that’s a good performance no matter who it was against.

No doubt the Chiefs’ defenders will have to rise above when they play the Titans. But they showed that it can be done en route to their 2019 Super Bowl victory. In the Conference Championship Game, Kansas City defeated the Titans 35-24. Derrick Henry had just 3.6 yards per run then…