The third preseason game typically is a dress rehearsal for NFL teams as they prepare for the NFL regular season. Considering the fact that the Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs played each other in the first week of the 2014 season, the dress rehearsal between the two before the 2015 season begins seems very fitting.

In the opening drive of the game, Alex Smith did once again in the preseason something he didn't do in any regular season games last year, which is throw a touchdown pass to a wide receiver. Jeremy Maclin caught a short pass on a third and five, and was able to follow his blockers and scamper up the field the remaining 29 yards to give the Chiefs an early touchdown. Oddly though, Cairo Santos would miss the long extra point, which would put the Chiefs up 6-0.

Tennessee came out and was able to convert one first down on the ground, but then Marcus Mariota had an incompletion and scrambled short of the first down marker on the second third down of the drive. On the fourth and one play, new tight end Anthony Fasano was called for a false start which resulted in them going to punt instead of attempting the fourth down conversion.

The next Chiefs drive would be highlighted by their star running back Jamaal Charles, who would gain 32 yards as they moved down the field quite easily, but got held up in the red zone after Ben Grubbs was called for a holding penalty. Knile Davis took a pass and gained 12 yards but was stopped two yards short of the goal lines where Santos would nail the 21 yard field goal to take a 6-0 lead.

Marcus Mariota would struggle again on his second drive, but that was after he took a read option run for 14 yards for an initial first time, but then would have two incompletions as they would only get one first down again on this second drive. As far as Mariota's night is concerned, he finished completion seven passes out of eleven attempts for a total of ninety-nine yards. He was sacked once by the Kansas City sack king, Justin Houston. He was key on drives that led to all ten of Tennessee's points in the first half, and for that matter that was all they scored in the game. Tennessee's only touchdown would come on a two yard run from Antonio Andrews. That was when the Titans had a short field from an interception that Aaron Murray threw intended for Maclin, but was taken by Perrish Cox.

Late in the first half, Alex Smith started to find his favorite tight end in Travis Kelce. He caught two passes including the touchdown on a scoring drive for a total of 42 yards receiving on that drive and was only targeted one other time the rest of the game. Kelce is a legitimate player for the Chiefs offense and should continue to be a threat for weeks to come. Charcandrick West would run a two point conversion in to make the score 17-0 for the Chiefs.

After that touchdown was when Ryan Succop hit his first field goal of the game for the Titans. Tennessee scored their touchdown shortly before the half ended as well which left them down seven at the halftime break.

The second half of the game was mainly highlighted by performances from the backups. Santos started off the scoring with a field goal. Fred Williams then ended up catching a pass from Murray for a 29 yard touchdown. Then Charlie Whitehurst through a quick interception to Frank Zombo and the Chiefs followed it up with Murray connecting with Williams once again. Oddly enough, the final play of the game was a Titans punt as the clock ran out during the return.

The Kansas City Chiefs will finish their preseason next week on Thursday when they play at the Edward Jones Dome against the St. Louis Rams. Meanwhile the Titans will head back to Nashville as they will host the Minnesota Vikings in the final preseason game on Thursday as well.

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About the author
Caleb Wahlgren
I will not deny that I am a big fan of the Green Bay Packers. But I love the NFL and want to see the very best for it.