Alex Smith led a 10-play, fourth-quarter touchdown drive to give the Kansas City Chiefs the lead, and then the quarterback watched his defense intercept two passes to secure a 26-17 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
Smith threw an interception and often was inaccurate. The offense continually stalled after the defense gave it great field position. However, Smith made enough plays down the stretch to get Kansas City to 5-0.
It looked like the Chiefs would pull away early against Titans backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick after a goal-line stand in the second quarter kept it 10-0.
The Chiefs' defense was suffocating, not allowing a first down until almost midway through the second quarter. But they gave up several big plays in the second half, including a desperation forward pitch that Titans running back Chris Johnsoncarried for a 49-yard touchdown.
However, with the game still in doubt, the defense forced the turnovers that kept the Chiefs perfect.
Here is what else we learned:
1) Things you didn't expect to read this season: Andy Reid's Kansas City Chiefs became the first team in NFL history to start 5-0 after losing at least 14 games the previous season.
2) Fitzpatrick looked awful early, but he did his best Jake Locker impersonation in the second half. Fitzpatrick's ad-libbing got the Titans back in the game, and his 9-yard touchdown run gave them the lead early in the fourth quarter. However, Fitzpatrick's inaccurate gunslinging came back to bite him with two comeback-killing interceptions.
4) The Titans' defense equally was impressive, except they didn't get to go up against a backup quarterback (at least not Kansas City's backup quarterback). The secondary particularly was impressive. It should've had about five interceptions instead of only one.
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