The left side of the Titans offensive line was the unsung hero of the Titans’ 22-21 victory over the Chiefs. Derrick Henry was sensational, and Marcus Mariota made huge plays, but Taylor Lewan and Quinton Spain were outstanding in the run game, and paved the way for a Titans comeback.

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Henry picked up 141 of his 156 yards behind the left side of the offensive line. They found the weakness of the Chiefs defense and ran at it relentlessly.

The first key exploitation of that weakness came early in the fourth quarter. Henry was ripping off gains of 5-plus yards with regularity, but hadn’t broken one yet. Then, like he has so often this season, Henry found daylight in the fourth quarter, this time with Spain and Lewan leading the way.

Later, the Titans needed a big play to seal the game with 1:53 left and a third-and-10 at the Chiefs 44-yard line. Instead of passing, the Titans fed Henry again. The running back started up the middle, but saw a hole on the left side. He bounced it out that way, got a huge block from Mariota, then saw nothing but green grass between him and the first down marker. He went 22 yards to ice the Titans’ first playoff win since 2004.

And this was almost made impossible due to injuries. Left guard Quinton Spain landed on the injury report with a back injury late in the week leading up to the Titans-Chiefs matchup. He was listed as questionable. It wound up not affecting his play very much, as he bounced back from a shoddy game against the Jaguars in Week 17 with a tremendous playoff game.

Many of the Titans’ offensive struggles this season originated from breakdowns on the offensive line. If they’re going to move the ball like they did in the second half against the Chiefs, they’ll need this continued dominance along the front.

If they get another performance like this against the Patriots, the Titans stand a real chance to shock the world.