Nashville, TN – In Week 1 of the 2017 playoffs, the Tennessee Titans traveled to Kansas City to face the Chiefs on Wild Card weekend. Tennessee scored 19 unanswered points in the second half and did not allow the Chiefs to score in the third or fourth quarter, as the Titans won by a score of 22-21 and advanced to the Divisional Round.
Both the Chiefs and Titans punted on their opening possessions. On Kansas City’s second possession, Chiefs QB Alex Smith drove his offense down the field with help by a 45-yard reception from Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill and a 27-yard reception from Chiefs TE Travis Kelce.
On second-and-one from the Tennessee one-yard line, Chiefs RB Kareem Hunt ran up the middle for a one-yard touchdown and a 7-0 Chiefs lead. On the following Kansas City possession, the Chiefs doubled their lead as Smith hit Kelce for a 13-yard touchdown to put Kansas City up, 14-0.
With the Titans offense driving in the second quarter, QB Marcus Mariota had the ball on the Kansas City 21-yard line. On second-and-10, he threw an interception to Chiefs CB Marcus Peters who returned the pick for 28 yards.
However, the Tennessee defense came up big as Kansas City couldn’t capitalize and was forced to punt. As the Titans regained possession, Mariota connected with TE Delanie Walker for a 22-yard reception and WR Corey Davis for an 11-yard catch.
The Titans entered field goal range and got on the board with a 49-yard kick, 14-3 Chiefs. Kansas City took the field and strung together a 79-yard scoring drive that culminated in a 14-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Chiefs WR Demarcus Robinson with three seconds left to play in the second quarter. Kansas City took a 21-3 lead into halftime.
On the Titans’ first drive of the second half, Mariota led the offense into the red zone after he rushed for two first downs and RB Derrick Henry contributed both a 29-yard receiving and 12-yard rushing first down. On third-and-six from the Kansas City six-yard line, Mariota’s pass was deflected by Chiefs CB Darrelle Revis, but it bounced back into Mariota’s hands and he ran it in for a touchdown.
Mariota became the first quarterback to catch a touchdown pass in a playoff game since the 1970 AFC-NFC merger, and he also became the first quarterback in league history to complete a touchdown pass to himself in the playoffs. Tennessee narrowed the Chiefs lead, 21-10.
After forcing the Chiefs to punt, Tennessee regained possession and tacked on another score as Mariota hit WR Eric Decker for a 22-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion failed as Tennessee took the lead, 22-21.
Kansas City couldn’t string together a comeback as the Titans came back from the second-largest deficit by a road team in NFL playoff history to win their first postseason contest in 14 years.
Box Score
Titans 22, Chiefs 21
Wild Card | Saturday, January 6th, 2018 | 3:35pm CT | Arrowhead Stadium
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Tennessee | 0 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 22 |
| Kansas City | 14 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
