Playoffs not kind to Titans, Chiefs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chiefs linebacker Reggie Ragland was in swaddling blankets the previous time Kansas City won a home playoff game.

Wide receiver Tyreek Hill was nestled comfortably in the womb.

It was January 1994, Joe Montana was the quarterback, and the Chiefs beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on an overtime field goal by Nick Lowery to advance.

And it’s hard to believe anybody packed inside Arrowhead Stadium that day imagined a quarter century would pass without another home playoff victory.

“It would be nice to break that,” Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith said, “but you can’t add any extra motivation once you get to this stage. This is all the work we’ve been putting in as this team from day one — this team.

“It’s tough to add any more motivation with historic streaks or things like that.”

Besides, the Tennessee Titans (9-7) are trying to end their own stretch of playoff futility.

Tennessee rumbles into Kansas City for the wild-card round today in its first postseason trip since 2008, when the Titans were the AFC’s top seed. If they can waltz out with a victory, it would be their first playoff victory since January 2004.

“It’s playoff time,” Titans safety Kevin Byard said. “I

dream about … matchups, about going up against guys like [Travis] Kelce and going up against Andy Reid, a Hall of Fame-level coach. And going into Arrowhead Stadium, one of the louder stadiums, I don’t think there’s better you can ask for in the first week of the playoffs.”

Smith is trying to validate the best season of his career in what could be his final game for the Chiefs (10-6). Hill is hoping to show off his worldclass speed on a national stage.

And running back Kareem Hunt, who won the NFL rushing title this season, will have a chance to etch his name alongside the likes of Todd Gurley and Le’Veon Bell as one of the league’s best.

“If you lose, you go home,” Hunt said. “Everybody is giving their all not to go home.”

Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota will try to rewrite the story of an up-and-down season with his playoff debut.

He had struggled down the stretch, when the Titans lost three consecutive to fall off the playoff pace.

But while his numbers against Jacksonville last week (12-of-21 passing, 134 yards, 1 TD) to help clinch a postseason berth were modest, several teammates said Mariota got his swagger back.

“It was just me being me,” he said. “Again, I’m going to do whatever it takes to win. This is the time in the season

when you’ve just got to lay it all on the line.”

Running back Derrick Henry and his supporting cast will help. And Coach Mike Mularkey will try to prove he was the right man for the job all along.

“The intensity and everything goes up when you get to this point,” Mularkey said.

The Chiefs lost kick returner Akeem Hunt to an injury last weekend against Denver, and special teams coach Dave Toub said Hill could return

kicks against the Titans. The speedster was taken off that particular duty this season to keep him fresher for the offense.

The Titans beat the Chiefs 19-17 in December 2016 on a game-ending field goal by Ryan Succop, who had spent most of his career with Kansas City. Succop came up short on his first attempt at the 53-yarder, but Reid had called timeout just before to give him another shot.

Succop made the mulligan

for a victory in the coldest game in franchise history.

The Chiefs were among the most penalized teams in the NFL this season, getting flagged 118 teams. The Titans were the second-best in the league, drawing just 85 penalties — second-fewest in franchise history for a 16-game season. In a playoff game with razor-thin margins, penalties could be the difference between winning and losing.

The weather should be in the 40s for kickoff today.