Late road rally
Titans recover from 18-point deficit to beat Chiefs in Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Marcus Mariota led Tennessee to three second-half touchdowns, incredibly throwing one of his TD passes to himself , and the Titans rallied from a 21-3 deficit to beat the Kansas City Chiefs 22-21 on Saturday for their first playoff win in 14 years.
Mariota threw for 205 yards and two scores, including the 22-yard go-ahead strike to Eric Decker with just over six minutes left that ushered the Titans into the divisional round of the playoffs.
“Special, special,” Mariota said. “I’m a part of a great team. I’m a part of a group of guys that really just believe in each other. And, it’s something special, and I’m look forward to playing next week.”
They’ll head to New England next week.
Derrick Henry had a career-high 156 yards rushing and another score for Tennessee (10-7), while a defense that was fileted by Alex Smith and the Chiefs (10-7) during the first half pitched a shutout in the second half — dooming the Kansas City franchise to another humiliating postseason defeat.
The Chiefs haven’t won game since January 1994.
Smith threw for 264 yards and two touchdowns, but most of that came before halftime. He couldn’t get on track in the second half and misfired on fourth-and-9 at the Titans 44 with just over two minutes to or a home Pittsburgh playoff SunSentinel .com/sports
“You’ve got to believe in each other, man. We were down like this last year, and we came back.” Derrick Henry, Titans running back