3 plays that turned a surefire win into more Chiefs playoff agony

The Kansas City Chiefs have had their share of playoff struggles in recent years, but they reached new heights Saturday in a 22-21 loss to the Tennessee Titans to begin Wild Card Weekend.

Andy Reid's crew raced out to a 21-3 lead as they searched for a playoff win at home for the first time since 1993, only to blow it in the second half in another postseason disaster.

The agonizing defeat can be traced back to three key plays that turned the result from a surefire triumph into a heartbreaking defeat:

1. Kelce's concussion

Travis Kelce reeled in four catches for 66 yards and a touchdown before he was knocked out of the game with 1:30 to play in the second quarter, and the Kansas City offense crumbled without its star tight end. Alex Smith, who began the affair on fire and went 19-of-23 for 231 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, was just 5-of-10 for 33 yards after the break. He had -2 passing yards in the third quarter.

2. Mariota's miracle

Tennessee needed something - anything - to get momentum on its side after the abysmal first half, and it got exactly that on a circus touchdown from Marcus Mariota early in the third quarter. The athletic pivot caught his own pass six yards shy of the end zone after it was deflected into the air by a defender, and he took it in for the Titans' first touchdown of the day.

The miracle changed the momentum of the game, and the Titans scored touchdowns on their next two possessions to steal the lead.

3. KC gets cute

Plenty of time remained when Mariota's touchdown cut Kansas City's lead to 21-10, but for some reason, the Chiefs started getting too cute and too conservative. During the ensuing possession, the Chiefs called an awful quarterback-keeper on 3rd-and-1 and lost a yard. They sent the offensive line lateral while trying to open a hole for Smith, instead of running a more logical play, such as giving the NFL's leading rusher from the regular season, Kareem Hunt, a chance to grind out the needed yard.