The Latest: NFL playoffs back in LA
The Latest on the NFL playoffs on wild-card weekend (all times EST):
The NFL playoffs returned to Los Angeles for the first time in a long time when the Rams hosted the Atlanta Falcons in a wild-card game.
The Rams are hosting their first playoff game in the Coliseum since Jan. 7, 1979, when they lost 28-0 to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC championship game.
They’re hosting their first playoff game in Southern California since Jan. 4, 1986, when they beat the Cowboys 20-0 at Anaheim Stadium.
First-year coach Sean McVay, who has presided over the Rams’ stunning turnaround from 4-12 to 11-5, was born 20 days after that game.
The Rams moved to St. Louis after the 1994 season and won their only Super Bowl on Jan. 30, 2000, by beating Tennessee 23-16 in Atlanta.
They moved back prior to the 2016 season.
Until Sunday, the previous NFL playoff game at the Coliseum was on Jan. 9, 1994, when the L.A. Raiders beat the Denver Broncos 42-24.
The previous NFL playoff game in Southern California was Jan. 17, 2010, when the San Diego Chargers lost 17-14 to the New York Jets.
The Chargers moved to a Los Angeles suburb for this past season and missed the playoffs for the seventh time in eight seasons.
— Bernie Wilson reporting in Los Angeles.
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7:55 p.m.
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 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.
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 a home playoff game since January 1994.
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7:25 p.m.
The Titans have pulled ahead of the Chiefs 22-21 on Marcus Mariota’s touchdown pass to Eric Decker, and the ensuing 2-point conversion could become a point of controversy.
Tennessee went for two in an attempt to make it a field-goal advantage, and Mariota was wrapped up for a sack by Daniel Sorenson.
The ball came loose and Frank Zombo picked it up, and the linebacker began returning it for two points that would have swung the lead back to Kansas City.
But the officials had blown their whistles, ruling that Mariota’s progress had been stopped.
So, the Titans lead 22-21 with 6:06 left in the game.
— Dave Skretta reporting in Kansas City
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7:05 p.m.
The Titans have pulled within 21-16 of the Chiefs after Derrick Henry ran nearly untouched 35 yards for a touchdown with 14:08 left in their playoff game.
The Chiefs have led the whole way, but their offense has grown stagnant since tight end Travis Kelce was knocked out with a concussion. And the Titans, for all their mistakes, have managed to keep plugging away behind Henry’s hard running.
The former Heisman Trophy winner from Alabama has 17 carries for 106 yards and his score.
— Dave Skretta reporting in Kansas City
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7 p.m.
The Chiefs are one quarter away from their first home playoff win in nearly a quarter century.
They lead the Titans 21-10 after three quarters at Arrowhead Stadium, though they just missed a chance to add to the lead. They recovered a fumbled punt deep in Tennessee territory but couldn’t pick up a first down, and Harrison Butker missed a 48-yard field goal off the left upright.
Now, the Titans are driving in hopes of making it a one-score game.
Kansas City has not won a playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium since January 1994, when Joe Montana was the quarterback. The Chiefs beat the Steelers that day.
— Dave Skretta reporting in Kansas City
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6:55 p.m.
There is a sizeable fire blazing in a wooded area across the street from Arrowhead Stadium, where the Chiefs are leading the Titans 21-10 late in the third quarter.
It’s unknown what set the blaze about a half-mile southwest of the stadium, and a short walk from the Chiefs’ practice facility. Fans inside the stadium are unaware of it, but it is clearly evident out the south-facing windows of the press box.
Several fire trucks are already on the scene, trying to put it out before the end of the game.
— Dave Skretta reporting in Kansas City
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