The Tennessee Titans knocked off the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs to score their first postseason win since January 2004.
Their reward? A divisional-round date with the top-seeded New England Patriots next Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.
The Titans, who finished the regular season 9-7, entered the playoffs as the No. 5 seed in the AFC. In their first playoff game since 2008, they rallied from 18 points down in the second half to stun the Chiefs 22-21 at Arrowhead Stadium.
Quarterback Marcus Mariota, maligned throughout the season for his poor passing numbers, threw two touchdown passes in the win — including one to himself — and delivered a key block on the Derrick Henry rush that put the game away.
The No. 3 seed Jacksonville Jaguars, who defeated the sixth-seeded Buffalo Bills 10-3 on Sunday in the second AFC wild-card game, will visit the No. 2 seed Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday.
Tennessee has had little success against New England during the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady era, losing each of its past six games against the Patriots. Those defeats include a 59-0 beatdown during the 2009 regular season and a 17-14 loss in the divisional round of the 2003 playoffs, the latter of which still stands as the coldest game in Patriots history.
Next Saturday’s contest will be a homecoming of sorts for Titans cornerback Logan Ryan, who spent his first four NFL seasons in New England before signing with Tennessee this past spring. Ryan told reporters after Saturday’s game it would be “obviously a lot of fun” to face his former teammates.
The Patriots, who have won two of the past three Super Bowls, are seeking their seventh consecutive AFC Championship Game appearance. They have not lost in the divisional round since being upset by the New York Jets in the 2010 playoffs and have not been beaten at home in the postseason since losing to the Baltimore Ravens in the 2012 AFC title game.
Kickoff for Patriots-Titans is set for 8:15 p.m. ET.
