Alex Smith’s latest, and probably last, playoff appearance with the Kansas City Chiefs began unraveling when Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota delivered a touchdown pass to himself.
Mariota was performing at Rice-Eccles Stadium the night when Utah’s Kaelin Clay dropped the football short of the goal line and an Oregon linebacker returned it for a touchdown. That sequence took longer and may have been even crazier than Mariota’s self-produced completion off a defensive back’s deflection, but Tennessee’s TD was just as much of a momentum-changing play.
The Titans’ rally for a 22-21 win in an AFC wild card game last Saturday could become career-altering for Smith.