KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Late in the fourth quarter of their showdown against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, the Chiefs found themselves in a familiar position: with a tenuous lead, they only needed a first down to secure the win.
But while the Chiefs were able to do just that against the Raiders last week _ gaining a first down on three straight running plays _ they failed to replicate that against the Titans, who stuffed a third-and-2 run, got the ball back with a minute left and connected on a field goal as time expired to deal the Chiefs a 19-17 defeat at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Chiefs, who were riding a three-game winning streak, drop to 10-4 with the loss. They could have clinched a playoff berth with a victory with a win over the Titans, who improved to 8-6.
It was a bitter end to a game that got off to a great start for the Chiefs, who jumped ahead 7-0 on their first possession with a well-designed, well-executed handoff to Tyreek Hill, who exploded up the numbers, untouched, for a 68-yard touchdown.
The Chiefs' opportunistic defense set up their next score. Safety Eric Berry forced receiver Rishard Matthews to fumble on the tail end of a 35-yard gain, and safety Daniel Sorensen scooped it up in the Chiefs' end zone and returned it to midfield.
After a 44-yard completion to Jeremy Maclin, quarterback Alex Smith scrambled into the end zone on third-and-goal from the 10-yard line to give the Chiefs a 14-0 advantage they took into the second quarter.
The Titans turned to a little trickery _ a 44-yard pass on a flea-flicker _ and their ground game to cut the deficit, as running back Derrick Henry soon scored on a 4-yard plunge.
The Chiefs wasted a golden opportunity to add to their lead when two consecutive running plays from the Titans' 1 _ which was set up by a sack-strip of quarterback Marcus Mariota _ yielded zero yards and resulted in a turnover on downs. But the defense held firm, and got the offense the ball back with enough time for Cairo Santos to connect on a 34-yard field goal that put the Chiefs ahead 17-7 at halftime.
The third quarter as largely uneventful, aside from an impressive one-handed interception by safety Ron Parker _ the Titans' third turnover of the game _ and a poor red-zone interception by Smith, who appeared to stare down Jeremy Maclin on the ensuing drive.
The Chiefs failed to put the game out of reach, and the Titans made them sweat a bit in the fourth quarter. An early field goal cut the lead to 17-10, and with the Chiefs' offense mired in a second-half funk, the quickly got the ball back with an opportunity to tie.
The Titans put themselves in position to do just that with a six-play, 87-yard scoring drive that was capped by a 1-yard run by Henry but keyed by 82 passing yards, including a clutch fourth-and-5 completion to DeMarco Murray at the Chiefs' 16.
But that's when Mularkey took a gamble, one that did not work out for the Titans, as the ensuing two-point conversion attempt _ a sprint-out pass _ was sniffed out and stopped.
At that point, the Chiefs only needed a first down to run out the clock on the Titans, who were out of timeouts. But they were stuffed on third-and-2 and forced to punt, which gave the Titans the ball back with one minute left.
That was all they needed, it turns out. Six plays and 40 yards later, former Chief Ryan Succop drilled a 53-yard field goal to deal the Chiefs their first loss in a month.
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