Falcons topple Rams, Titans edge Chiefs in playoffs

The Atlanta Falcons kept their bid for Super Bowl redemption on trackSaturday with a 26-13 victory over the upstart Los Angeles Rams in thefirst round of the NFL playoffs. Matt Bryant booted four field goals andthe Falcons defense kept the explosive Rams offense in check as theFalcons booked a second-round clash with the National FootballConference top seeds Philadelphia in the second round.In American Football Conference action, the Tennessee Titans ralliedfrom an 18 point deficit to beat the Chiefs 22-21 in Kansas City. TheChiefs haven’t won a home playoff game since January of 1994 — and havenow gone 0-6 since then at Arrowhead Stadium in the post-season. Withthe Rams in their second season back in Los Angeles, the SouthernCalifornia city was hosting a playoff game for the first time since theRaiders made it to the post-season in 1994. The Falcons, devastated bythe New England Patriots comeback victory in last season’s Super Bowl,squeaked into the playoffs after an erratic season.But their experience paid off against a young Rams team that had earnedthe third seed in the NFC. Devonta Freeman rushed for a touchdown forthe Falcons and quarterback Matt Ryan added a scoring pass to JulioJones — an eight-yarder that gave Atlanta a 26-13 lead with 5:48remaining.The vaunted Rams offense, meanwhile, produced just one touchdown.Quarterback Jared Goff completed 24 of 45 passes for 259 yards,including a 14-yard touchdown pass to rookie Cooper Kupp that pulled theRams within 13-7 with 2:34 left in the first half.A Sam Ficken field goal pulled the Rams within 13-10 at halftime, andFicken booted a 32-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to narrowthe gap to 19-13 before the Falcons closed out their methodicalvictory.There was drama in Kansas City, where Tennessee quarterback MarcusMariota’s exploits included catching a touchdown pass from himself. Theremarkable play came as the Titans opened the third quarter trailing21-3. Mariota marched them 91 yards and had rolled left and throwntoward Corey Davis in the end zone.Chiefs cornerback Darrelle Revis deflected the pass back toward him andMariota reeled in the ball and plunged into the end zone credited with asix-yard TD pass to himself. The Titans scored again early in the fourth when running back DerrickHenry raced 35 yards for a touchdown. The two-point conversion attemptfailed, leaving Tennessee down 21-16.They edged ahead on Mariota’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Eric Decker with6:06 left to play. The two-point conversion attempt failed — and nearlybrought disaster for the Titans when Mariota was sacked, but officialsruled he was down before the ball came loose.Similar drama unfolded on the Titans’ final drive, when Henry was hit byChiefs cornerback Marcus Peters and the ball came loose. Kansas Citylinebacker Derrick Johnson raced to the end zone with the apparentfumble for a touchdown, but it was overturned as officials deemed Henrywas down and the play complete before Johnson scooped up the ball.The Chiefs had built a quick 14-0 lead with a one-yard touchdown run byKareem Hunt and a 13-yard TD pass from Alex Smith to tight end TravisKelce. The Titans got on the board with a 49-yard field goal by RyanSuccop, but Kansas City made it 21-3 in the final seconds of the firsthalf on a 14-yard scoring pass from Smith to Demarcus Robinson.