KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The last time Alex Smith played against the Tennessee Titans in December 2016, he was on his way to having a big game. On the first two drives, Smith completed a 44-yard pass to Jeremy Maclin and ran for a score in leading the Chiefs to two touchdowns and a 14-0 lead less than 11 minutes in at Arrowhead Stadium.

After that, Smith delivered little of value to the Chiefs. His signature play in the final three quarters was an end zone interception with the Chiefs in field goal range and ahead 17-7. Those three points would have won the game for Kansas City.

Instead, the Titans rallied for a 19-17 win.

"Last time he started off like gangbusters ... and things were just kind of average after that," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. "I think it's just by coincidence. He'll go forward and he'll go through the process of getting ready for the game. He'll be fine."

But that wasn't an isolated bad game by Smith against the Titans. In fact, two of his three worst passer ratings in 76 games with the Chiefs have come against the Titans.

One was that game from last December, and the other was from a 2014 contest won by the Titans 26-10 at Arrowhead. That was Smith's only performance with the Chiefs in which he tossed three interceptions.

The 2014 matchup isn't necessarily pertinent now; the Titans have changed coaching staffs and many players since then. But last year's game is, since Tennessee still has the same coaching staff and many of the same players.

"It was a close game, came down to the very end," Smith said. "Physical game. I think that's to be expected [again]. Beyond that, it's hard to read into too many of those. You try to learn from that a little, but obviously the whole chess game, there [are] new players and new schemes."

Smith and the Chiefs get another crack at the Titans in Saturday's wild-card round playoff game at Arrowhead.

"We're expecting the best from all of [the Chiefs]," Titans coach Mike Mularkey said. "That's what you've got to have at this time of year. ... Those are things that to me don't carry over. It's a new game. The slate is clean. I don't look at it as an advantage. I don't expect anybody to play worse or better based on previous experiences."

Smith was 15 of 28 passing for 163 yards and the interception in the December 2016 game, but the loss wasn't all on him. In the second quarter, the Chiefs failed to score with four snaps inside the Tennessee 10-yeard line, the last being a failed run on fourth down from the 1-yard line.

The Chiefs also couldn't run out the clock late in the game while trying to protect a one-point lead; three running plays failed to gain the first down. So the Chiefs gave the Titans the ball back with enough time to get into position for a 53-yard field goal by former Kansas City kicker Ryan Succop that provided the winning margin as time expired.

"Missed opportunities," Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said. "We started out fast, and then they creeped back and they got us there at the end. We had some opportunities to make some plays and we didn't. Our guys, we've all watched that tape and we understand what went wrong and how to try to fix it.

"This defense that we're about to see, they're very physical and they know that. That's one of their trademarks. They were physical last year. They never gave up. They kept fighting, and then they won it at the end on a field goal. Our guys have to mentally be prepared to understand that, both mentally and physically."