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SALT LAKE CITY — If you told NFL fans Alex Smith would throw four touchdown passes in Kansas City’s Wild-Card playoff game, those fans would have said the Chiefs would win in a romp.
However, a late breakdown defensively, largely caused by injuries to the Kansas City secondary, cost Smith and the Chiefs their first playoff victory since 1994, as Indianapolis came back from a playoff-record 28-point deficit to beat the Chiefs, 45-44.
Smith completed 30 of 46 passes for 378 yards. Teammate and fellow Utah alumnus Sean Smith recorded four tackles for Kansas City, which surrendered 35 second-half points to the Colts. Indianapolis, whose roster includes Cottonwood High alum Stanley Havili, will face Utah’s Sealver Siliga and the New England Patriots in the AFC divisional round on Saturday.
Alex Smith passed for 378 yards and four touchdowns, yet the Indianapolis Colts beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 45-44.
Eric Weddle helped lead the sixth-seeded San Diego Chargers to a 27-10 road win over the Cincinnati Bengals and helped lead San Diego to a divisional round matchup with AFC West rival Denver Sunday. Weddle had five tackles and broke up an Andy Dalton pass. Also, San Diego coach Mike McCoy, who quarterbacked the University of Utah to a Freedom Bowl win over Arizona in 1994, led San Diego to its first playoff win since 2009. Weddle’s defense will face off against a Denver offensive line that includes Utah alum Zane Beadles.
East High graduate Will Tukuafu and the San Francisco 49ers will travel to Carolina to take on Utah alumni Star Lotulelei and Steve Smith in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs. Utah State alumni Bobby Wagner and Robert Turbin will join with Weber State alumnus Paul McQuistan as the Seattle Seahawks host the New Orleans Saints on Saturday.
