Kansas City Chiefs meltdown saved Mike Mularkey’s job with Titans

The Kansas City Chiefs did a good enough job falling apart in front of the Titans that they saved Mike Mularkey from having to look for gainful employment.

Mike Mularkey was reportedly on the hot seat coming into Arrowhead Stadium as the Tennessee Titans prepared to play the Kansas City Chiefs. Both teams were in need of a win to shake some postseason monkeys off of their back, so to speak, but Mularkey was apparently on the verge of losing his job.

Rumors out prior to the game said the Titans were prepared to make a mad dash toward Josh McDaniel’s direction by firing Mularkey if they weren’t able to pull off a road upset over the Chiefs. After the Titans fell down by 18 points, it looked like the Titans might have every reason to change leadership given how lifeless Tennessee looked on both sides of the ball. Then came the meltdown.

Instead of putting their foot down and maintaining the same aggressive pace that let them gain such a lead, Kansas City began to let up. They veered away from the running game and called conservative passes, one after another, resulting in numerous three-and-outs from the middle of the second quarter through the rest of the game. Even as the Titans creeped back into it slowly and surely, the Chiefs never adjusted course until it was literally too late.

Now apparently Mularkey is in the clear and the Titans owner, Amy Adams Strunk, is saying that those rumors were out of hand in the first place. Of course they were. Here’s the full statement from the Titans owner:

Mularkey is now 20-21 in nearly three seasons worth of games with the Titans after taking over midway through the year in 2015 as an interim replacement for Ken Whisenhunt.