Colts hope history repeats vs. Chiefs; K.C. hopes to reverse fortunes

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Given the postseason history involving Indianapolis and Kansas City over the years, Andrew Luck and the Colts have every reason to feel confident heading to Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday.

The Chiefs have every reason to believe they are due.

Four times the teams have met in the playoffs: twice in the wild-card round and twice with a spot in the AFC title game on the line. Each time the Colts emerged victorious. Asked if he understood the magnitude of the next installment in the one-sided series, Chiefs cornerback Kendall Fuller replied quite simply: “Oh yeah.”

“Especially what they’ve been going through over the years and things like that,” he said. “We definitely see how fans feel, what they’re expecting and stuff like that.”

The most recent of those playoff matchups was in 2013, a 45-44 shootout in which Luck led the Colts from a 38-10 second-half hole to beat Andy Reid’s first Chiefs team.

There are more than a dozen players remaining who were involved in that game, yet each acknowledged history has no bearing on what will transpire Saturday.

“Obviously, they are a great team,” said Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri, who has played in the past two playoff games against Kansas City. “They’ve got a very explosive offense. They’ve got probably the best returner in the National Football League with (Tyreek) Hill.

“We are going to have to play our best game to try to keep up with them.”

The Chiefs happen to believe the same thing.

Yet the Colts, the sixth and last seed in the playoffs, might be the hottest team. They rebounded from a 1-5 start to win nine of their last 10 games to reach the postseason, then dominated the Houston Texans last week with a bludgeoning ground game and stingy defense .

“The way this locker room has prepared,” Luck said, “it’s all about just getting better, getting better. … It takes no heroes. You don’t need a hero, whether it’s a playoff game or a regular-season game. It’s just everybody doing their jobs that get things done.”