The Houston Texans (10-6) are in Kansas City to face the Chiefs (12-4) in a divisional round game that will have its winner host the red-hot Tennessee Titans in the A.F.C. championship game. Some occasional snow flurries could materialize at Arrowhead Stadium, but conditions are expected to be mostly clear with temperatures in the mid-30s, which should open things up for both offenses in a game in which the Chiefs are heavily favored.
How to watch: The game kicked off at 3:05 p.m. Eastern. It is being broadcast on CBS and streamed live on FuboTV.
Texans go up 14-0 after blocked punt.
Continuing their absolutely stunning start against the heavily-favored Chiefs, the Texans’ special teams came up huge, blocking a punt and returning it for a touchdown and an early 14-0 lead.
After Kansas City went just four yards on three plays, punter Dustin Colquitt lined up to punt the ball away. Those plans were thwarted when linebacker Barkevious Mingo burst into the backfield and blocked Colquitt’s kick. Lonnie Johnson, a rookie cornerback, recovered the ball and ran it into the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown.
The crowd at Arrowhead Stadium seemed absolutely overwhelmed by the Chiefs’ terrible start.
Texans strike first with 54-yard Kenny Stills touchdown.
The Houston Texans, who typically started slowly during the regular season, could not have opened the game better. Their opening drive went 75 yards on six plays thanks to Deshaun Watson taking advantage of bad coverage, connecting with Kenny Stills on a 54-yard touchdown in which no defenders were within 10 yards of the wide receiver when he crossed the goal line.
Watson was 4 for 4 on the opening drive, making quick use of the recently returned receiver Will Fuller by throwing to him on a 3rd-and-7 for a 9-yard gain and a first down.
On an otherwise flawless drive, Houston did lose right tackle Chris Clark, at least temporarily, when he came up limping after a Carlos Hyde run.
These two quarterbacks are forever linked.
In 2016, Deshaun Watson, then the quarterback of the Clemson Tigers, led his team to a national championship. Patrick Mahomes, meanwhile, put up video game numbers for Kliff Kingsbury at Texas Tech. When the draft came around, the Chiefs, who had the No. 10 pick, took a close look at both quarterbacks and decided on Mahomes. Two picks later, the Texans traded up and chose Watson. Needless to say, both teams have been happy with their decisions ever since.
Mahomes won the N.F.L.’s Most Valuable Player Award last season, and had a strong second half this year after an injury and some inconsistency ruined the middle of his year. Watson has not reached the same heights, but that is mostly a function of inferior teammates, as he demonstrated in the wild-card round that he is capable of extraordinary things. In their lone matchup as starters, which came this season in Week 6, Watson finished on top, with 280 passing yards, 42 rushing yards and three total touchdowns in Houston’s 31-24 victory.
Rebuilding the Chiefs’ defense paid dividends.
The Chiefs pulled off quite a feat by giving up several of the more productive members of last season’s awful defense, and getting significantly better as a team. Gone were Dee Ford, who was second on the team in sacks, and Justin Houston, who was third. And while his time as a great player seemed to have passed, safety Eric Berry’s departure had to have been emotional, as he was only a few seasons removed from being one of the best players in the N.F.L. at his position. The team instead invested wisely in safety Tyrann Mathieu and defensive end Frank Clark, both of whom were key factors in improving the team from 24th in scoring defense last year (26.3 points per game) to seventh (19.3). This season, a win in Week 17 over the Chargers came at a large cost, however, as rookie safety Juan Thornhill was lost to a torn anterior cruciate ligament. He will be replaced by Armani Watts.
Who will lead Kansas City in rushing?
The Chiefs can count on production from Mahomes and the passing game, but figuring out the team’s running situation on a week-to-week basis can be difficult. After cutting ties with Kareem Hunt following the release of a video in which the running back assaulted a woman, the team tried to split things up between backs Damien Williams and LeSean McCoy, to mixed results. Kansas City surpassed 100 rushing yards in just seven games, and did not break 150 until the final game of the regular season, when Williams personally torched the Los Angeles Chargers with 124 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries. The end result, though, was a season in which the Chiefs, who ranked 24th in the N.F.L. in rushing, did not have a player break 500 rushing yards for the year. Houston, however, presents an opportunity to mix things up. The Texans are ranked 26th in the N.F.L. in pass defense efficiency, according to Football Outsiders, and 22nd in run defense efficiency. If Houston tries to cheat against the pass, Williams or McCoy can presumably make them pay for it.
Texans’ health is improving.
Houston got a huge boost in the wild-card round from the return of defensive end J.J. Watt, who came off injured reserve from a torn pectoral muscle and recorded a sack in the Texans’ win over Buffalo. A similar boost could come this week from wide receiver Will Fuller, who has missed Houston’s last two games with a groin injury. Fuller can be frustratingly inconsistent, but even on an off-day he provides a monumental distraction for any team trying to lock down DeAndre Hopkins in coverage.
As for Watt, he will be on the field again this week and may see an even larger workload, but he cautioned that expectations will still need to be managed.
“Just because I played one game doesn’t mean my pec magically healed,” he told reporters “It’s still in basically the same situation it was in before this game.”
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2020-01-12 20:15:00Z
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