The Kansas City Chiefs are in the AFC Championship Game and are receiving the Tennessee Titans there. But the way there was a crazy roller coaster ride! The Chiefs first got under the wheels against Houston – and then caught up with the history books!
The first shock of the game came for Kansas City an hour before kick-off: defensive tackle Chris Jones (calf) could not play, the Chiefs were therefore lacking the most dominant defender in this defense. But anyway, Chiefs fans couldn’t prepare for what they should see on the field in the first quarter.
You were inevitably reminded of the Ravens game the night before. The Chiefs Offense recorded at least four drops in the first quarter alone, and those were the smallest concentration problems for KC. There was the coverage bust, which enabled a completely open 54-yard touchdown by Kenny Stills on the first Texans drive.
There was the protection bust after Kansas City’s first drive, which resulted in a punt blocked for touchdown. Or Tyreek Hills Muffed Punt a little later, which Houston punished two plays later with the next touchdown. The Texans did not have to show much themselves and led 21: 0 after the first quarter in front of completely shocked Chiefs fans.
But what happened then can hardly be described in words.
It started with a questionable decision by Bill O’Brien at that moment: At 4th & 1, just before the Chiefs end zone, he went for the field goal instead of the touchdown; with the following long return from Hardman and a pass from Mahomes (23/35, 321 YDS, 5 TD; 7 ATT, 53 YDS) to Kelce, these three points were erased again. KC did not stop there, however, a 17-yard touchdown finally brought the home side onto the scoreboard.
The crazy Chiefs catch-up against Houston
This was an incredible chase to catch up. Mahomes was now completely in the tunnel, while at Fourth Down the Texans suddenly became aggressive in their own half – but the fake punt did not work. This led to the next touchdown for Mahomes, followed by number 3, this time after the Texans lost the ball in the subsequent kick-off.
Also from Watson (31/52, 388 YDS, 2 TD; 6 ATT, 37 YDS, TD) and the Texans offense there was no relief anymore, so that the game finally tipped: Mahomes found Kelce in a spectacular play a third time the end zone. The game was shot before the half-time break.
And so it went on. The Chiefs kept their foot on the accelerator and extended their lead with Big Play to Big Play when Houston finally finally got offensive again late in the third quarter after six (!) Chiefs touchdowns without a Texans score in Series, KC came right back and answered with another lightning-like touchdown drive.
After the extremely bad start, it was a demonstration of power by the Chiefs Offense; Despite the brilliant starting position, Houston could not really keep this game clear until the middle of the second quarter. The 51: 7 run for the Chiefs was something that Kansas City will be talking about for quite a while. But first, the AFC Championship Game is taking place in Arrowhead, where the Chiefs receive the Tennessee Titans!
No. 2 Kansas City Chiefs – No. 4 Houston Texans
Result: 51:31 (0:21, 28: 3, 13: 7, 10: 0) BOXSCORE
Chiefs vs. Texans – the most important statistics
- Patrick Mahomes is the first ever player with over 300 passing yards, at least five passing touchdowns and over 50 rushing yards in a playoff game.
- Kansas City’s pass rush was a real problem for the shaky Texans here again. KC had four sacks and put pressure on Watson several times, Watson often held the ball too long again and possibly had problems with the coverage of the chiefs.
- According to ESPN Stats&Info the chiefs had four drops in the first quarter – and as many as in the previous six games.
- However, this did not prevent KC from making the biggest comeback in its own history: the franchise record was 21 points, the 24-point deficit against Houston had already been caught at half-time. This feat – to lead again at half-time after a gap of 24 points or more – had never been accomplished by a team in the entire NFL history. The Chiefs are the first ever team to win the playoffs by 20 points after being at least 20 points behind.
- Travis Kelce is the first ever Chiefs player with three receiving touchdowns in a single playoff neighborhood. Only 15 other players have had three touchdown catches in one playoff game throughout NFL history.
The star of the game: Patrick Mahomes (QB, Chiefs)
Not really a difficult choice here. One could argue very well that the game would not have started so clearly in favor of the Texans if Kansas City’s receiver hadn’t dropped one ball after the other in the first quarter. This chiefs offense can play big plays at any time, which Mahomes fired on passes into the tight man coverage and additionally caused with scrambles was nothing more than spectacular.
Flop of the game: Bill O’Brien (Head Coach Texans)
The first drive was promising – but otherwise? Kansas City’s mistakes gave Houston a 21-point lead on the silver plate – and instead of keeping their foot on the accelerator pedal, O’Brien became anxious at 4th & 1 on the opposing 13-yard line and went on the field goal. This decision in combination with the fake punt were two points that made the game topple over. It made little sense that he went back to the run game again and again in the course of the second half, despite a clear gap, after he had just seen how Kansas City had escalated completely through the air. Just like the fact that they were obviously not prepared to play fourth down early in the fourth quarter, wasting a timeout.
Analysis: Chiefs vs. Texans – the tactic board
- How Kansas City got back into this game was absolutely impressive. The chiefs sometimes completely ignored the run game until the fourth quarter, and after the receivers were able to stop the drops, Houston had no answers to the passing game, whether in short pass, downfield, per play action or run pass option. The chiefs could also go into vertical pass play almost at will.
- It helped Mahomes that he often got clear matchups. It is true that KC generally plays even more dangerous against Zone Coverage than against Man – to play Man Coverage, however, you need the appropriate cover talent and various disguise ideas to get Mahomes out of rhythm.
- The Texans had too little of either. Houston played a lot of man coverage with a free defender, and then doubled either Hill (especially on longer third downs) or Kelce. But Kelce, in particular, was not deterred by double coverage and caught several balls against double coverage, at the same time Houston had no plan B and no ideas to prevent Mahomes’ scrambles against man coverage.
- The Texans initially had some offensive ideas on how to respond to various Chiefs Defense reactions and how to prepare certain things. A bubble screen early, then the screen-and-go for Stills’ long touchdown. When Kansas City responded with two deep safeties to take the big plays away, Houston ran its fast receivers short curl routes, taking advantage of the space in the Underneath Zones.
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