The Houston Texans came up short on Saturday night against the Kansas City Chiefs. They lost 23-14 in a game closer than the final score made it look. Even though the Texans came up short in the AFC Divisional Round, their defense played really well. They held Patrick Mahomes to 177 passing yards. It was the fewest passing yards of his illustrious postseason career.
Fair or not, this game will be remembered for poor officiating that hurt the Houston Texans on defense. Questionable roughing the passer calls on Mahomes during the contest helped extend Kansas City’s drives or improve their field position. Houston sacked Mahomes three times harrassing him all day. Will the Texans be able to build on this performance next season?
Houston Texans Defense Wants a Few Plays Back
A few blown coverages by the Texans defense were the difference between a win and a loss. Tight End Travis Kelce added to his postseason lore in this game. He caught Mahomes’ only touchdown of the game, and as is seemingly always the case, had crucial catches. He had multiple big plays finishing with 7 grabs for 117 yards.
The drive that determined the game happened when the Houston Texans put together an 82-yard drive that took 10 minutes off the clock to cut KC’s lead to 13-12. Kansas City needed a big drive to give its defense some rest and increase their lead. The Chiefs pieced together an 81-yard drive capped off by Kelce’s touchdown. Houston’s defense could not get off the field as they allowed multiple conversions on third down and a fourth down conversion to extend the drive.
Final Thoughts
The Kansas City Chiefs were not at their best this evening but did enough to win. They will be playing in their seventh straight AFC Championship Game next week. Kansas City’s quest for history stayed alive as well. Their march toward the first three-peat in the Super Bowl era is still possible. Even though the Houston Texans could not get the job done this time, their defense played as well as they could have. A few bad calls and poor defensive plays were the difference between making history and being sent home.
