In one of the best defensive games of the season, the Houston Texans earned a big boost to their playoff odds, sending the Kansas City Chiefs’ nightmare season further into the abyss in the process.
Houston took down Kansas City 20-10 Sunday night at Arrowhead Stadium for its fifth straight victory. While the Texans (8-5) keep themselves in great positioning for a potential division title and an AFC wild-card berth, the Chiefs (6-7) have plunged deeper into danger mode.
Kansas City, the three-time reigning AFC champion, has seen its postseason hopes grow dimmer. The Chiefs were also officially eliminated from contention to win the AFC West, which they had won the previous nine years.
Here are my takeaways:
1. Texans’ defense continues to make its case as a historic-caliber unit
Every time that the Chiefs’ offense had an opportunity to capitalize on second-half momentum, the Texans’ defense was there to ruin it.
It was safety Jalen Pitre forcing an incompletion on third-and-short with sticky coverage. Or a fantastic end zone pass breakup from cornerback Kamari Lassiter. Or a Lassiter interception. Or a 4th-and-1 stop deep in Chiefs’ territory, which led to a touchdown. Or an interception from linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair. The list goes on and on.
The Chiefs did their part to help with a handful of miscues. But what we saw Sunday night is Exhibit A as to why the Texans have the NFL’s No. 1 defense, and why it isn’t particularly close. They’ve been so consistently dominant that we must start talking about the unit as one of the best defenses we’ve seen in the last decade.
Houston had eight quarterback hits, two tackles for loss, three interceptions and seven pass breakups.
2. Chiefs’ offensive issues go beyond O-line injuries
Much was made of the Chiefs’ hurting offensive line entering Sunday, and for good reason. Right guard Trey Smith and both starting tackles (Josh Simmons, Jawaan Taylor) were inactive, then backup left tackle Wanya Morris suffered an injury on Kansas City’s first play from scrimmage and didn’t return. This, of course, was a less-than-ideal situation against an elite defense that boasts the NFL’s best edge rushing tandem in Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter.
While the Chiefs’ offensive line had its issues at times, the inability of Kansas City’s receivers to separate from the Texans secondary was also a large problem. The Chiefs had just three plays of 20-plus yards — two from receiver Xavier Worthy and one from receiver Hollywood Brown.
Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice, the Chiefs’ two best pass catchers, had forgettable performances too — a combined five catches on 13 targets for just 42 yards. And while Houston didn’t get many sacks on Mahomes (2), it brought consistent heat on the two-time MVP, who turned in arguably the worst game of his career playing on a bad knee. Mahomes completed just 42.4% of his passes for 160 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions with a career-low 19.8 passer rating.
3. Herculean effort from Chris Jones, Chiefs defense in the second half is not enough
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud and wide receiver Nico Collins were essentially doing whatever they wanted for the Texans in the first half, connecting four times for 121 yards to help set up Houston’s 10-0 lead at the half. But the Chiefs’ defense hit its stride in the second half in dominant fashion, even though it wasn’t enough in the end.
Kansas City forced five straight punts and eight consecutive incompletions from Stroud to open the second half. The Texans had minus-2 yards of offense in the third quarter as well.
The Chiefs’ entire defense stood out, but Chris Jones led the charge, causing havoc in the trenches. The perennial Pro Bowl defensive tackle registered a sack, four quarterback hits, a tackle for loss and batted a pass at the line of scrimmage.
4. Texans’ offense does enough to pull out win
The Texans’ offense left much to be desired, a theme throughout the season as their defense has carried the load. But Stroud, who had a miserable third quarter after a strong first half, came through in the clutch to help Houston secure the massive win.
After the Texans’ defense forced a turnover on downs deep in Chiefs’ territory, Stroud hit rookie receiver Jayden Higgins for a third-and-short conversion that set up running back Dare Ogunbowale’s touchdown that gave Houston a 17-10 lead.
4 ½. What’s next?
The Chiefs host the Chargers (8-4) next Sunday, looking to split the season series. Los Angeles is one of several teams that have a head-to-head tiebreaker over Kansas City in the AFC wild-card race.
The Texans welcome the Cardinals (3-10) to Houston in Week 14.
Ben Arthur is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.
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