The two-time defending Super Bowl Champion Chiefs hosted the AFC South winning Texans in one of two AFC Divisional Round playoff games over the weekend. The Chiefs went into the game as nearly 10-point favorites, and although they did win handily on the scoreboard, they had a few things break their way to make it so. The game was much tighter than the scoreboard would indicate. The Texans played them tough, actually out-gained them in offensive yards, and had a real opportunity to win the game had their special teams played better and had they not had costly penalties called against them. The Chiefs now head to the AFC Championship game, and the Texans head home trying to figure out how they can get past the Divisional round next season after being eliminated in that round each of the past two seasons. Here are five things we learned from this game:
Stroud Should Scramble More
He isn’t known for his scrambling ability, but Stroud has shown that when he does it, he can pick up big chunks of yards in key situations.
Mahomes Gets All The Calls
Call it a conspiracy if you want to, but Patrick Mahomes continues to get all the key calls to go his way. There were two terrible roughing-the-passer calls that completely changed this game.
Kelce Always Performs In The Playoffs
He put together a 100-yard performance in this game. He is now the all-time leader in receptions in the postseason. He had a solid season, but when the playoffs begin, he flips a switch.
Texans Have A Championship Caliber Defense
They won their wild-card game thanks to their defense, and their defense played exceptionally well in KC despite the scoreboard showing 23 points allowed. They allowed under 300 total yards. The Chiefs got most of their points thanks to bad penalties and/or great field position given up by the Texans offense or special teams.
Chiefs Trust Hunt More Than Pacheco
Although Hunt wasn’t on the roster when the season began, he earned himself a big role while Pacheco was injured this season. Hunt was the one who scored the TD in this game and had double the amount of yards as Pacheco. Hunt was the one who got the big yards for the Chiefs in the 4th quarter.