The Kansas City Chiefs (14-1) defeated the Houston Texans (9-6) 27-19 on Saturday afternoon. The victory, like most of Kansas City’s wins this year, wouldn’t be described as pretty. Instead, they again prevailed in a bit of a mucky affair.
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To head coach Andy Reid, though, the showing was his team’s best all-around performance of the season.
“All in all, I thought this was our best game offensively, defensively and special teams wise. We’ve gotta keep going… [there’s] a lot of room to improve. We’ve gotta make sure we keep doing that.”
The Chiefs’ offense posted 375 total yards versus Houston. Defensively, they held the Texans to 311 yards. On special teams, kicker Harrison Butker looked like his pre-injury self while nailing all five of his tries (2/2 FG, 3/3 XP).
When playoff football arrives, you need all three phases operating in tip-top shape to win a championship. In Reid’s mind, this type of effort will yield positive results in January.
Kansas City’s superstar quarterback operated efficiently on Saturday. Mahomes completed 68.3% of his passes (28/41) for 260 yards and one touchdown. He added 33 yards and a touchdown on the ground despite an apparent ankle injury he picked up in Week 15.
Overall, Saturday wasn’t the most prolific individual day of his career. That said, he was happy with how his unit handled Saturday’s circumstances.
“That’s a good defense… so I was proud of how our offense competed today. Obviously there were some three-and-outs… but other than that. I thought we moved the ball well and scored points in the red zone. So it was a step in the right direction, but we wanna be better going into the playoffs.”
Week 16 was Marquise “Hollywood” Brown’s first appearance in red and gold. The Chiefs’ prized free agent acquisition missed the first 15 weeks of the year with a shoulder injury.
He saw eight targets and made five catches for 45 yards. His and Mahomes’ chemistry wasn’t perfect, but Mahomes believes bigger days are in store for Brown.
“I thought he did a great job. I missed him here and there on a couple throws… he was winning against man coverage, which is huge. He’s a couple throws away from having a really, really big game… we’ll get him more involved as the season goes on.”
Mahomes’ scoring pass went to rookie Xavier Worthy, who led the team with seven receptions and 65 yards. The contest was Worthy’s sixth straight making at least four catches for 40 yards. He reached four receptions just once – and topped 40 yards only twice – in his first nine games. Mahomes is proud of how he has continued to grow and develop throughout the season.
“He’s getting more and more comfortable… since the Bills game, you can see that. Now, we’ve gotta continue to work him and give him more opportunities downfield.”
Increased involvement for Worthy and Brown directly impacts Travis Kelce’s chances. The veteran tight end hauled in five catches for 30 yards versus Houston.
If those two receivers keep stretching the field, Kelce will have more space to operate between the hashes. That, in turn, makes Kansas City’s offense more dangerous than it has been all year on the eve of the postseason.
