Will Anderson Jr. Annoyed by penalties after Texans’ loss

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Houston Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. said he believes the officiating was against his team in Saturday’s 23-14 AFC divisional round loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Texans’ defense was flagged for two controversial penalties on separate points when it contacted Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Both extended Kansas City drives, leading to a decisive 10 points for the Chiefs.

“We knew it was going to be us versus the refs going into this game,” Anderson said afterward.

Anderson was flagged for roughing the punter on an incomplete Mahomes pass to tight end Travis Kelce on third down during the Chiefs’ second drive. Anderson appeared to hit Mahomes in the upper neck area shortly after he released the pass. That drive ended in a field goal that put the Chiefs ahead 6-3.

In the third quarter, Mahomes went for a first down and slipped while Texans defensive tackle Folorunso Fatukasi and linebacker Henry To’oTo’o collided with him and drew an unnecessary roughing penalty. The Chiefs took advantage of the extra yards and closed the possession with a touchdown to make it 20-12.

Fatukasi told ESPN he didn’t remember the play he was flagged for, and To’oTo’o said, “It is what it is.”

When asked about the controversial calls, Houston coach DeMeco Ryans had a subtle remark. But Ryans acknowledged that the “self-inflicted mistakes” hurt the Texans’ chances of advancing to the AFC Championship Game for the first time in franchise history.

“We knew going into this game, man, it was us versus everybody. And when I say everybody, it’s everybody,” Ryans said. “Going into this game, what we were up against, we can’t make the mistakes we made. Whether it’s special teams, not converting our kicks. Defensively, not where we need to be in coverage. Offensively , not protecting our quarterback and keeping him clean. You married that on top of everything else we have to deal with, it’s just going to be a really tough uphill battle.”

And the Texans made more mistakes. That’s why, even though Houston reached the divisional round in consecutive seasons, Ryans said he was “disheartened” by Saturday’s outcome.

“This one hurts because I know we’re a better football team than what we showed today,” Ryans said. “To go back and still have to talk about mistakes that we made in this moment, it’s disheartening. Because we have to be over it at this point in the playoffs.”

The Texans’ special teams made critical mistakes that kept them at a disadvantage for most of the contest. On the game’s opening kickoff, Houston gave up a 63-yard punt return to Chiefs wideout Nikko Remigio, who fumbled as defensive back Kris Boyd tackled him before Kansas City running back Samaje Perine recovered the loose ball.

But before the recovery, Boyd sprinted off in celebratory fashion, tossing his helmet before reaching the sideline. He drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that got the Chiefs’ offense starting at Houston’s 13-yard line. The defense didn’t allow a touchdown, but Kansas City took advantage of field position and kicked a field goal.

The Texans opened the second half with running back Joe Mixon scoring a touchdown. But kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn missed the extra point attempt that would have tied the score at 13. Fairbairn also missed a field goal attempt in the second quarter.

In addition to the special teams tablets, the Texans failed to protect quarterback CJ Stroud, who was pressured into a career-high 23 dropbacks and sacked eight times, tying a career high from Week 9 against the New York Jets.

Stroud’s 56% pressure rate is the second-highest in an NFL playoff game since ESPN began tracking pressures in 2009, behind only former Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow (63%) in 2011.

“In the playoffs, you have to win your one-on-ones,” Ryans said. “That’s what the game is always about. You’ve got to man up and own your one-on-ones. You’ve got to have some pride in who you’re blocking to get it done, to give the quarterback a chance to throw the football .”

Stroud was able to use his legs to survive some of the pressure as he rushed for 42 yards and converted on a pair of third downs.

“Just being a competitor, trying to put my team in positions to win,” Stroud said. “There are times when I probably shouldn’t have done it and just throw the ball away. So it’s a balance and I think I tried my best to do that today and I think I played a lot game in general today.”

Still, every time Kansas City blew, the Texans struggled to find answers. Stroud was stunned on 10 of his 18 dropbacks in the fourth quarter (56%), including a stretch of seven straight. Stroud was 3-of-8 for 41 yards with two sacks in the fourth quarter when he was blown.

The gaffes the Texans made were too much to overcome as they became the first team to outscore their opponent by 100-plus yards (336-212) while not turning the ball over and losing a postseason game. Previous such teams were 49-0 in the playoffs, according to ESPN Research.

“Can’t keep shooting ourselves in the foot and then not overcome it and expect to win,” Stroud said.