What we learned in Kansas City’s 23-14 win

On By Littum

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  1. Chiefs D leads back to AFC Championship Game. In a hard-hitting, defensive slugfest played amid cold and windy temperatures, it was Steve Spagnuolo’s band of marauders that stood tall, keeping the pursuit of an unprecedented Super Bowl three-peat alive and well. Chiefs defense – led by an excellent day from George Karlaftis — harassed CJ Stroud the entire game, leaving him battered and hobbled. Kansas City, as it tends to do, turned up the pressure late to seal its seventh straight trip to the AFC Championship Game. Karlaftis had three of his team’s eight sacks and eight of his 21 pressures. Stroud hung tough throughout, leading the Texans to a 336-212 advantage in total yards. Unfortunately for Houston, it only resulted in one touchdown. Kansas City has become a team led by its defense while relying on Patrick Mahomes-led offense that comes through when needed. It is the reverse of previous seasons, but successful in the same way. Teams to outgain their opponent by more than 100 yards and commit zero turnovers were 46-0 in the playoffs during the Super Bowl era prior to Saturday. Now they are 46-1. Chiefs defense — Karlaftis, Chris Jones, Justin Reid and many more — bent, but they didn’t break, and have Kansas City’s hopes for another Lombardi going strong.
  2. Anderson, the Texans’ defense played winning football. In a game loaded with defensive talents like the Chiefs’ Jones and Trent McDuffiealong with the Texans Derek Stingley Jr. and Danielle Hunter, Will Anderson Jr. was a dynamo in the first half. He blew up the Chiefs offense more often than not. All told, he finished the game with four tackles, two sacks, three tackles for loss, two QB hits and four QB pressures. Anderson was less influential in the second half and so was the Texans defense, but DeMeco Ryan’s crew still played well enough for a win. The Texans held the Chiefs offense – no. 2 in third-down conversions in the regular season – going 4 of 11 in that department and just 212 total yards. When you walk away from a playoff game with Mahomes to 177 passing yards, you usually celebrate. Instead, the Texans’ journey to their first-ever AFC Championship game will continue for at least another year.
  3. Kelce steps up huge, makes more magic with Mahomes. There are few pass catchers in history who have shone as, for example, Travis Kelce do. It was clear on Saturday. Not long after surpassing Jerry Rice for most 100-yard games in the playoffs with his ninth all-time, Kelce hauled in an 11-yard touchdown catch from Mahomes to give the Chiefs a 19-12 lead prior to the extra point. Mahomes’ scrambling and the dart he threw while falling forward as his leg was taken away from him was the highlight, but Kelce getting open was constant. He tallied a game-high seven receptions for 117 yards, more yards than he had in any game during the regular season. Included was a postseason career-long 49-yard touchdown reception in which he was the wide-open weaving talent headed to Canton. Big-game Trav was in full effect, delivering a stellar effort for an offense that largely struggled.
  4. Nothing special for Texans. Houston’s special teams had a bad day at a terrible time. The Texans allowed a 63-yard kickoff return Nikko Remigio on the first play of the game. It led to Chris Boyd throwing his helmet, a 15-yard penalty and a subsequent push by special teams coach Frank Ross. On one of the last plays of the game, Ka’imi Fairbairn had his 35-yard field goal attempt blocked to cap off an all-around awful day for the normally stellar Texans. He was 2 for 4 on field goals and 0 for 1 on extra points, marking the first time he has missed a PAT and FG in the same game since Week 5, 2021, against the New England Patriots, according to NFL Research. In 2024, including the playoffs, Fairbairn has attempted 40 extra points, going 1 for 3 in two games at Arrowhead Stadium and 36 for 37 everywhere else. He has missed a kick – field goal or PAT – in each of his five career games at Arrowhead. In a close game most of the afternoon, the kicking game was big, and it came up short all too often for Houston.
  5. Punishment plays a role in the game’s narrative. By the end of the game, the Texans had eight accepted penalties for 82 yards against them. In contrast, the Chiefs were four for 29. It was two flags in particular that were drawn for hits on Mahomes that drew the Texans’ ire and social media outrage. On a third-and-8 Mahomes incompletion early in the game, Anderson was flagged on a suspect roughing the passer call. It led to a clear goal. In the third quarter, Mahomes flew this way and that on a scramble, seemingly luring defenders before slipping late, drawing an unnecessary roughness. He later hit Kelce for a TD on the drive. The calls were dubious – many no doubt think that’s a friendly description. The Chiefs are officially a dynasty, which means to most people outside of KC that everything is going their way. The biggest takeaway on Saturday was that the Chiefs continue to show that they can win the nail biters and that they can prevail in many ways. And the outrage will continue until the reigning kings of the NFL are conquered.

Next Gen Stats Insight for Texans-Chiefs: Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie lined up against Nico Collins on 22 of his 32 routes (68.8%), allowing two receptions for 42 yards across four targets with an average target separation of 1.0 yards.

NFL Research: Patrick Mahomes won his eighth straight playoff game, breaking a tie with Hall of Famers Troy Aikman, John Elway, Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw for the third-longest QB winning streak in the postseason. In doing so, he improved to 7-0 in the divisional round, the most wins without a loss in the divisional round in history.