Chiefs-Texans: The High Noon Lowdown

Laddie Morse

Well, the Kansas City Chiefs have done it again. Done what? Not only did they win this game in Overtime, but they did it in horrible fashion. The perfection of “Winning Ugly?” You betcha. They just as easily could have lost this game — like a lot of their other games — but instead they came out on top, 30-to-24, mostly due to a fumble recovery immediately followed by a 24-yard TD run by RB Jerick McKinnon.

Patrick Mahomes

On a day when Patrick Mahomes completed 36-of-41 passes (an 87% completion percentage) for 336 yards, two TDs, and a 117.1 passer rating, this win didn’t have much to do with his play, as this game was once again a struggle from start to finish. Perhaps we Chiefs fans have become too complacent about Patrick Mahomes performances, but that’s not really the issue here. The issue is the Chiefs bad performance. Yes, they are 11-and-3 and just locked down their 7th AFC West championship in a row, but otherwise, this so-called win over the 1-12-and-1 Houston Texans doesn’t feel like a game worth celebrating.

However, we should never stop celebrating the fact that we have Patrick Mahomes behind center. SI.com’s Jordan Foote had this to say about Mahomes performance on Sunday:

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“Entering Sunday’s play, Mahomes led the league in passing yards and touchdowns, as well as QBR. A 336-yard, two-touchdown outing in Houston helps his case for the NFL’s most prestigious individual award, as does a critical fourth-quarter touchdown run that gave the team the lead (before it was ultimately squandered). In a year filled with MVP-level moments from Mahomes, his entire game against the Texans was magical.”

First Half

The Chiefs once again won the opening coin toss and elected to defer which is their usual ritual (since it gives them the chance to start the second half by possessing the ball first). The Texans cooperated by going 4-and-out then Punting on their first drive followed by a 3-and-out on their second drive followed by another Punt. The problem for K.C. was that the Houston defense stopped them on their first two drives as well, then drove 80 yards on an 11 play drive for a TD.

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The Chiefs followed that up with their own 7-play drive for a TD, a pass to Jerick McKinnon.

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The Texans Punted on their next drive, K.C. then fumbled — by rookie Isiah Pacheco — which the Texans recovered, then it only took two plays for them to score another TD.

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That made the score, Texans 14, Chiefs 7.

Next, the Chiefs Punted and the Texans followed suit, then K.C. scored on a 13-play drive when Patrick Mahomes hit Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the end zone for 6. However, the usually reliable Field Goal Kicker, Harrison Butker missed the extra point making it — Texans 14 and the Chiefs 13 at Halftime.

Second Half

As planned by Andy Reid, the Chiefs took the second half kickoff and drove 65 yards on ten plays and instead of scoring a TD, kicked a 27 yard Field Goal (by Harrison Butker).

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Next, the Texans Punted after 3-plays, and then K.C. Fumbled again after 6, handing the ball back to the Texans, where they took over at the Houston 36 yard line. This was an exceptionally long play with penalties sorted out then declined after the Texans HC Lovie Smith threw a red flag to protest whether or not JuJu Smith-Schuster had caught the ball. In the end, he actually fumbled it away after catching it, and the Texans took over at their own 36. Seven (7) plays and four penalties later, the Texans scored again on a 3rd down and Goal from the 12 yard line when Houston was previously 1-for-41 on 3rd and goal plays this year. In any event, they scored on a pass play over the middle making the score: Texans 21, Chiefs 16.

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Next, K.C. drove the distance of the field and on 2nd and Goal play from the Houston 5 yard line, Mahomes darted to his left and held the ball over the goal line as he scampered through. Mahomes then hit Jerick McKinnon in the end zone on a two point conversion. That made the scored: Chiefs 24, Texans 21.

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Next, Houston drove on 15 plays and kicked a Field Goal to tie it up. Chiefs 24, Texans 24.

Overtime

K.C. won the toss which is always good new but in an Overtime game it’s especially good news. Even so, the Chiefs drove for only 7 plays before having to Punt. After Punting the ball down to the Houston 13 yard line, the Texans set up shop making us all very nervous because the Chiefs defense was the opposite of being on a roll. However, the Texans QB Davis Mills fumbled the ball away which was recovered by Chiefs LB Willie Gay. The very next play from scrimmage RB Jerick McKinnon darted through the line and ran it in for the go ahead, winning, touchdown.

Final: Chiefs 30, Texans 24.

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Rough-erees

This game seemed out of hand from a referee-ing stand point. Was it rough going most of the game? Absolutely. Why? I’m not sure, but at one point it felt like the referees had been ordered to make sure the Chiefs lose. Maybe I’m crazy but… and… we’ll just leave it at that.

Dog of the Game

Harrison Butker

The Chiefs kicker, Harrison Butker not only missed an extra point in this game, but he also missed a 51-yard attempt which could have ended the game right there. It was suggested that the Chiefs make sure he has competition in camp next year. Sadly, I agree.

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Player of Note: Frank Clark

Looking back over the game tape, I noticed that Frank Clark forced that last fumble by Davis Mills (which Willie Gay recovered) that helped to set up the Chiefs for the game winning run by Jerick McKinnon. Clark was in on five (5) tackles, had a TFL, one Sack, and the forced fumble. We need Clark to be special, and sometimes that means, special at the right times.

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It’s also worth mentioning that Carlos Dunlap had two (2) PDs (Passes Defensed) — balls that he batted down — and that Chris Jones had zero stats in this game. His sickness must have truly compromised his health.

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Consecutive Games

Patrick Mahomes now has 31 games in a row in which he has thrown at least one touchdown pass. That places Mahomes in 10th place all time. He only has 24 more games to go to beat out Drew Brees for first place (Brees has 54 games straight with at least one TD pass). From KSHB.com come this:

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“In the entire history of the NFL, a quarterback has now thrown at least 35 touchdowns in a season 48 times. Kansas City Chiefs gun-slinger Patrick Mahomes has done it four times in his first five seasons as a starter, which is already tied for the third-most 35-plus touchdowns seasons in league history. Only Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, who are tied for the NFL record with six such seasons, have ever authored more seasons with at least 35 touchdowns.”

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Player of the Game

Patrick Mahomes

On a day when the rest of the team was not stellar, Mahomes was. Very. In fact, Jordan Foote from SI.com called him “Magical.” Magical works for me and if it wasn’t for his consistent play, K.C. in all likelihood would not have won this one. Mahomes now has 4,496 passing yards and need to only average 168 passing yards per game to reach the 5,000 yards passing in a season barrier. I’m betting on Patrick. Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt had this to say about Patrick Mahomes after the game:

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“Well, I think you can see that he’s maturing as a player. He came into the league as a remarkably mature young man, and the responsibility that he had coming right out of college was tremendous and he handled it well. His game has evolved as we’ve moved on in his career. Certainly, there were some question marks about the offense this year given the changes we had at the receiver position. I think he’s showed that he is the best quarterback in the National Football League and he’s been able to adapt his game to continue to win and put up very impressive numbers on a weekly basis.”

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Patrick Mahomes is so good, that it seems as if he is setting new records each week. Which… he is…

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Song of the Game

“You Can’t Always Get What You Want”

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Current AFC West Standings

z = Clinched Division Title

e = Eliminated from playoffs

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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