5 winners and 5 losers from the Chiefs’ Week 14 loss to the Texans

We’re all losers after that game. A “Murphy’s law” season continues for your Kansas City Chiefs with a 20-10 loss to the Houston Texans in Week 14, and it’s the same stuff going wrong as always.

My submission in this week’s prediction post said it all (other than the correct outcome):

Sure… officiating has been terrible, but the defense couldn’t get off the field on third down, either. Still, what seems to really derail these games is when Kansas City’s playmakers can’t quite bring in a pass — or a big play is wiped out by a penalty. For the Chiefs to save their season, they’ll need tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Rashee Rice to make plays. While I expect Mahomes to deliver under pressure, I worry that this is a season where he won’t get enough help to make a run.

Injuries and stale offense have piled on to the recurring mix of penalties and drops we’ve come to loathe. At least the Chiefs’ defense came to play, until they were put in a bad spot one too many times. To no surprise, there weren’t many members of the offense in the “Winners” column this week.

Defensive lineman Chris Jones: This was a tremendous effort from Jones. He was relentless, disruptive and explosive off the line of scrimmage. Jones finished with 4 quarterback hits (including a sack), a batted pass, and a tackle-for-loss. He heard the criticism from last week and responded like a man possessed.

Defensive end George Karlaftis: With Jones playing well, Karlaftis was also better — and that’s no coincidence. This defense works when each player has a great pass-rushing effort, and doesn’t when either one of them is quiet. Furious George finished with five total tackles (one for loss), a sack and another quarterback hit.

Linebacker Nick Bolton: His limitations are still there, but Bolton continues to execute his job for this defense. Against the Texans, he had 12 tackles (two for loss) and one quarterback hit. He was everywhere, as usual, and they almost had one of their best defensive efforts of the season as a result.

Cornerback Nohl Williams: The defensive back rotation continues to be insane. Rookie cornerback Nohl Williams has been fantastic, but was only on the field this week due to the injury to star cornerback Trent McDuffie. Williams had two passes defended and put up a good fight in coverage. Can we please see him on the field for every defensive snap moving forward?

Left tackle Esa Pole: The undrafted rookie made his NFL debut after left tackle Wanya Morris was injured early on and earned praise: “He wasn’t perfect, but he was good enough,” said head coach Andy Reid in post-game.

Head Coach Andy Reid: I’m still not on the bandwagon to fire Reid, but I do think that Big Red has allowed this offense to get stale. The unit has the same problems it has had for seasons: too many penalties, too many drops, not enough depth and an ineffective running game; there are just not enough answers.

That’s on the coach. No amount of positive thoughts, “tonsil tickling”, or expressed good vibes can override the fact that this season will likely be a failure. The canned “we have to be better” statements have worn thin. It’s hard to see what is going to change at this point, but fans should prepare for major changes this offseason.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes: The two-time MVP is not to blame for the loss; in fact, he continues to be an elite quarterback this season despite everything around him.

There seemed to be a consensus among those watching “Sunday Night Football” that Mahomes did what he could, but his team let him down. I’m not going to argue that point — but then again, Mahomes set a new career high for consecutive incompletions (10) and tied his career high with three interceptions.

He’s a leader with transcendent talent who is largely responsible for this franchise’s success over the last seven years. He also hasn’t been able to finish close games this season. Both can be true. Mahomes can’t do it all himself, but it’s fair to expect him to elevate the team around him when conditions aren’t perfect. That didn’t happen enough against Houston or in 2025.

Wide receiver Rashee Rice: When you’re the team’s number one wide receiver, expectations are high. Prior to Week 14, Rice has put up number one-type stats, but against the Texans, his eight targets resulted in four catches for 34 yards. Even more disturbing was the trend of drops in key situations that began against the Dallas Cowboys. This week, Rice had some incredibly frustrating almost catches, including one on third down and two on fourth down in the second half.

Tight end Travis Kelce: While we’re talking about drops, we’ve got to talk about Kelce. With 3:44 left in the game, down seven points and backed up inside their own ten-yard line, it was go time for Kelce and Mahomes. The result? Practically a season-ending sequence of bobbling the ball, eventually leading to an interception. Houston took over with a short field and scored the go-ahead touchdown. It was the worst full game I can remember in Kelce’s storied career: five targets, one catch, eight yards in a backbreaking loss.

Kicker Harrison Butker: In the second quarter, he doinked an important field goal that could have changed the trajectory of the game. Butker is now 24th in the NFL in field goal percentage and 35th in extra-point percentage. He’s missed more kicks (8) than any other kicker who still employed. There is no margin for error in 2025, and the NFL’s highest-paid kicker has been coloring outside the lines all season. Butker’s contract has enough dead money to keep him for at least another season or two…

Please note: the labels “winners” and “losers” are not judgments of talent or character. They simply reflect single game performance. No disrespect is intended.