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DJ Bien-Aime
Adam Teicher
Adam Teicher
ESPN Staff Writer
Covered Chiefs for 20 seasons for Kansas City Star
Joined ESPN in 2013
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chiefs are headed to the AFC Championship Game for the seventh straight season. They clinched their spot in this season’s conference title game by beating the Houston Texans 23-14 in the divisional round at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday, giving coach Andy Reid his 300th career win.
The Chiefs extended a one-point lead to 20-12 early in the fourth quarter on an 11-yard touchdown pass from a falling Patrick Mahomes to tight end Travis Kelce. Though the two have connected for touchdowns many times in the playoffs over the years, this was one of their more spectacular scores. Mahomes was hit and on his way to the ground, but he got the ball to Kelce before going down.
The Chiefs are 4-2 in their past six AFC Championship Games. Both losses came in overtime. The Chiefs will continue their quest for a third straight Super Bowl title against the winner of Sunday’s game between the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills. The Texans lost in the divisional round for the second straight season.
Describe the game in two words: Playoff Kelce. Similar to last season, when Kelce excelled in the postseason, he saved his best for the playoffs. The tight end carried the Chiefs’ passing game by catching seven passes for 117 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. It was his ninth career 100-yard playoff game, giving him the record. Kelce, 35, appeared energized after he and several key players rested in Week 18 because the Chiefs clinched the AFC’s top playoff seed and a wild-card bye with one week left in the regular season.
Most surprising performance: The Chiefs got nothing from wide receivers DeAndre Hopkins, Hollywood Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster. No catches. They were targeted four times.
Troubling trend: The Chiefs allowed pressure on Mahomes despite the Texans not blitzing often. The Texans pressured Mahomes five times on 13 passes in the first half and things didn’t get better. This has been a problem for much of the season for the Chiefs. Mahomes was sacked a career-high 36 times during the regular season. — Adam Teicher
Next game: AFC Championship Game vs. Bills or Ravens (6:30 p.m. ET, Jan. 26)
The Texans fell to 0-6 in the divisional round and failed to get to their first AFC Championship Game. They had opportunities to pull off the upset, but their mistakes were too much to overcome.
Among their miscues were multiple unnecessary roughness calls, eight total penalties, missed and blocked kicks, and quarterback C.J. Stroud getting sacked eight times.
In one of the most critical moments of the game, when they trailed 13-12 and the Chiefs were facing a third-and-goal from the 11, the defense couldn’t tackle Mahomes in time before he fired a touchdown to Kelce.
Eye-popping stat: Stroud faced a career-high 23 total pressures and was under pressure on 56% of his dropbacks. The pressures led to eight sacks, tying a career high set in Week 9 against the New York Jets.
QB breakdown: Stroud’s numbers weren’t great (245 passing yards and no touchdowns), but his performance passed the eye test. He used his legs to extend plays for completions and scramble for multiple first downs. The Texans went 10-for-17 on third downs and all but two of the conversions were because Stroud made a play. But the Texans had trouble overcoming wideouts Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell being out for the postseason with injuries.
Biggest hole in the game plan: Defending Kelce. The seven-time All-Pro torched the Texans’ defense, totaling 117 receiving yards on seven catches and a touchdown. Kelce had one game this season with at least 100 receiving yards. The last time he went over 101 yards was against the Ravens in the 2023 AFC Championship Game.
Describe the game in two words: Special mistakes. The special teams unit made critical mistakes that kept the Texans at a disadvantage for most of the game. On the game’s opening kickoff, Houston gave up a 63-yard kickoff return to Kansas City’s Nikko Remigio. That led to a Chiefs field goal and a heated moment when defensive back Kris Boyd shoved special teams coach Frank Ross on the sideline. Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn missed two field goals and an extra point try after Joe Mixon’s touchdown in the third quarter that would have tied the score at 13. — DJ Bien-Aime
