Patrick Mahomes on what makes this season different than previous NFL playoff runs
Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes explains how he’s preparing for the playoffs, and how his Doritos commercial is a nod to his Texas upbringing.
The Kansas City Chiefs are knocking on the door of a seventh consecutive AFC championship game while the Houston Texans look for a major upset to open up the NFL playoff divisional round.
The Texans defense forced Chargers QB Justin Herbert into four interceptions in the wild-card round, surpassing the amount of picks he threw all season for Los Angeles. That could bode well for a Texans defensive unit facing the intimidating offense of the Chiefs.
But, the intimidating label might be in reputation only this season. Patrick Mahomes is coming off a down season by Mahomes standards, as the Chiefs’ offense rested comfortably in the middle of the pack throughout the 2024 season. Some of that might be due to injury: With Rashee Rice out for the season and Hollywood Brown making his return late, the Chiefs have leaned on Steve Spagnuolo’s defense more than their traditional high-powered offensive attack.
C.J. Stroud burst onto the scene in 2024, but it’s been something of a sophomore slump for the second-year passer. Stroud threw a touchdown and an interception in the Texans’ win over the Chargers, while Joe Mixon toted the rock for 106 yards over 25 carries. With a depleted passing attack, the Texans have their work cut out for them versus the Chiefs’ D.
The Texans look for more than a bit of revenge for their December loss to the Chiefs, while Kansas City looks to keep their playoff win streak rolling on Saturday. USA TODAY Sports will provide live updates, highlights and more from the Chiefs-Texans divisional round matchup below. All times are Eastern.
Despite scoring just six points, the Texans had a good half against the Chiefs. C.J. Stroud, like Mahomes, has been a threat both through the air and on the ground. He has 134 total yards but will need to take fewer sacks after seeing several drives derailed by big losses in the first half.
It would also behoove the Texans to get the ball into Nico Collins and Dalton Schultz’s hands more. The two combined for just three catches in the first half. One will likely need to break another big play for Houston to beat Kansas City.
Below is a look at the first-half stats for the Texans against the Chiefs:
- C.J. Stroud: 6-of-10 passing, 102 yards, 3 carries, 32 yards
- Joe Mixon: 11 carries, 46 yards, 1 catch, 6 yards
- John Metchie: 2 catches, 35 yards
- Dalton Schultz: 1 catch, 34 yards
- Nico Collins: 2 catches, 27 yards
- Will Anderson: 3 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack
The Chiefs played well in the first half despite being unable to generate much on the ground. Patrick Mahomes leads the team in rushing yards with 14, as Isiah Pacheco continues to struggle to return to form from his leg injury.
The good news is that Travis Kelce and Xavier Worthy are proving to be two high-quality weapons for the Chiefs, and that should give Mahomes the ammunition needed to keep winning through the air.
Below is a look at the first-half stats for the Chiefs against the Texans:
- Patrick Mahomes: 7-of-13 passing, 114 yards, 2 carries, 14 yards
- Kareem Hunt: 2 carries, 5 yards, 1 TD
- Travis Kelce: 2 catches, 72 yards
- Xavier Worthy: 3 catches, 36 yards, 1 carry, -8 yards
- Chris Jones: 2 tackles, 1 sack
- Nikko Remigio: 63-yard kick return
Kansas City got off to a slow start after the bye week, as is customary in the NFL, but the Chiefs were ultimately able to snap out of it to take a seven-point lead into the halftime locker room.
The Chiefs’ lead has been bolstered largely by the team’s ability to win the special teams battle. Return man Nikko Remigio set Kansas City up for a field goal on its opening drive after a 63-yard return while Ka’imi Fairbairn went just 2-of-3 on field goals for the Texans. His 55-yard miss set the Chiefs up for the lone touchdown of the first half, which went to Kareem Hunt.
Despite this, the Texans are outgaining the Chiefs 174-123 while C.J. Stroud has gone blow-for-blow with Patrick Mahomes throughout the contest. The Texans will get the ball to start the second half and if they can finally get into the end-zone, they will have a chance to challenge the Chiefs in what has been a tightly contested game thus far.
Houston was moving the ball well in the two-minute drill after a 24-yard catch by John Metchie but had to settle for a field goal attempt after C.J. Stroud was sacked and the team was flagged for a 10-yard holding penalty.
Fairbairn just snuck the 48-yard attempt inside the right upright after missing from 55 yards away. That cut Kansas City’s lead to 13-6 with 16 seconds left in the half.Â
Houston gets the ball first to open the second half, so scoring on its final possession of the half was paramount.
After Xavier Worthy nearly got into the end-zone on a tricky play from Andy Reid, the Chiefs handed the ball to Kareem Hunt to finish the job. Hunt plunged in for the easy score to give Kansas City a 10-point lead with 4:36 left in the first half.
After Hollywood Brown failed to bring in a deep shot following Fairbairn’s missed field goa, Patrick Mahomes found Kelce wide open over the middle of the field. Kelce rumbled down the field for a gain for 49 yards and set the Chiefs up with a goal-to-go opportunity.
Fairbairn was one of the best kickers during the NFL regular season, but with a strong wind blowing left to right in Kansas City, he couldn’t make his field goal attempt from 55 yards. It took a wild turn to the right and didn’t land anywhere close to the uprights.
That will give the Chiefs great field position as they look to expand upon their 6-3 lead over the Texans.
NFL quarterbacks tend to run more in the postseason. Stroud is showing a willingness to do that, running for 28 yards on third-and-10 to put the Texans in field goal range.
Anderson continues to be a game-wrecker for the Texans. He got around left tackle Joe Thuney to get quick pressure on Mahomes’ blind-side and bring the quarterback to the ground.
Matt Araiza’s punt was nearly downed inside the 5-yard line, but it rolled into the end-zone for a touchback. Robert Woods helped make that happen by getting a hand on Chiefs gunner Joshua Williams, who was nearly positioned to down the ball.
The Chiefs are holding an early lead over the Texans, but Houston is holding its own in its meeting with the AFC’s No. 1 seed early.
C.J. Stroud is off to a strong start, completing 4-of-7 passes for 67 yards while top playmakers Joe Mixon, Nico Collins and Dalton Schultz have all managed big plays in the first quarter. Houston’s defense is playing even better, however, as it has held the Chiefs to 44 yards despite allowing six points.
Patrick Mahomes is off to a slow start following a 24-day gap between starts. He completed 3-of-8 passes for 48 yards in the first quarter. He should get more into rhythm as the game continues.
The Texans were on the edge of field goal range and facing a third-and-8 when Jones beat second-round rookie tackle Blake Fisher around the edge to put pressure on Stroud. The All-Pro managed to drag down the second-year quarterback for a loss of 12.
That put the Texans behind the midfield stripe and forced a Tommy Townsend punt. It traveled 48 yards but was returned 10 by Nikko Remigio, netting Houston 38 yards of field position.
Stroud did not miss a snap after limping off the field with a knee injury. He spent a lot of time on the sideline with an “infrared heating wrap” around his banged-up knee while the Texans defense was on the field.
Stroud threw a pass on his first play back on the field. It went in the direction of Xavier Hutchinson and fell incomplete.
Mahomes is off to a slow start against the Texans. He has completed just 2-of-6 passes for 44 yards to start the day.
Of course, Mahomes’ completions were both for big chunks of yardage of Travis Kelce and Xavier Worthy. Even so, it appears the three-time Super Bowl champion is shaking off a bit of rust after having 24 days off between his final action in Week 17 and the Chiefs’ first playoff game.
Patrick Mahomes made a couple of longer completions to Travis Kelce and Xavier Worthy to get the Chiefs to a goal-to-go opportunity, but Kansas City once again stalled out in the red-zone. Will Anderson blew up a Worthy run on first-and-goal and the Chiefs couldn’t recover from that to get near the end-zone.
As a result, Butker came onto the field to attempt another field goal. The veteran was once again good from inside of 40 yards, making the 36-yarder with ease despite the cold conditions in Kansas City.
The Texans appeared to force a three-and-out against the Chiefs on Kansas City’s second drive of the game. However, Anderson was called for roughing Mahomes after hitting the quarterback as he released the ball.
The officials ruled Anderson had hit Mahomes high as a part of the play. ESPN’s rules analyst Russell Yurk didn’t agree with the flag, making it a controversial call in the early stages of the divisional round game.
Should C.J. Stroud miss any time after limping off the field, Davis Mills would enter the game.Â
Mills was a third-round pick in the 2021 NFL draft and has made 25 career starts. He has 5-19-1 career record while completing 62.6% of his passes for 6,167 yards, 35 touchdowns and 25 interceptions.
The Texans do not have a third quarterback on the active roster, so they would be down to Mills and an emergency option if Stroud couldn’t go.
The Texans moved the ball well down the field as they attempted to answer the Chiefs’ opening score. They accomplished that goal, as Fairbairn made a 30-yard field goal to tie the game.
C.J. Stroud performed well on the opening drive, completing 3-of-4 passes for 53 yards, including a 34-yard completion to Dalton Schultz. However, Stroud limped off the field after scrambling for a few yards at the end of the drive, so his status will need to be monitored moving forward.
Boyd is a veteran cornerback who is in his sixth NFL season. He was a seventh-round pick out of Texas by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2019 NFL draft and has also spent time with the Arizona Cardinals during his NFL career.
Boyd has been with the Texans since 2023 and has played on Houston’s special teams units in 2024. He was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the opening kickoff against the Chiefs and shoved special teams coordinator Frank Ross while coming off the field.
After Houston’s special teams unit put its defense in a bad position, DeMeco Ryans’ unit held serve. The Chiefs lost a yard on three plays before settling for a Butker field goal attempt.
Butker made the chip-shot to take a 3-0 lead just a minute into the AFC divisional round matchup. Still, holding the Chiefs to three has to feel like a win for the Texans after Remigio’s big return.
The Chiefs got off to a great start after receiving the opening kickoff. The team’s return man, Remigio, found a seam in the defense and nearly was able to break it for a touchdown.
However, Kris Boyd managed to tackle Remigio and force a fumble. A scrum ensued for the ball, but savvy veteran running back Perine was able to jump on it.
Boyd was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for throwing his helmet after the play, too. That gave Kansas City an instant red-zone possession.
What time is Chiefs vs. Texans?
- Start time: 4:30 p.m. ET (3:30 p.m. CT)
The Chiefs and Texans are scheduled for kickoff at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.
The Texans travel to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium for the matchup.
The Texans beat the Los Angeles Chargers to make it to the NFL’s divisional round. Houston’s defense force Justin Herbert into four interceptions in the contest after he had just three for the entire season in its 32-12 victory.
Houston’s win over the Chargers was just its second of the season over a team with a record of .500 or better.
Yes, Mahomes’ wife Brittany gave berth to the couple’s third child – a daughter, Golden Raye – during Kansas City’s playoff bye week. Sterling Mahomes and Patrick Mahomes III (a.k.a. Bronze) are the couple’s other two children.
The Chiefs have won four Super Bowls. They are as follows:
- Super Bowl 4
- Super Bowl 54
- Super Bowl 57
- Super Bowl 58
Three of those championships have come with Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes as the team’s coach and quarterback. They are gong for an unprecedented Super Bowl three-peat in 2025 and will need to win just three more games to accomplish that goal.
Chiefs vs. Texans TV channel
ESPN is the broadcast home of Chiefs vs. Texans. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will be on the call with Tracy Wolfson patrolling the sidelines.
There isn’t any snow in the forecast for the first divisional playoff game of 2025, but it is going to be cold. Here’s a look at the forecast for Saturday’s Chiefs-Texans game, according to Weather.com.
- High temperature: 25 degrees
- Low temperature: 8 degrees
- Chance of precipitation: 0%
- Wind: 10-20 mph
Yes, Swift is in attendance to watch Travis Kelce in action against the Texans. She was spotted coming into Arrowhead Stadium and figures to be in her usual suite as the Chiefs look to tie a record and win an eighth consecutive playoff game.
Yes, Mixon is set to play for the Texans in their divisional round game against the Chiefs. He failed to practice Thursday because of an ankle injury, but he is active for Saturday’s contest.
Mixon should be expected to handle a lion’s share of Houston’s running back snaps, with Dameon Pierce and Dare Ogunbowale spelling him as needed throughout the contest.
The Chiefs didn’t have many surprises on their inactives list for Sunday’s playoff game.
The most notable players not suiting up for their game against the Texans are pass rusher Josh Uche, who they acquired from the Patriots ahead of the trade deadline, and Wanya Morris, who was one of the many options the team tried at left tackle before settling on Joe Thuney as their top option.
Good news for the Texans: Joe Mixon, who was listed as “questionable” for Saturday’s game, is set to play. He will lead the Houston backfield while veteran defenders Jerry Hughes and Devin White represent the most recognizable inactives for the Texans.
Chiefs vs. Texans predictions, picks
Here’s how the USA TODAY Sports staff feels the Chiefs-Texans matchup will play out:
- Lorenzo Reyes: Chiefs 29, Texans 23
- Tyler Dragon: Chiefs 28, Texans 24
- Jordan Mendoza: Chiefs 27, Texans 23
- Live stream:Â Fubo | ESPN+
For cord cutters looking for a live stream for the matchup, you can turn to Fubo. Fubo carries NBC, as well as CBS, FOX, NFL Network and the ESPN family of networks, meaning you can catch NFL action through the remainder of the season.
ESPN+, the proprietary streaming service of ESPN, will also carry the game.
The Chiefs are favorites to defeat the Texans, according to the BetMGM NFL odds. Not interested in this game? Check out expert picks and best bets for every NFL game this week.
- Spread: Chiefs (-8.5)
- Moneyline: Chiefs (-500); Texans (+375)
- Over/under: 42
Here’s how the NFL playoff bracket stacks up entering the divisional round:
AFC
NFC