Four Takeaways from the Kansas City Chiefs' 23-14 Win Over the Houston Texans

The Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Houston Texans in the divisional round of the postseason, and there was plenty to take away from the playoff contest.

Jan 18, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) rolls away from Houston Texans linebacker Henry To'oTo'o (39) during the fourth quarter of a 2025 AFC divisional round game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

It wasn't pretty, but how many of them have been in the past handful of months? Despite not firing on all cylinders, the Kansas City Chiefs still managed to take care of business against a conference opponent.

The Houston Texans came into town and gave the back-to-back champions a test but after four quarters, the home team prevailed with a 23-14 victory. The win gives Andy Reid's team another triumph in the divisional round, meaning they'll head back to the AFC championship game for a whopping seventh year in a row.

With that in mind, here are four takeaways from Saturday's game.

The Chiefs' red zone woes crept up early – rust on offense, or something else?

It's safe to say the 2024-25 regular season wasn't particularly kind to Kansas City when it came to red zone execution on offense. Their 53.8% touchdown conversion rate in those scenarios was tied with the Indianapolis Colts for 22nd in the sport. Certain stretches of play left many to believe things would improve – Christmas Day's 4-for-5 performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers comes to mind – which certainly wasn't the case early in Saturday's game.  

The Chiefs' first two possessions saw them settle for field goals despite having inspiring setups for big-time points. The opening drive, specifically, featured a 63-yard kickoff return only for the offense to fail three times in a row. On the next try, an end-around to Xavier Worthy got blown up and consecutive screen plays fell short. Six plays for minus-11 yards didn't help things, even if it didn't ultimately come back to bite the champs. It's hard to blame the time off for this, although many did so in the initial stages of the divisional round. Poor execution and play-calling decisions should get more blame for a slow start, in this writer's opinion.

Steve Spagnuolo's defense, while imperfect, was solid in the first half

If you've been following along here at Kansas City Chiefs On SI, you've probably seen a particular stat about Steve Spagnuolo's defense. From Weeks 8-14 without cornerback Jaylen Watson, it ranked 27th in EPA/play surrendered and 29th in dropback EPA/play. The Chiefs seemed lost without their second-best cornerback, only to rebound in time to close out the year (excluding Week 18) in surprisingly impressive fashion. With Watson activated from injured reserve and defensive tackle Chris Jones back from a calf injury, a solid playoff performance was expected. That's what was delivered in the opening two frames on Saturday.

Don't get it twisted: Houston did find some success early on. In fact, they outperformed Kansas City in the first half on third down (50% versus 40%) and on a per-play basis (5.8 yards to 5.1). With that said, quarterback C.J. Stroud was limited to 0.1 EPA/play on average and the Chiefs held Nico Collins to just 27 receiving yards. The Texans mustered only six points and thanks to a Charles Omenihu sack on third down, their third kick opportunity ended up being short. It's well-known how pedestrian the Bobby Slowik-led offense has been this year, but the Chiefs deserve credit for stepping up when needed.

The tables turned for the first (and longest) back-and-forth of the second half

For as decent as the defense was in the first half, it couldn't have been much worse to kick off half No. 2. Coming out of the break, the Texans methodically drove down the field for 15 plays and 82 yards while taking a staggering 10:24 off the clock. Not only did this keep the Kansas City offense off the field, but it wore down Spagnuolo's crew. Joe Mixon got whatever he wanted, toting the ball six times for 38 yards and a score. Stroud went 5-for-5 with 50 passing yards and 11 rushing yards. Houston overcame penalties and disadvantageous third-down situations to bring the game to within one point.

Then the Chiefs took possession. Answering with a 13-play, 81-yard, 7:44 drive of their own, the reigning Super Bowl winners flashed their championship DNA. Running back Kareem Hunt picked up a fourth-and-1, Mahomes connected to tight end Travis Kelce multiple times and the latter reminded the league of what he's still capable of. Those two series made up a big chunk of the final two frames and, overall, they ended up encapsulating the game. Even when the Texans seemed to get going, the Chiefs had an answer.

In the end, the better team advances to yet another AFC title game

The aforementioned defense came alive in the fourth quarter, just in time to preserve a win. Spagnuolo got in his proverbial bag of tricks and schemed up some great blitzes to end one drive, then cornerback Trent McDuffie helped sniff out another. Those possessions ended in a turnover on downs and a punt, sequentially. Despite a three-and-out on offense early, Hunt assisted in salting the game away as the fourth quarter waned. Harrison Butker's field goal wound up being enough to get the job done, especially considering a huge stand on defense around the two-minute warning.

Since Mahomes became the full-time starting quarterback, all the Chiefs have known is at worst having their season end in overtime of the AFC championship game. Mahomes and Co. in the divisional round are inevitable. While it's unclear what will happen next Sunday in terms of outcomes, the door is propped wide open for another intriguing finish. All that's left now is to figure out whether it'll be the Buffalo Bills or Baltimore Ravens coming to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Either way, it's going to be hard to bet against this group.

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