The Day After the Day After (plus a day): The Houston Texans’ season ends in Kansas City

The Day After the Day After...when the raw, immediate emotions from the aftermath of a game diminish into the realm of clarity and the proverbial (or literal) hangover no longer haunts the mind. With that, a review of the Divisional Round:

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Houston can actually run other than to the left? This season, the formula for success running saw Joe Mixon run/cut to the left side of the Houston Texans’ offensive line, where some combination of Tunsil/Green/Scruggs/Patterson/Howard could support, along with a TE/FB. If nothing else, that was the closing formula for the Texans this season. Yet, against Kansas City and their fearsome defense, the Texans actually found success in the running game going to the right. For the game, Houston logged 149 yards on 29 carries. Of those carries, 14 of those went to the right side for 115 yards. Granted, 42 of those yards were a result of Stroud scrambling to the right, but even still, most of Mixon’s carries went right, which definitely went against tendencies this season. For reference, the left side of line only mustered 24 yards on six carries. Interestingly enough, Dameon Pierce rushed to the left as much as Joe Mixon in this game (three each).

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Frank Ross’ worst game as Special Teams Coordinator: If there has been a constant for the Texans since 2021, it is that they will play quality special teams. You could even argue that Frank Ross is the best overall coordinator on the team (between himself, Matt Burke, Bobby Slowik). Or, at least you could until this game. It was as if the Texans secretly replaced Frank Ross with late-stage Joe Marciano. The game opened with a 63-yard kickoff return that became a 76-yard gain after a dumb personal foul penalty. Then, as to show up the Texans, the Chiefs subsequent kickoff landed short of the endzone, but bounced in the landing zone and into the endzone, forcing the Texans to take a touchback at the 20 yard line vs. the 30. The 10-yard difference might have been enough to prevent a TD on the opening drive. The kick coverage, which is normally a strength of the squad, allowed 131 yards on four returns, which did much to explain how Kansas City beat Houston, despite being outgained by over 100 yards in offense.

Then the place-kicking. Fairbairn had a game to forget. He badly shanked a 55-yard FG, a distance range (50 yards+) that he set NFL-season records at, then misses another third quarter extra point that could have tied the game, then the blocked FG at the end of the game to end any last hope. That block was more on the protection than Fairbairn, but all in all, a nightmare of a day. Yes, the seven points that Fairbairn left on the field did not ultimately matter in the margin, but the strategic direction of the game, especially the missed second quarter FG (that turned into a 10-point swing), and the missed PAT, really set Houston back.

All of that, and then Frank Ross and Kris Boyd (who replaced Laremy Tunsil as the player Andre Ware most wants to beatdown) made the highlight reel with Boyd shoving Ross, thinking he was celebrating a big play, only to realize that he caused a personal foul with the ill-timed helmet removal.

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The play that ended the Texans’ Season: In the fourth quarter, with the Chiefs up 20-12, and Houston, with 10:05 left in the game, faced a fourth and 10 at the KC 40. The two plays prior saw KC bring pressure up the middle that the offensive line could not handle, forcing two incompletions. The Arrowhead crowd, already one of the loudest in the US was full-on insane. Given the field position, it was not a bad idea to go for it on fourth down. HOWEVER, the set up was an unmitigated disaster for Houston. The huddle did not break until under nine seconds left on the play clock, and players scrambled to get into the correct formation. Stroud was frantic to try to get the snap off.

While the Texans didn’t want to waste a timeout, that was a needed call there. Either take the timeout or you take the five-yard delay of game and punt, relying on a strong defense to mitigate the Chiefs’ efforts. Unfortunately, the chaos and uncertainty of a rushed snap with no idea of a solid play led to a massive 16-yard sack. Yes, the Texans defense did hold to a three-and-out, but it flipped field position. Kansas City got a FG on the next drive, and at that point, it was all about the betting line. For a team that seemed to handle the Chiefs’ crowd far better than they did the Ravens the year prior, and for all the actual playoff experience, that was a massive coaching mistake, perhaps the worst in Ryans’ career.

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About Travis Kelce: At this point, most figure Travis Kelce is the straight man to his brother Jason Kelce on his podcast and Taylor Swift’s boy toy. Yet, even after 12 years, Travis Kelce is also known to play TE, and play it well. As effective as Houston was shutting down the K.C. wide-receivers (five total receptions for 45 yards), and the running game (not counting the bettor’s delight from Araiza, 21 rushes/68 yards), they somehow did not scheme for the best postseason TE in NFL history. Seven receptions for 117 yards and a what-the-[KITTEN] TD. On the 49-yard catch and run, he outran and outmaneuvered multiple Texans’ defenders. That might be the only flaw in the defensive scheme, but that is like saying that the Death Star only had that one little weakness in its design.

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FUN WITH NUMBERS

0:00: Amount of time the Houston Texans have led in the second half of all six of their Divisional Playoff games. Houston not only has never won a Divisional Round playoff game, they’ve never led for a single second in the second half of any of their games. When they trailed by one going into the fourth quarter (13-12), it was their best result in a divisional playoff game ever.

10: Consecutive losses for Houston-based NFL franchises in the Divisional Round. Not since 1979 has a Houston team won in the Divisional Round (17-14 over the Los Angeles Chargers). The Oilers, before the Titans corruption, went 0-4 in the Divisional Round after that. With the Saturday loss at Kansas City, the Texans fall to 0-6 in the Divisional Round. To make things even worse, Houston-based NFL franchises have gone 16 straight playoff trips without even making it to the conference championship. Dallas gets some well-deserved grief for their 0-13 streak since 1996, but don’t laugh too much if you are the city of Houston. Actually, the state of Texas has seen a combined 21 playoff trips end without a team in the conference game.

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GAME BALLS:

DE Will Anderson, Jr: If the Texans had a playoff MVP, Anderson might just get the nod. On this day, he logged two sacks on Mahomes to go along with four tackles and three TFLs. He terrorized the Chiefs’ tackles all game, and while he did pick up a roughing-the-passer penalty, it was a fairly ticky-tack call that might not get called outside of Arrowhead. Anderson finished with 3.5 sacks for the post-season and proved that he was worth the #3 overall pick in 2023.

RB Joe Mixon: 18 carries for 88 yards and a TD. Tough running from Mixon was needed and he delivered. That the game and play-calling got away from the running game in the end hurt, but he has little to be ashamed of in this game.

TO ALL OTHER NON-KANSAS CITY FANBASES: We welcomed all of the inputs and support y’all provided. Unfortunately, we could not deliver on the upset, close as we came. Still, thanks for participating. Perhaps another time.

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SHOULD BE FORCED TO ONLY EAT STALE KC-BASED PRODUCTS FOR THEIR BBQ MEALS FOR A FULL YEAR WHILE LISTENING TO STATE FARM ADS WITH PATRICK MAHOMES ON FULL REPEAT

PK Ka’imi Fairbairn: Sorry. Not the sole reason for the defeat, but a bad time for a bad game.

Offensive Tackle Blake Fisher: How a week makes a difference. From a game ball last week to getting blasted this week. The Chiefs got EIGHT sacks on Stroud and many came along the right side. Perhaps you could give it to the entire line in the fourth quarter, who somehow could not handle blitzes right up the middle. Few will miss OL coach Chris Strassuer’s leaving the team (announced Monday night).

The Refs: Enough said.

With that, the Houston Texans bid farewell to the 2024-25 season. Now comes the off-season, and while there is plenty to be optimistic about, there are plenty of areas for addressing for the Texans as the off-season commences.