Four Things That Have to Change to Beat the Kansas City Chiefs
It's the second shot for the Texans and they must be better
The Houston Texans get their second crack at the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend. If they lose this one, their season is over. If the Texans win, they go where no Texans team has gone before: the AFC Championship.
It isn’t easy to beat the Chiefs. It is even harder to do it in cold weather in the playoffs.
The Texans weren’t close in the regular season, but they had a chance late to tie the game. If Houston wants to win, these four things need to change.
C.J. Stroud’s Efficiency
C.J. Stroud showed flashes of excellence and also had plays that boggle the mind in the loss to the Chiefs last month. One of the best drives of the season was the team’s initial touchdown drive. Stroud’s two interceptions were bad throws. He also ran out of bounds for a sack and took some sacks in this game while trying to do too much.
When Stroud takes what is there, like his foe Patrick Mahomes does, he is much better. Look at the success of the win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Efficiency, particularly after his improv play where he fumbled the snap, allowed excellence. Stroud needs to avoid making mistakes and use his legs to extend plays and make plays for the Texans to win.
Get Patrick Mahomes Down
The Texans were actually able to apply quite a bit of pressure on Mahomes in the first game, but they sacked him just once in that matchup. He was the 12th most-sacked quarterback in the regular season. Teams with far less impressive pass rushes amassed huge numbers of sacks against him.