By Matt McMullen – Chiefs.com Reporter
The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Houston Texans, 27-19, behind a three-phase effort on Saturday that culminated in the Chiefs’ 14th win on the campaign.
Kansas City came away with points on five of its eight true offensive possessions while the defense took the ball away twice, marking one of the Chiefs’ top all-around performances of the year.
“All in all, I thought this was our best game offensively, defensively and special teams-wise [all together],” said Head Coach Andy Reid.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who played on Saturday despite suffering an ankle injury last week, completed 28-of-41 passes for 260 yards and a touchdown in the game while also rushing for 33 yards and a score. His rushing touchdown – a 15-yard scramble up the middle – took place on the Chiefs’ opening series of the game and completed a 11-play, 66-yard drive with points.
“I knew I could run. It was just the stopping that was going to be hard,” Mahomes said. “Once I got running, I saw the end zone and just tried to get up in the air and get in [there]…Just trying to play football at the end of the day.”
Mahomes’ touchdown had the Chiefs in front early, but Houston quickly responded with 10 unanswered points to claim the lead. Kansas City then answered with another impressive series, however, compiling a 13-play, 82-yard drive that ended with a 3-yard touchdown plunge by running back Kareem Hunt.
The drive included three conversions on third down, the first of which was a 20-yard completion to wide receiver Hollywood Brown that moved the chains on 3rd-and-7. Brown, who made his season-debut on Saturday after missing the first 14 games of the year with a shoulder injury, hauled in five passes for 45 yards, including a 12-yard reception on fourth down that kept the Chiefs’ opening scoring drive alive.
“I thought he did a great job,” Mahomes said. “He was a couple throws away from having a really, really big game. [It’s] just [a matter of] getting him in there, getting the football in his hands and getting [him to] where he can feel confident running through tackles and stuff like that. I thought he did a great job of that, and we’ll get him involved more and more as the season goes on.”
Brown’s efforts helped lead to Hunt’s go-ahead touchdown late in the second quarter, and while the Texans pulled within a point early in the third quarter, Kansas City never relinquished its lead throughout the remainder of the game.
The Chiefs added a field goal prior to halftime and later recorded a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive late in the third quarter that ended with an 8-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Xavier Worthy. The score was part of a big day for Worthy, who caught seven passes for 65 yards and a touchdown on the afternoon.
“It’s been a few games now where he can do all the things [he did on Saturday],” Reid said. “We feel good about that.”
Worthy’s touchdown, which completed a series in which the Chiefs gained yardage on all 10 of the drive’s plays, pushed Kansas City’s advantage to eight points as the fourth quarter got underway, and despite a Texans’ field goal that narrowed the deficit to five points with just under 12 minutes remaining, Houston didn’t score the rest of the game.
Kansas City answered with a field goal a possession later, and following a sack by cornerback Joshua Williams on third down that forced a Texans’ punt, the Chiefs managed to run out the rest of the clock offensively.
In terms of injuries, defensive lineman Chris Jones (calf strain), offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor (knee strain) and linebacker Jack Cochrane (fractured ankle) left Saturday’s game early.
The Chiefs will now quickly turn the page to a matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day.
