Playoff-bound Chiefs stick to plan, turn around season

But the Chief’s defense came up big in the end and helped KC hold on for the 23-17 victory.

Kansas City got the ball back on the free kick and got back in synch on offense.

Kansas City is one of the hottest teams in the National Football League at the moment, but their weaknesses play into Houston’s strengths. Ford has been replacing Houston since Week 12 so he has some experience under his belt if he does play.

The Chiefs beat the Texans 27-20 on September 13 in Houston, their only victory before they lost five straight games to seemingly ruin their season.

The limited snaps were by design for Hali, who missed Week 16 after undergoing surgery to fix his right thumb and has dealt with a knee swelling throughout the season.

“We didn’t win this game but there was no lack of determination or grit”, Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said. But it wasn’t enough to overtake the Denver Broncos in the AFC West since they also won. You can see how the Texans and Chiefs fare in my playoffs power rankings here.

“Clearly when you’re 1-5, you’re not thinking about the playoffs or Super Bowl”. However, Kansas City has a top quality defense and efficient offense and will be hoping to finally break the postseason duck.

Those first six games included five opponents that have since qualified for the playoffs, so it wasn’t as if they were losing to cellar-dwellers. The Texans defense ranks 7th in points allowed, 3rd in pass defense and 10th against the run.

And Kansas City hasn’t been almost as successful in low-scoring games as Houston.

“I’ve been on teams that would never have gotten this far after 1-5”, DeVito said. “He’ll probably be sore, but I think he’s going to be alright”, said head coach Andy Reid. These guys just work and keep grinding.

With their 11-5 record, the Chiefs earned No. 5 seed in the AFC and travel to face the Texans in Houston on wild-card weekend. Wide receiver Jeremy Maclin also left with a bruised hip when he landed hard while leaping for an overthrow, though he did return to the game after a visit to the locker room. They are a pretty humble crew. As a result, it would benefit Alex Smith to get the ball out as quickly as possible so that his wide receivers can catch the ball in as much open space as possible.

“They wanna play. You put somebody in front of them”. “That’s the way they practice”. But these guys just fight every day.

Even without running back Jamaal Charles, out for the season with a knee injury, and linebacker Justin Houston, still sidelined by an injured knee.

“Not at all”, Reid said of his concern. “The positive is he practiced a little bit last week, which is a good thing”.