Posted on October 14, 2019, by Travis Pulver
The Houston Texans knew they had a tough one on their hands traveling to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs. But thanks to a division foe, the Indianapolis Colts, they had a great blueprint for how to beat them.
Of course, running the ball as well as the Colts did last week against the Chiefs is easier said than done. But in doing so, the Colts held the ball for over 37 minutes. As great as he is, Patrick Mahomes can’t score from the sideline.
As well as that plan worked for the Colts, the Texans opted to follow suit this week when they faced the Chiefs at Arrowhead. While the game got off to a bit of a rough start for Houston (they fell behind 17-3 in the first quarter), the Texans bounced back and scored 20 unanswered points to take the lead before halftime, 23-17.
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But the Chiefs were not going to give up without a fight, though. On their opening drive of the second quarter, they retook the lead, 24-23, with a 10-play, 64-yard touchdown drive. However, the Texans just wouldn’t go away.
A little more than midway through the fourth quarter, Deshaun Watson capped off a 12-play, 93-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown dash. A successful two-point conversion pushed the lead to seven, 31-24. However, the worst part for the Chiefs was how much time the drive took, 8:32.
With right around six minutes left in the game, the Chiefs needed Mahomes to work some of his magic on the next drive. But the Houston defense forced a quick three, and the Chiefs never saw the ball again. Houston managed to grind away the final five minutes of the fourth to preserve the upset, 31-24.
Watson followed up his 400+ yard, five-touchdown game against the Falcons with a less impressive outing, but a solid one nonetheless (30-42 for 280 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions).
But the star of the show was the Texans running game. Carlos Hyde (116 yards), Duke Johnson (34 yards), and Watson (42yards) combined for 192 yards and three touchdowns on 41 carries. In the process, they helped the Texans hold the ball for early 40 minutes.
As good as Houston’s offense was, the defense deserves a ton of credit as well. They only gave up points on one of the offense’s three turnovers. Tashaun Gipson’s second-quarter interception in the endzone was the first pick of the season for Mahomes.
A sack on Mahomes following Watson’s first interception led to a fumble recovered by the Houston defense. On the next play, Watson scored his first of two rushing touchdowns on the day.
Following the game, head coach Bill O’Brien made a point to put the win in perspective, via ESPN:
“We just had a really good win against a good team, but we’re 4-2 and 4-2 gets you nowhere.”
Maybe he’ll be a little more positive next week if his Texans can record a win over their division rivals, the Colts, in Indianapolis.