After suffering their first loss on the season, the Kansas City Chiefs will host the Houston Texans (3-2) at Arrowhead Stadium in Week 6.
The Chiefs are coming off their most disappointing effort in recent memory, losing a home primetime game to the Indianapolis Colts 19-13. K.C. was sloppy with penalties, dropped passes and turnovers. The defense continues to get gashed on the ground, surrendering the second-most rushing yards in the NFL.
As for the Texans, they’ll enter this matchup red-hot after blowing the Atlanta Falcons out 53-32. Houston amassed a whopping 592 total yards and scored in each phase of the game. The offense has had a mixed bag of results thus far, however, being held under 14 points twice this season.
As we near midseason, the stakes are getting higher. Another loss for the Chiefs could put a damper on their goal of being the No. 1 seed in the AFC for a second straight season. With a Thursday night game looming after this matchup, the Chiefs have to refocus and bounce back with a win.
Let’s take a deeper look at the Texans.
CHIEFS-TEXANS HISTORY
The Chiefs lead the all-time series over the Texans with a 6-4 record. Their most recent matchup was in 2017, when K.C. beat Houston 42-34.
via the NFL’s official YouTube channel
The Chiefs dominated, with a late surge from the Texans to make the final score appear more competitive than the game actually was. This was one of quarterback Alex Smith’s best games as a Chief; he threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns.
TEXANS’ KEY ADDITIONS
S Tashaun Gipson
RB Carlos Hyde
CB Bradley Roby
TE Darren Fells
QB A.J. McCarron
TEXANS’ KEY SUBTRACTIONS
S Tyrann Mathieu
CB Kareem Jackson
WR Demaryius Thomas
RB Alfred Blue
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TEXANS’ COACHING/SCHEMES
Bill O’Brien is in his sixth season as Houston coach. He has a career 42-38 regular-season record, including three AFC South division titles and a 1-3 postseason record. O’Brien also serves as the team’s offensive play-caller.
Offensive scheme
After six seasons as a tight ends and offensive quality control coach, Tim Kelly was promoted by O’Brien to offensive coordinator. O’Brien comes from the Bill Belichick coaching tree and together with Kelly still uses the same system he used during his time with the New England Patriots.
O’Brien’s system gives the quarterback a lot of responsibility and power. There are many pre-snap reads to be made, including sometimes calling the play after reading the defense rather than it being predetermined.
Traditionally O’Brien loves two-tight-end sets. Texans receivers often run option routes, much like the Patriots’ receivers. With all the freedom the players have pre-snap, confusion is a concern. O’Brien’s system demands high-IQ players who trust each other to make the correct decisions.
With quarterback Deshaun Watson at the helm, O’Brien has added a read-option aspect to the offense that he wasn’t able to use in previous years. Defenses have to respect Watson’s ability to run the ball which opens things up for the Texan running backs.
Watson’s running ability also opens things up for the pass-catchers. Defenses are having to spy him which leaves one less pass defender. Anytime Watson leaves the pocket on his own or by design it tends to freeze defenders due to the fear of him taking off, leaving them vulnerable down the field.
Receivers DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller complement each other well. Hopkins is a do-it-all receiver who is a great possession receiver and can beat teams deep. Fuller is one of the fastest receivers in the league and one of the best deep threats around, also possessing great yard-after-catch ability.
Like it has for the last few seasons, the Texans’ offensive line has struggled in pass protection so far in 2019, surrendering the fifth-most sacks with 18. It has, however, done a good job with run blocking as Houston is 10th in the NFL in rushing yards.
Defensive scheme
Former Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel is in his sixth season with the Texans as defensive coordinator. As Chiefs fans remember, Crennel runs one of the more sophisticated 3-4 systems in the league. He has a very talented front seven, featuring three high-level players who can play multiple positions.
We all know about three-time Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt, who does everything well and lines up everywhere. Not to be overlooked, however, are linebackers Whitney Mercilus and Benardrick McKinney. Mercilus already has five sacks this season and is one of the best edge-setters in the league.
McKinney is quietly one of the best middle linebackers in the NFL, recording 90 or more tackles in three of his four seasons. The former Pro Bowler is excellent in coverage as well, recording seven passes defended and an interception in 2018.
The Texans’ front seven players aren’t the only flexible players they have on defense. Their cornerbacks can play on the outside, in the slot or safety and play all three well. Cornerback Johnathan Joseph is a savvy veteran who is still doing a solid job in his 14th season.
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TEXANS’ KEY PLAYERS
QB Deshaun Watson
Now in his third season, Watson has emerged as one of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL. He and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will be forever linked because Mahomes was drafted just two spots ahead of Watson in 2017. It’s been speculated that K.C. had serious interest in Watson and likewise with Houston and Mahomes.
Watson was a Pro Bowl selection last season and has won multiple AFC Offensive Player of the Week awards, including this weeks. He is a dual threat with deceptive play-action fakes who can take off and run on any given play. He has developed into an elite passer as well, with 11 touchdown passes, one interception and a 115.9 passer rating.
RB Carlos Hyde
After looking underwhelming during training camp and preseason, the Chiefs traded Hyde to Houston for offensive lineman Martinas Rankin. Hyde has had a resurgence, rushing for 310 yards so far on the season, the 14th-most in the NFL. He is a bruising runner who does not go down easily.
WR DeAndre Hopkins
Hopkins is getting a good volume of target this season but isn’t quite producing like he has the last few years in terms of receiving yards and touchdowns. He ranks 25th in receiving yards and has just two touchdowns on the season.
Some of it has to do with it still being relatively early in the season, and some has to do with the emergence of Will Fuller V. Hopkins is still in the prime of his career and is a threat to wreck any game.
WR Will Fuller V
Fuller is having a breakout season, ranking 11th in the NFL in receiving yards. He had a monster game last week against the Falcons with 14 receptions for 217 yards and three touchdowns. Fuller struggled with drops early in his career but appears to have overcome that. He could be becoming one of the most complete receivers in the league.
DE J.J. Watt
This is an obvious one. Watt is probably already a Hall of Fame player and he is the leader of the Texans defense. He’s off to a good start in 2019 with for sacks and a forced fumble. Watt has been named a Pro Bowler and an All-Pro five times, and has won Defensive Player of the Year three times.
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KEY MATCHUPS
Chiefs offensive line vs. Texans front seven
The Chiefs offensive line has been downright awful the last couple of weeks. You could argue it was the biggest factor in the loss to the Colts last week. It is creating little to no room for the running game and has resulted in Mahomes being sacked eight times in the last two weeks.
Things won’t get any easier with the Texans front seven. Houston ranks ninth in sacks and 12th in run defense. The offensive line for the Chiefs has to play more physically and get more of a push, especially with Mahomes nursing a high ankle sprain.
Chiefs front seven vs. Texans offensive line
The opposite of our previous key matchup, the Chiefs front seven has been gashed all season, ranking 20th in sacks and 31st in run defense. To make matters worse, K.C. will be without second-team All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones and Xavier Williams in this game.
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will need to find creative ways to get pressure on Watson and to fill gaps against the runs. The Texans’ offensive line has struggled in pass protection, so there’s potential to exploit that for Spagnuolo.
CB Bashaud Breeland vs. DeAndre Hopkins/Will Fuller
Breeland has largely been the best cornerback for the Chiefs this season, but he had a very rough outing last week against the Colts. He was penalized four times for 68 yards and was burned by receiver T.Y. Hilton on multiple occasions. The Chiefs will need Breeland to bounce back this week against one of the best receiver tandems in the NFL.
OVERVIEW
It will be important for the Chiefs to bounce back with a win over the Texans this week. Dropping to 4-2 and having to turn around and play on a short week could put them in dangerous territory. K.C. has to keep pace with Patriots if it wants to be the No. 1 seed come playoff time.
Teams are following a blueprint to slow down the Chiefs offense by playing man-to-man and dropping seven defenders in coverage. They can do this because the Chiefs have been without receiver Tyreek Hill and were without Sammy Watkins last week. A four-man rush is all teams have needed given the Chiefs’ offensive line woes.
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