The Kansas City Chiefs will look to avoid a losing streak as they host the Houston Texans on Sunday.
This will be a battle of two very explosive offenses. The Chiefs, unfortunately, are very banged up right now, while the Texans are red hot after putting up 53 points on the Atlanta Falcons last week. K.C. can’t afford any more injuries. They’ll have a quick turn around after this game and play on Thursday Night Football.
Here are two Chiefs players, one on each side of the ball, to keep an eye on against Houston.
QB Patrick Mahomes
Mahomes is currently facing the most adversity of his young career. He’s been fighting through an ankle sprain since Week 1, limiting his mobility and unique talent to create plays when they have broken down. He’s also been without several key starters on offense, including left tackle Eric Fisher and receiver Tyreek Hill, both Pro Bowl players.
In addition to being without Fisher, the rest of the Chiefs’ offensive line hasn’t stepped up. They are having a hard time keeping Mahomes upright. There have also been timing issues with his receivers, some of whom don’t usually see the field as often as they are now.
Despite all of this, Mahomes still leads the NFL in passing yards and has yet to throw an interception this season. Fair or not, the Chiefs will ask him to do even more until they get back to full health. He’ll have to find a way to keep up with the high powered Texans offense while playing with more backups than ideal.
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S Tyrann Mathieu
Mathieu is starting to get comfortable in the Chiefs’ defense and is making big plays. Last week against the Indianapolis Colts he snagged a huge interception as the Colts were in the red zone threatening to score. Later in the game, he blew up a toss sweep running play which forced Indy to settle for a field goal.
This week Mathieu will face his former team in the Texans. His knowledge of their scheme and play-caller will be extremely valuable. He should be motivated to play against the team that didn’t re-sign him and downplayed his impact. With all the struggles K.C. has had defensively, it will continue to rely on Mathieu’s game-changing ability each week.
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