Arrowhead Pride
Kansas City moves on to the AFC Championship for the seventh straight season.
On Saturday afternoon, the Kansas City Chiefs took the first of three remaining steps to an unprecedented third consecutive Super Bowl victory with a 23-14 win over the Houston Texans on GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Kansas City has now qualified for its seventh straight AFC Championship, where it will host the winner of Sunday’s Divisional round contest between the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills. The conference champion will move on to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on Sunday, February 9.
Wide receiver Nikko Remigio opened the game with an electrifying 62-yard kickoff return that ended with a fumble that was recovered by running back Samaje Perine. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Houston’s Kris Boyd gave the Chiefs the ball at the Texans’ 13-yard line, but the offense couldn’t punch it in. Harrison Butker’s 32-yard field goal gave the Chiefs a 3-0 lead. Houston drove down the field, getting inside the red zone with long passes to wideout Nico Collins before the Kansas City defense finally forced a stop. Ka’imi Fairbairn kicked a 30-yard field goal to tie the game at 3-3.
The Chiefs’ next drive was DOA with an incomplete pass on third-and-8, but a roughing-the-passer penalty on Will Anderson Jr. kept the drive alive. Long passes to tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Xavier Worthy gave Kansas City a first-and-goal at the 8-yard line — but the Texans forced another stop. Butker’s 36-yard field goal gave the Chiefs a 6-3 lead.
Then on three consecutive drives, the teams drove past midfield before being shut down by third-down sacks. The first two ended in punts — and then on the third, Houston’s 55-yard field goal was wide right. On the next drive, Kelce’s 49-yard catch-and-run gave Kansas City a first-and-goal at the 6-yard line — and Kareem Hunt’s 1-yard touchdown run extended the Chiefs’ lead to 13-3 with four and a half minutes until halftime.
The Texans managed another drive that reached the red zone before stalling. Fairbain’s 48-yard field goal narrowed Kansas City’s halftime lead to 13-6.
Houston’s first drive of the third quarter consumed more than 10 minutes. The Texans converted four third downs on a 15-play drive (their longest of the season) that ended with Joe Mixon’s 13-yard touchdown run — but Fairbairn’s extra point missed, narrowing the score to 13-12. The Chiefs replied with a long drive of their own. After converting a fourth-and-1 just past midfield, Kelce grabbed another long pass to get inside the 10-yard line — and then as he was being tackled on a third-and-11, Mahome found Kelce in the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown that gave Kansas City a 20-12 lead.
Houston got past midfield on their next drive — but that was it. On fourth-and-10 at the Chiefs’ 40-yard line, George Karlaftis sacked C.J. Stroud to get a turnover on downs. But the Texans then forced a three-and-out to get the ball back....
