ClutchPoints
Can you believe it’s already Week 15? Neither can I. Each week in the NFL brings massive playoff implications and marquee matchups in a year where it seems like anybody can win any given game, and that was no different this week.
Most notably, the Texans put the Chiefs even further behind in the AFC playoff race on Sunday night with a 20-10 victory. The Chargers essentially sealed Kansas City’s fate with a win over the Eagles in overtime on Monday, meaning the NFL’s modern dynasty will very likely be watching the playoffs at home.
Elsewhere, the Rams and Seahawks continued to mow down opponents in the NFC, the Packers took back first place in the NFC North with a win over the Bears, the Colts lost the lead in the AFC South and quarterback Daniel Jones to an Achilles injury.
Who made the list of winners and losers from one of the more eventful Sundays of the year?
The Houston Texans are arguably the hottest team in football right now after beating the Chiefs 20-10 on Sunday night in Kansas City to get to 8-5 on the season. Now, it appears very likely that the Texans will be in the playoffs, and they may have ended the Chiefs’ hopes of joining them there with this win.
Houston’s defense has been the catalyst for this recent run, establishing itself as one of the best units in the NFL on either side of the ball. On Sunday, even Patrick Mahomes fell victim to DeMeco Ryans and company. The star Chiefs quarterback posted the worst EPA per dropback of his career at minus-0.54, the worst completion percentage of his career at 42.9% and the worst passer rating of his career at 19.8, per ESPN’s Ben Solak.
The Texans make plays at all three levels, combining arguably the best pass-rushing duo in the league with an elite secondary that gets to the football on a frequent basis. In recent weeks, the Texans have shut down Mahomes, Josh Allen, and an explosive Colts team as a part of a five-game winning streak that doesn’t look like it’s coming to an end anytime soon.
On the other side of Sunday night’s result is the likely end of the Chiefs dynasty, or at least this iteration of it. Kansas City’s efficiency has been solid all season, but it has always felt like something was just a bit off.
That was never more true than in this game, when the Chiefs seemed to always have something go wrong on the offensive side. Fill-in left tackle Wanya Morris left with a season-ending injury on the first play of the game, and Kansas City struggled with Houston’s pass rush all night. When it wasn’t the offensive line letting the Chiefs down, it was the receivers with a handful of back-breaking drops. When it wasn’t that, it was a bizarre fourth-down decision...
