By: Isaiah Robinson
HOUSTON – The Houston Texans lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 31-51 in Sunday’s AFC Divisional Game, despite leading early by as much as 24 points.
Everything was going well for the Texans at first, taking an early 21-point lead in the first quarter, completely shutting down the Chiefs.
The Chiefs fumbled a punt return, had their own punt blocked for a score and committed several mistakes in becoming just the fourth home team in NFL history to trail 21-0 after the first quarter.
After the Texans stretched the lead to 24-0 early in the second quarter, Kansas City began to nip into their deficit with a quick touchdown drive.
Then, after a series of plays, Houston Texans’ Head Coach Bill O’Brien called for a fake punt–which will be debated for a while– at the Houston 31-yard line, which failed miserably, giving the Chiefs good field advantage and all the momentum needed to chip away at the Texans’ seemingly insurmountable lead.
The Chiefs mounted a comeback in the second quarter, scoring 28 unanswered points, taking the lead before halftime.
Two more touchdowns from the Chiefs put the Texans down 24-41 in the third quarter.
The Texans did score a touchdown in the third quarter, but still had a long way to go in order to take the lead they once comfortably had.
Chief’s quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, extended the lead to 31-48 early in the fourth quarter with a touchdown.
Kansas City would later add to their lead again with a field goal, making it a 31-51 beat down.
Mahomes threw three touchdown passes to tight end Travis Kelce in the second quarter, and his four total TD throws matched the playoff record set by the Redskins’ Doug Williams in the Super Bowl in January 1988.
Kelce became the first pass-catcher with three touchdowns, receiving in a single quarter in postseason history, and also became one of 16 players with three TDs total.
In the end, the Texans were unable to fight their way back and the Chiefs mounted the biggest comeback in team history.
