Five keys for Kansas City Chiefs to defeat the Houston Texans

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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – JANUARY 12: Patrick Mahomes #15, Travis Kelce #87, and Tyreek Hill #10 of the Kansas City Chiefs exit the tunnel onto the field during player introductions prior to the AFC Divisional round playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts at Arrowhead Stadium on January 12, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

Focus the offense on your three stars

The Chiefs have three elite offensive playmakers in Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Tyreek Hill. They need to use them—a lot. I’m not saying they shouldn’t run the ball at all. Run it enough that the Houston defense has to account, but the Chiefs need to go out and attack the Texans with their passing game. Period.

The Chiefs have one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL in Mahomes. They have the most explosive receiver in the NFL in Hill. They have the best tight end in the NFL in Kelce. They’ve given up the third fewest sacks in the NFL. We just got done talking about how good Andy Reid is at coming up with a game plan when given extra time. He needs to make sure that game plan is all about Mahomes, Hill, and Kelce.

Yes, there are times when the defense can do things to take away the top options and Mahomes may have to take advantage of other guys that are open. That’s fine, but Reid has shown he can scheme guys the football when he wants to and this needs to be a time he does that. This isn’t the game to worry about a balanced offense. Let Damien Williams break some long runs after the defense starts selling out to stop the pass because of all the damage Mahomes and company are doing.

The Texans defense was ranked 31st in the NFL in passing yards allowed and 27th in passing touchdowns allowed with 33. This is a defense that the Chiefs can absolutely pick apart. They have the weapons to do it. They just have to go out and execute. The bottom line for me is that I would much rather put the ball in the hands of my best players than overthink things and try to catch the defense off guard by constantly getting the ball to the “supporting cast”.

The Chiefs can absolutely hurt the Texans with guys like Damien Williams, Sammy Watkins, and Mecole Hardman, but my argument is that you want those guys to do damage when the opposing defense has had to turn its full attention to your stars—not because you choose to feature them instead of your stars.

I believe in the Kansas City passing attack. Despite the passing numbers being down from last season, I still believe its one of the best units in the NFL. It’s playoff time and its time for them to establish their dominance throwing the football again.

Now let’s talk about what the defense needs to do in this game.

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