The Kansas City Chiefs came into Week 16 with concerns about how quarterback Patrick Mahomes would look after suffering a “mild” high-ankle sprain in the team’s Week 15 win over the Cleveland Browns.
Mahomes quickly put those worries to bed in Kansas City’s 27-19 victory over the Houston Texans. He showed he was healthy by scrambling for 27 yards and a touchdown on two carries on Kansas City’s open drive and never looked back.
Mahomes finished the day going 28-of-41 for 260 yards and a touchdown. He connected well with Marquise “Hollywood” Brown (five catches, 45 yards) in his team debut while also continuing to see his chemistry with rookie Xavier Worthy (seven catches, 65 yards, one touchdown) grow.
As a result, the Chiefs now need to win just once more to clinch the AFC’s No. 1 seed. They can also clinch the top seed if the Buffalo Bills lose any of their final three games.
The Texans had a fighting chance in this one-score loss, and it appeared they had changed the momentum when C.J. Stroud hit Tank Dell for a 30-yard touchdown to cut the Chiefs’ lead to 17-16 early in the third quarter.
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However, Dell suffered a gruesome-looking knee injury on the play. He had to be carted off the field in an air cast, which left many Texans players emotional.
After the injury and delay, Ka’imi Fairbairn missed an extra point, which set the tone for the rest of the game. The Dell injury took the wind out Houston’s sails offensively and the team simply couldn’t overcome the loss of its No. 2 receiver across from Nico Collins. The Texans scored just three more points and dropped to 9-6, positioning the AFC South winner as the likely No. 4 seed in the AFC playoff picture.
USA TODAY Sports provided live updates, highlights and more from the Chiefs-Texans Saturday matchup below.
On the first play after the two-minute warning, Hunt runs up the middle for 13 yards. The Chiefs can kneel on it from here and earn their 14th win of the 2024 NFL season.
The Chiefs got a key sack of C.J. Stroud on a third-and-11 after Kansas City’s field goal drive. Joshua Williams came on a cornerback blitz and nobody picked him up, forcing the Texans to punt with just 3:41 left in regulation.
Houston has just two timeouts and the two-minute warning left to stop the clock. With a couple of first downs, the Chiefs may be able to run the clock out on this game.
The Chiefs re-extended their lead to eight points after Harrison Butker made a chip-shot, 27-yard field goal to cap off a 14-play, 6:33 drive.
The Texans got a much-needed stop on third-and-5 when Patrick Mahomes launched a pass toward Kelce in the back of the end-zone. Worthy flashed in front of the tight end, along with a defender, and went for the ball, assuming it was intended for him. The rookie couldn’t make the catch and denied Kelce a chance at grabbing it.
In fairness to Worthy, the defender may have been able to knock the ball down anyway, as Mahomes’ pass came in on a low trajectory. Either way, Kansas City leads 27-19 with 5:13 left in the fourth quarter.
The Texans had a golden opportunity in the red zone, but constant pressure from the Chiefs defense and a delay of game penalty pushed Houston to attempt a Ka’imi Fairbairn field goal. That pushed the Texans to within a touchdown, 24-19.
Xavier Worthy accounted for 46 yards of offense on Kansas City’s scoring drive, and he capped it off with a touchdown grab from the arm of Patrick Mahomes.
Mahomes is 21-of-31 passing for 190 yards and two touchdowns on the day as the Chiefs extend their lead to 24-16 with 2:42 left in the third quarter.
The Texans wide receiver was eventually taken off the field in a medical cart after his injury. The Texans would confirm that Dell suffered an injury to his left knee.
Play resumed at Arrowhead Stadium after Dell received several minutes of medical attention on the field. He was stretchered off in an air cast after getting hurt on the Texans’ touchdown after suffering a serious-looking knee injury.
The Texans were shaken up after the injury, with several players showing emotion in its wake. It isn’t clear if that had an impact on Fairbairn, but the veteran kicker missed his first extra point attempt of the season following the delay. As a result, the Chiefs still lead 17-16.
The NBC broadcast cut back to Arrowhead Stadium to show Dell still down and being tended to on the field, with a cart out of the locker room. The cameras then showed a clearly emotional Stroud, who was among the players gathered around Dell.
The good news for the Texans: C.J. Stroud hit Dell on a perfectly thrown 30-yard touchdown pass. The bad news: Dell was hit by his teammate while making the catch and suffered an apparent leg injury during the play.
Dell immediately reached for his leg after the play. The Texans medical staff immediately came out to tend to him on the field.
The Texans defense got off to a good start in the second half. They limited the Chiefs to five plays on their first drive before forcing Mahomes into a third-and-long. The quarterback tried to get the ball to Xavier Worthy, but Lassiter broke up the pass after undercutting the route.
Tank Dell had a nice return of Matt Araiza’s punt and that gave the Texans great starting field position around midfield.
The Chiefs’ mascot is a wolf known as KC Wolf. He was introduced in 1989 and “has been bringing energy and excitement, as well as laughs and smiles to audiences of all ages,” according to the team’s official website.
Houston’s offense has moved the ball well against Kansas City’s defense, but the team has been guilty of plenty of negative plays. That includes two interceptions and a few negative-yardage runs and screen pass efforts.
Below is a look at the Texans’ notable first-half stats:
Patrick Mahomes is spreading the ball around as usual in the Chiefs’ Week 16 game against the Texans, but it’s becoming clear that Hollywood Brown is going to be one of his favorite targets now that the veteran is back from an injured collarbone.
Below is a look at the Chiefs’ notable first-half stats:
The back-and-forth first half between the Chiefs and Texans came to an end after a C.J. Stroud Hail Mary attempt was knocked down at the goal line.
Kansas City has gotten a strong showing from Patrick Mahomes, who is showing no signs of the ankle injury he dealt with leading up to the Week 16 contest. He has completed 13-of-20 passes for 127 yards while adding a touchdown and 27 yards on the ground.
Meanwhile, Stroud has been shakier, making some big passing plays, including a 10-yard touchdown to Dalton Schultz, but has also tossed two interceptions.
The Chiefs are set to get the ball first after halftime. They scored 10 unanswered points to close the half.
After missing a 29-yard field goal on his lone attempt last week, Butker makes his first attempt in Week 16 from 44 yards away. That gives the Chiefs the lead with 19 seconds left in the half.
The Texans were facing a third-and-20 on the edge of field goal range when Stroud tried to force a pass amid pressure. The result? Stroud hit Trent McDuffie over the middle of the field, and that allowed Chiefs to get the ball back with just under a minute left in the half.
The Chiefs are back on top after an easy score for Hunt. The veteran back entered the game on a first-and-goal and patiently waited for the Chiefs’ interior offensive line to open a lane for him to the end-zone. It developed, he saw it and powered through the final yard to put the Chiefs up 14-10.
Kansas City’s go-ahead drive covered 82 yards and was 13 plays long. The Chiefs converted four third downs on the drive and will now look to protect a lead with 4:38 left until halftime.
No, Brown’s first name is still Marquise. He just prefers to go by his nickname “Hollywood,” which most broadcasts are now doing.
Brown grew up in Hollywood, Fla., which is how he earned the nickname. It lends itself well to him given his origins and his flashy, speedy style of play when healthy.
A strange play just unfolded in Saturday’s Chiefs vs. Texans game. Houston pressured Patrick Mahomes and appeared to force the quarterback to fumble. The Texans picked up the ball and brought it all the way to the end zone for a touchdown.
However, the play was later ruled an incomplete pass just before Derek Barnett was called for roughing the passer. As such, the Chiefs avoided a third-and-10 and took the ball across midfield while the Texans were denied a chance to go up by two scores.
Mahomes had been sacked 35 times entering Week 16. That is easily the most he has ever been sacked in a single season, seven more than his previous career high of 28 in 2021.
Stroud faced pressure from George Karlaftis on a first-and-goal from the 10-yard line but scrambled out to his right to create time to throw. Eventually, he found Schultz wide open in the middle of the field and lofted a pass to him for an easy completion.
The Kansas City crowd jeered the officials for choosing not to flag what it believed was a holding call against the Texans on Karlaftis. Ka’imi Fairbairn converted on the extra point to give the Texans a 10-7 lead.
Kansas City may be leading after 15 minutes, but Houston is driving and nearing scoring range. Nico Collins caught a 32-yard pass to close the quarter after winning quickly off the line of scrimmage and forcing the Chiefs defensive back to chase him down along the sidelines.
C.J. Stroud is 7-of-11 for 74 yards in the early goings of the game, though he did throw an interception on a first-drive overthrow. His counterpart, Patrick Mahomes, has gone an efficient 6-of-7 for 38 yards but also has run for 27 yards and a touchdown, showing that his injured ankle isn’t much of a concern at all.
The Texans were able to pressure and sack Mahomes on their second defensive drive, something they couldn’t do their first time playing defense. They will need to continuing doing that to keep Kansas City’s offense out of rhythm.
Mahomes has been sacked more during the 2024 NFL season than he has at any point during his career. He took another one on the team’s second drive when Harris came on a blitz and dropped the Chiefs quarterback.
Mahomes got up just fine after the hit, which was notable given his injury. The loss pushed the team back into a third-and-long, however, and Kansas City was forced to punt the ball back to the Texans after failing to convert that.
The Chiefs lost to the Buffalo Bills 30-21 in a Week 11 during which Josh Allen racked up 317 yards and two touchdowns. That marks Kansas City’s only defeat of the 2024 NFL season through 15 weeks.
C.J. Stroud and the Houston offense mounted a good response to Kansas City’s touchdown drive, as Nico Collins, Tank Dell and Joe Mixon ripped off some big plays to get the Texans into the red zone. Ultimately, they stalled out and Ka’imi Fairbairn came on to attempt a 33-yard field goal.
Fairbairn made the chip-shot to get the Texans on the board and make it 7-3 Chiefs.
How healthy is Mahomes’ injured ankle? The Chiefs quarterback isn’t as fast as he has usually is, but he also showed that fans shouldn’t be overly concerned about his mobility being impacted by his “mild” high-ankle sprain.
Mahomes ran for 12 yards on a third-and-13 earlier in the drive before taking off from the 15-yard line later to score a touchdown on a run up the middle.
Mahomes now has 27 rushing yards in the first quarter of the game. That’s already the fourth-most he has recorded in a single game this season.
The Texans faced a third-and-12 on their first drive and Stroud tried to force a downfield shot to Collins in double coverage. Rookie Jaden Hicks caught the overthrown pass and set Kansas City up with great field position on its first drive of the day.
Houston’s first drive is off to an inauspicious start, as starting right guard Mason was hurt just four plays into it. He walked off the field under his own power but headed for the blue medical tent.
The Texans were already without starting left guard Juice Scruggs and will be forced to put either Kenyon Green or Kendrick Green into action.
The Chiefs and Texans are scheduled for kick off on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, noon CT.
NBC will broadcast the Chiefs-Texans matchup in Week 16. Noah Eagle will be on play-by-play, and he will be flanked by Todd Blackledge (color commentary).
It appears that Swift is in attendance for the Chiefs’ Saturday matchup with the Texans. She was spotted getting onto a golf cart at Arrowhead Stadium and is presumably be transported to her suite to watch her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, in action.
The Chiefs wide receiver, who has not played at all in 2024, will make his season debut on Saturday. Brown suffered a shoulder injury during preseason and will be a major boost to the Chiefs wide receiver corps.
Noah Eagle (play-by-play) and Todd Blackledge (color commentary) will be the announcers for the Chiefs vs. Texans games. The duo usual broadcasts NBC’s package of prime-time college games, but they were called up to the NFL level to allow Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth to call just one game over the weekend.
Kathryn Tappen will join Eagles and Blackledge as a sideline reporter.
Yes, Noah Eagle is Ian Eagle’s son. The 28-year-old attended Syracuse and broke into sports media in 2019 before rapidly rising the ranks to become a major network play-by-play man.
Carson Wentz is the Chiefs’ backup quarterback for the 2024 NFL season. The former Philadelphia Eagles star signed a one-year deal with the Chiefs during the offseason to take on that role after playing behind Matthew Stafford with the Los Angeles Rams in the second half of the 2023 NFL season.
On Thursday, head coach Andy Reid told reporters he expected his quarterback to make the start. That turned out to be true, as Mahomes will to start vs. the Houston.
Patrick Mahomes and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown will both play vs. the Texans today. Mahomes avoids missing a game due to injury, while Brown is making his season debut.
The Texans will be without starting guard Juice Scruggs and a handful of veteran role players for Sunday’s game against the Chiefs. Below are the team’s seven inactives for the contest:
Here’s how the USA TODAY Sports staff feels the Chiefs vs. Texans matchup will go:
For cord cutters looking for a live stream for the matchup, you can turn to Fubo. Fubo carries NBC, as well as CBS, FOX, NFL Network and the ESPN family of networks, meaning you can catch NFL action through the remainder of the season.
Peacock, the proprietary streaming service of NBC, will also carry the game.
The Chiefs are favorites to defeat the Texans, according to the BetMGM NFL odds. Not interested in this game? Check out expert picks and best bets for every NFL game this week.
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The NFL’s top 18 players in average annual salary are all quarterbacks, according to OverTheCap.com. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott became the league’s highest-paid player before the 2024 season, agreeing to a four-year, $240 million deal. Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson is the first non-quarterback on the highest-paid list after striking a four-year, $140 million contract extension this offseason.
We have a complete list at every position:
Mother Nature won’t be involved in Saturday’s matchup outside of just making the temperature a bit colder than usual. Temperature for kickoff is expected to be just above freezing and will climb to 36 degrees throughout the matchup.
The Texans travel to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Chiefs.
The Chiefs have the AFC West locked up. Next step: No. 1 seed in the AFC. Here’s how the division looks:
