\n<\/p>\n
Remember the spirited call from Kansas City Chiefs radio broadcaster Mitch Holthus two AFC Championship Games ago?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can doubt the Chiefs! You can dislike the Chiefs! You can disrespect the Chiefs! You\u2019re gonna have to deal with the Chiefs,\u201d he roared, as Kansas City secured its fourth conference title in five seasons.<\/p>\n
The Chiefs made it five out of six AFC crowns a year ago, and while a berth in Super Bowl LX \u2013 let alone the playoffs \u2013 appears dire with KC sitting at 6\u20136 entering Sunday\u2019s visit from surging Houston, the door isn\u2019t fully closed.<\/p>\n
The Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos and Dallas Cowboys might have imagined Holthus adding, \u201cYou\u2019re gonna have to hobble the Chiefs!\u201d after narrowly defeating KC in the past month. Yet no one has truly subdued them.<\/p>\n
With Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes still at the helm, that remains a tough task.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s be clear: The Chiefs are 10th in the AFC, where only the top seven teams reach the postseason. They\u2019ve seemingly lost their magic in one-possession games (though not their JuJu \u2014 as in the intermittently productive Smith-Schuster) and are battling injuries along the offensive line.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s defensive inconsistency as well. Dallas converted 9 of 16 third downs in its 31\u201328 Thanksgiving win<\/a>, piling up 457 yards.<\/p>\n The Chiefs gained nearly 100 fewer yards, were flagged 10 times for 119 yards, and still lost by only three. That\u2019s no anomaly. Mahomes completed 67.7% of his passes with four touchdowns and zero interceptions in his sharpest outing since a run of home wins against Detroit<\/a>, Las Vegas and Washington to close October.<\/p>\n Houston (7\u20135) presents a stiff test. The Texans allow just 265.7 yards per game \u2014 best in the NFL \u2014 including a fourth-ranked pass defense yielding only 174 yards per game through the air.<\/p>\n The Texans have brought strong defenses into previous matchups with the Chiefs and have little to show for it. Since losing his first game against Houston in Week 6 of 2019, Mahomes has won five straight, playoffs included.<\/p>\n In four regular-season meetings since, Mahomes has averaged 270 passing yards with nine touchdowns and one interception. He also has two rushing TDs on 5.9 yards per carry \u2014 the escape-and-create ability Houston knows all too well and must contain.<\/p>\n