The season ended at Kansas City Saturday in the early evening, and the Texans placed the blame on themselves.
The 2-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs triumphed, 23-14, and Houston was disappointed in the aftermath.
"I'm walking out of here discouraged," Head Coach DeMeco Ryans said. "This one hurts because I know we're a better football team than we showed today. No matter who we're playing against."
Ryans and the Texans pulled to within a point, 13-12, with just over four minutes remaining in the third quarter. But ultimately, miscues on offense, defense and special teams doomed them.
"It's discouraging to be here because we got to be over that at this point in the playoffs," Ryans said. "Postseason football, you got to be at your best. You got to be operating on all cylinders. And for us, we didn't do that today."
Quarterback C.J. Stroud was sacked eight times on the afternoon, and hit 14 times in all. He still managed to complete 19-of-28 passes for 245 yards and a passer rating of 95.1.
"I'm not going to hold my head down," Stroud said. "But at the same time, you know, it sucks to come out here and lose in a divisional round again."
Running back Joe Mixon carried the ball 18 times for 88 yards, and the scored the Texans' lone touchdown on a 13-yard gallop in the third quarter. He described what separated the two teams today.
"It probably came down to 2 or 3 key moments in the game," Mixon said. "That's what won them the game. They won the moment. We just came up short."
The Texans will return home to Houston on Saturday evening.
