John McClain, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, is in his 48th year of covering the NFL in Houston, including 45 seasons at the Houston Chronicle.
Since Andy Reid became Kansas City's head coach in 2013, the Texans have played the Chiefs in three of the most important games in franchise history.
Two of them didn't end well.
Because the Texans are going to Arrowhead Stadium to tangle with the Chiefs on Saturday following their AFC South title-clinching win over Miami, this is a good time to look back at successful and unsuccessful performances against Kansas City, including two playoff defeats.
Reid has a 7-2 record against the Texans. In three of the most significant games in team history, Bill O'Brien was the Texans' head coach.
Let's analyze the three games in chronological order.
In 2015, their second season under O'Brien, the Texans finished 9-7 and won the AFC South for the third time after 2011 and 2012 under Head Coach Gary Kubiak. They hosted the Chiefs in the wild-card round. To say the game was disappointing for the Texans would be an understatement.
Two years before Reid traded up in the first round to draft quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Alex Smith was Kansas City's signal-caller. The Texans' quarterback was Brian Hoyer.
Hoyer played 14 seasons in the NFL, mostly as a backup, but he was the Texans' starter in 2015, his only season in Houston. Hoyer started nine games that season, the second-most starting assignments of his career.
In what turned out to be an dispiriting 30-0 loss to the Chiefs that eliminated the Texans from the playoffs, Hoyer threw for 136 yards, completed 44.1 percent, suffered four interceptions and finished with a 15.9 rating. His average per attempt was 4 yards. His leading receiver was DeAndre Hopkins with six receptions for 69 yards.
Smith threw for 190 yards and a touchdown, completed 77.3 percent, had one interception and finished with a 98.7 rating. His leading receiver was tight end Travis Kelce, who caught eight passes for 128 yards.
Kelce, who was playing in his third season, would continue to torment the Texans through the years.
In 2019, the Texans played one of the best regular-season games in team history, a 31-24 victory at Kansas City.
Leading up to that game, there was speculation Mahomes wouldn't play because of an injury. But he did play, and he threw for 273 yards and three touchdowns – two to Tyreek Hill – but the Texans beat the Chiefs by a touchdown at Arrowhead Stadium. The victory increased the Texans' record to 4-2 and dropped the Chiefs to 4-2.
Reid and Mahomes led the Chiefs to a 12-4 record and an AFC West title. The Texans finished 10-6 and won another division championship. After defeating Buffalo in the wild-card round at NRG Stadium, the Texans returned to Arrowhead Stadium for a rematch in the divisional round.
In a brutal collapse, the Texans jumped out to a 24-0 lead early in the second quarter and lost 51-31.
Fans and media howled when O'Brien, up 21-0, went for a field goal on fourth-and-1 at the Kansas City 13-yard line rather than go for another touchdown. But Fairbairn succeeded, and the Texans led 24-0.
The problems began on the kickoff following Ka'imi Fairbairn's filed goal that made the score 24-0. Mecole Hardman returned the ball 58 yards to the Texans' 42. Two plays later, Mahomes made it 24-7 with a touchdown pass to Dan Williams.
On the Texans' next series, they lined up to punt on fourth down at their 31. Unlike in Sunday's 20-12, division-clinching victory over Miami when the punt team executed a perfect fake that set up a C.J. Stroud touchdown pass to Nico Collins, this one backfired.
As he did against Miami last weekend, Jon Weeks snapped the ball to the upback. In this case, it was safety Justin Reid, who took off to his right but was tackled by safety Daniel Sorensen, giving Kansas City the ball at the Texans' 33.
The first of Mahomes' three second-quarter touchdown passes to Kelce reduced the deficit to 24-14.
The Texans' Murphy Law experience continued on the following kickoff. DeAndre Carter fumbled, and the Chiefs got the ball at the Texans' 6. Once again, Mahomes connected with Kelce to pull the Chiefs within three.
On the Chiefs' last drive of the first half, they went 90 yards, and Mahomes combined with Kelce for another touchdown pass, giving Kansas City a lead they didn't relinquish.
Mahomes finished with 321 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions and a 134.6 rating. Kelce had 10 catches for 134 yards and three touchdowns.
The Chiefs went on to beat the 49ers in the Super Bowl, earning Reid and Mahomes a Lombardi Trophy, the first of three they've won together.
This season, the Chiefs are 13-1 and own the NFL's best record. They're trying to hold off Buffalo – the only team to beat them – to earn home-field advantage in the playoffs.
The Texans are 9-5 and AFC South champions for the second consecutive season under Head Coach DeMeco Ryans. Ryans played for and against Reid during his 10-year playing career with the Texans and Eagles. Ryans also coached against Reid when he was an assistant with the 49ers.
"From being with Andy for one year (2012), I really respect the way he ran the show," Ryans said. "He was a great coach (and) did a great job of looking out for his players. I learned a lot from Andy and how he ran things – just a ton of respect for him – a coach who's had a ton of success and loves to do it with a smile."
Reid calls plays for the Chiefs' offense. Ryans calls plays for the Texans' defense.
"We're just trying to make sure our players play well," Ryans said. "It'll be about them and not so much about me going up against him. It'll be about them and our players executing and playing well."
Ryans knows what to expect on Saturday in the hostile environment known as the Sea of Red.
"The environment doesn't change who we are," he said. "Go play football. Wherever they line it up, we want to play football the right way."
