The Houston Texans defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 31-24 on the road, dominating the time of possession after trailing by two touchdowns in the first quarter.
"Didn't get off to a great start," head coach Bill O'Brien said after the game. "Turned it over, got down early but the guys were resilient today. We've got a lot to work on when we get back there. It's only six games and we're trying to improve. We've got to get better."
Deshaun Watson completed 30-of-42 for 280 yards passing, with one touchdown and two interceptions. He also rushed for 42 yards and two scores. Carlos Hyde ran for a team-high 116 yards on 26 carries and a touchdown. Duke Johnson added 54 yards from scrimmage and scored his first touchdown as a Texan.
The Texans won the possession battle 39:48 to 20:12, which marks the highest time of possession by an opponent in a non-overtime game at Arrowhead Stadium ever.
"It's a hard atmosphere to come win in and that's a great team that we beat today," DeAndre Hopkins said.
Houston's defense forced a pair of key turnovers. Tashaun Gipson Sr. picked off Patrick Mahomes, who had not thrown an interception all season. Charles Omenihu later added a strip sack on Mahomes, who completed 19-of-35 passes for 273 yards, with three touchdowns and one interception. Watson and the offense converted both turnovers into touchdowns, turning a 17-3 deficit into a halftime lead over the Chiefs.
The Chiefs went up 10-0 in the first quarter. In his first game back since suffering a Week 1 shoulder injury, Tyreek Hill caught a 46-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes.
On the Texans first offensive play, Hyde fumbled. The Chiefs recovered at the Houston 18-yard line and added a field goal. The Texans scored their first points of the game on a 44-yard field goal on the next drive. Houston trailed 10-3 with 5:46 left in the first quarter.
Mahomes threw his second touchdown of the day to Damien Williams on a 14-yard catch-and-run. Kansas City led 17-3 at the end of the first quarter.
The Texans then began their comeback, scoring three unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter.
Watson led the Texans on a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive that ended in an 11-yard touchdown by Johnson. Houston trailed 17-9 after the missed extra point attempt.
The Texans defense came up with two big turnovers in the second quarter that the offense converted into another 14 points. Gipson picked off Mahomes in the endzone for a touchback. Watson led the offense down the field, converting six first downs. After a short pass to Johnson for a 9-yard gain, Watson handed off to Hyde for a two-yard touchdown run.
Watson then threw his first interception of the game, deep in KC territory. On the first play of the Chiefs drive, Omenihu sacked Mahomes and forced a fumble, which was recovered by Benardrick McKinney. Watson scrambled for a three-yard touchdown on the next play.
"It was big there at the end of the half," O'Brien said. "That was a big play. That gave us a lot of momentum going into halftime, but going into halftime with the lead after the way we started was a good thing – no doubt about it."
The Texans took a 23-17 lead at halftime.
Mahomes connected with Hill for his second touchdown of the game and the Chiefs regained the lead, 24-23 in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Watson scrambled for a 1-yard touchdown run and then connected with DeAndre Hopkins for a successful two-point conversion with 6:17 left in the game. Houston took a 31-24 lead after the 12-play, 93-yard scoring drive that took 8:32 off the clock.
On their final offensive possession of the game, Watson threw a short pass to Hopkins on 4th-and-3 for a first down. The Texans finished the game in the victory formation.
"I brought the offense back out on the field," O'Brien said. "I felt like it was manageable enough distance that we had a play. We felt like we could execute the play, so that's what it came down to."
The Texans improve to 4-2 on the season and will travel to Indianapolis to face the Colts next Sunday.
