The Texans (9-5) head north to face Kansas City (13-1) in a Week 16 matchup. Both squads have clinched their respective divisions, and it's the first meeting between the franchises since 2022. Here are five things to watch when Houston and the Chiefs kick off at noon CT inside Arrowhead Stadium.
1) Stroud stretch – Quarterback C.J. Stroud and the Texans are gunning for their third straight win and the fourth victory in the last five games. Last Sunday in the win over Miami, he tossed a pair of touchdown passes to wide receiver Nico Collins, and finished with a passer rating of 106.4.
He's impressed with the Chiefs' defense, which is coming off a 6-takeaway, 5-sack performance in the win at Cleveland last weekend. Specifically, he was complimentary of the secondary.
"They play well together," Stroud said. "They play this kind of coverage where they don't ever really show the quarterback. They always rotate and they always switch their coverage really late. They do a good job of it."
Conversely, Kansas City Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo thinks highly of the Texans' signal-caller.
"Really poised for a second-year quarterback and I think he just has a unique ability to move around in the pocket and still have his eyes downfield," Spagnuolo said. "He makes a lot of plays slipping in and out of the pocket and finding an open receiver and when a quarterback can do that, I think that's pretty dangerous."
2) Protection at a premium – Houston is well-aware of All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones. He has five sacks, 16 quarterback hits and 10 tackles for loss in 2024. Offensive Coordinator Bobby Slowik explained the Texans' approach to accounting for Jones.
"At the end of the day for us, we have some schematic things we are going to try to do to help us out and make sure we are aware of where '95' [Chiefs DT Chris Jones] is all the time, and we are taking care of '95' all the time," Slowik said. "Even then, they did a great job of moving him around, putting him in different spots, he lines all over the front, sometimes not even at the line of scrimmage."
Head Coach DeMeco Ryans echoed Slowik.
"No one can fall asleep on '95," Ryans said. "You have to make sure you are aware. You have to go challenge him and you have to go compete."
3) Who covers Nico? – Collins caught the two scores from Stroud last Sunday for his fifth and sixth touchdown catches of 2024. He's also just 151 yards shy of 1,000 for the season. With him on the field this season, the Texans have won seven of their nine games.
The Chiefs have a cornerback in Trent McDuffie who Stroud admires greatly. But the quarterback pointed out McDuffie has been playing in a different spot a little more than normal recently, due to injuries elsewhere on the Chiefs' roster."McDuffie is a top-5 defensive player in this league," Stroud said. "I think he's very underrated and he's been proving it week in and week out. And I've really seen him at nickel mostly. But on film, since I've been able to watch, he's playing corner a lot too and base."
4) Pester Patrick – Kansas City is led by one of the game's all-time greats in quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Twice and MVP, and three times a Super Bowl champion, Mahomes has guided the Chiefs to 13 victories so far.
But he's never been hit this much. He's getting sacked 2.5 times per game this year, and hit 7.3 times per. He's already been sacked a career-high 35 times this season, and has been hit an NFL-high 102 times in 2024.
Mahomes missed the final two series of the win over the Browns with an ankle injury, but was a full participant this week at practices.
Houston's defense is the only one in the NFL with two players who've logged 10 sacks or more. Danielle Hunter has 12.5 so far, while Will Anderson, Jr. has 10.5.
"This is a good pass rush, a good defense," Mahomes said. "They'll fly around."
Hurt or not, the Texans know they're facing an all-timer.
"He's the best in the business in a lot of categories," Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke said. "We've played a lot of mobile quarterbacks and guys that escape and make off-schedule plays. I think he's probably the the least predictable of where he's going with it, or where he's getting out. He's a lot more unpredictable in where he's escaping to and how you're trying to corral him."
5) 'Sting Time – Cornerback Derek Stingley, Jr. has been terrific in December. The reigning AFC Defensive Player of the Week after his 2-pick, 2-tackle for loss performance in the win over Miami, Stingley might see an array of pass-catchers in the likes of DeAndre Hopkins, Xavier Worthy and more.
He's now picked off three passes in the month of December this year, and has intercepted a total of four passes in the last four Texans games. Opposing quarterbacks have a 52.7 passer rating this season when he's been the nearest defender to a target.
Mahomes, meanwhile, hasn't thrown an interception in six of his last seven games, after getting picked off at least once in the first seven games of the season.
