January 11, 2020

By Fred Liggett
FredL@lstribune.net

The AFC Playoffs are back in Kansas City and so are the Houston Texans. This playoff pairing should be of little surprise to the fan base for each team. Outside of the AFC West Division the Chiefs seem to play the Texans the most. The Chiefs have played the Texans in the pre-season, the regular season and even the post-season as the NFL can’t keep these two teams apart.

The term familiar has been used a lot this week as both teams prepare for the AFC Divisional playoff game to be played Sunday afternoon at Arrowhead. Earlier in the 2019 season the Texans came to Kansas City and used a 20 point second quarter to earn a 31-24 road win. The Chiefs fell to 4-2 with that home loss that figured to play a role in playoff seeding. Since that game played on Oct. 13 the Chiefs have gone 8-2 and finished the regular season on a six game winning streak so no tie breaker needed to be used for the post-season.

The Chiefs and Texans got together in 2018 at a pre-season game that followed a 2017 regular season game the Chiefs won and a 2016 regular season game that the Chiefs lost. There is post-season history between the two teams as many Chiefs fans can tell you about what happened in Houston on Jan. 9, 2016. Knile Davis ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown as the Chiefs routed Houston 30-0 in an AFC Wild Card game.

Not only do both teams play often but the Chiefs and Texans swapped players this past off season giving even more meaning to the term “familiar.” First it was the Chiefs signing S Tyran Mathieu to a contract in free agency. Then at the end of training camp the Chiefs traded RB Carlos Hyde to the Texans for a draft pick. Mathieu went on to become a key figure in the Chiefs defense and Hyde comes to KC this week leading the Texans in rushing.

Adding to the festive playoff atmosphere that will engulf Arrowhead on game day is how healthy the two teams are. The Texans got back All-Pro DL JJ Watt last week after missing half a season due to injury. The Chiefs reported no injuries and everyone on the active roster practiced. CBS is bringing their number one on air team to cover this nationally televised playoff game but injuries will not be a story for Jim Nantz and Tony Romo to talk about.

Having key players healthy and on the field will help the Chiefs do better than the first meeting between these two teams. The Chiefs have 37 players on their roster with playoff experience and many of them can recall how the last home playoff game ended for the team. Expect a typical close playoff game with big plays on both sides of the ball but when this the 30th playoff game in Chiefs franchise history is over the team will have given their fans plenty to cheer about. A familiar feeling of the Chiefs advancing to the AFC Championship game topping the list. That’s What I REID Into It for this week.

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