KC Chiefs: Predicting The 2015 Season Schedule
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith (11) throws a pass against the Houston Texans – Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
Sunday, September 13th, 2015 at Houston Texans (12:00 CST)
The KC Chiefs will see their first regular season action on the road in Houston against the mighty Texans.
The Texans are a very similar team to the Chiefs. They have a great defense, maybe one of the best in the entire league, a terrific running back in Arian Foster, but their quarterback is not one many respect. In fact, their quarterback situation is a little odd, as they signed Brian Hoyer in the off season and he will likely be the starter over Ryan Mallett.
If this game was at Arrowhead, I’d say it’d be a Chiefs victory for sure, but it’ll be at Reliant Stadium, which should make it a little bit more difficult for Kansas City to pull off a win here.
Houston no longer has Andre Johnson, who signed with the Colts during the off season, but that doesn’t mean their receiving game will be weak. They still have De’Andre Hopkins who jumped onto the scene last year and likely will be their starting guy in 2015.
What this game will come down to is which defense outperforms the other and whichever quarterback decides to prove his fanbase wrong.
Concerning the defense, the Texans have arguably the best player in the entire league in J.J. Watt, who has the ability to make Alex Smith‘s day a living hell if the KC offensive line plays how they did in 2014. When these two teams met in 2013, Watt only sacked Smith once, but that was back when the offensive line was a little bit better.
Going back to that meeting, the Chiefs won 17-16 against Texans rookie quarterback Case Keenum. It was embarrassing that Kansas City only won by one point despite facing a guy who was starting his first NFL game, but this year’s Chiefs squad is so much more talented than those ’13 Chiefs.
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If this game was at Arrowhead, I’d say it’d be a Chiefs victory for sure, but it’ll be at Reliant Stadium, which should make it a little bit more difficult for Kansas City to pull off a win here.
With that said though, I think this will be a game in which Smith throws for multiple touchdowns (hitting Jeremy Maclin with his first as a Chief and shredding that dumb no wide receiver touchdown stat) and where the defense rocks Hoyer or whoever is starting all day long.
Prediction: It’ll be a hard fought defensive battle, but the Chiefs will prevail in their first outing of the season by a score of 21-10. It’ll be a close game in the first half, but the Chiefs will pull away after half time.
Next: Returning home on a short week