KC Chiefs: Winners and losers from Divisional Round vs Texans

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Houston Texans defensive back Keion Crossen celebrates recovering a fumbled punt return attempt by Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill late in the first quarter Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. (Rich Sugg/Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) /

LOSER: PASSING DEFENSE

The Chiefs secondary had been a strength for the latter part of the season, but it wasn’t very good on Sunday. Sure, it got to a point where the Texans had to throw near the end, but Houston’s 24-0 lead started off because of the Chiefs secondary allowing Watson to make the big completions.

Not having Juan Thornhill hurt and the Texans were able to get long completions throughout the game. DeAndre Hopkins torched them for 119 yards off of nine catches, but KC did keep him out of the end zone for what it’s worth.

Watson finished the day throwing for 388 yards and two touchdowns, which are good numbers. It was certainly disappointing to see this unit – which had been such a strength in the last month and a half – drop off quite a bit. Hopefully next week against the Titans is better for them.

LOSER: SPECIAL TEAMS

I was hesitant to put special teams here due to Mecole Hardman’s big return and their turnover that helped keep momentum on KC’s side, but despite that, they still get listed as a loser. Their worst moment of the game was when the Texans blocked a Chiefs punt and took it back for a touchdown; Just like that it was 14-0 in favor of Houston.

When Kansas City finally got the Texans to punt, Tyreek Hill muffed the punt and it gave the Texans a first and goal from the six yard line. They went on to score there, making it 21-0 in the first quarter.

Later, after the Chiefs started pouring on the points, Harrison Butker missed an extra point. He accounted for 12 of the team’s 51 points on the day, but this still came at a time where Chiefs fans were waiting for anything to go wrong.

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