The Kansas City Chiefs achieved a perfect home record for the regular season, and are one win away from claiming home-field advantage through the playoffs, following their 27-19 victory Saturday, Dec. 21 over the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium.
Concerns about Patrick Mahomes’ ankle were allayed when he ran 15 yards for the first touchdown of the game. Houston responded with a field goal and touchdown to give the Chiefs their lone deficit of the game. The Chiefs responded with a 13-play, 82-yard drive with four third down conversions, capped by a three-yard run by Kareem Hunt. Harrison Butker added a 44-yard field goal with 19 seconds left to give the Chiefs a 17-10 lead at the half.
Houston came close to tying the game on their first drive of the second half, but suffered a serious scare on the 30-yard touchdown catch by Tank Dell. The game was delayed for several minutes as Dell was carted off the field and taken to an area hospital, with the NFL Network reporting that Dell had dislocated his kneecap after a teammate collided with him on the catch. When the game resumed, Houston kicker Ka’imi Fairburn missed the extra point wide right. The Chiefs extended the lead on the next drive with an eight-yard pass from Mahomes to Xavier Worthy, and completed the scoring with another Butker field goal from 27 yards, while Houston would only add a Fairburn field goal from 38.
Mahomes completed the day with a touchdown pass among his 28 out of 41 completions for 260 yards. Worthy’s touchdown catch was among seven catches for 65 yards to lead the offense, while Kareem Hunt had 11 carries for 55 yards on the ground. CJ Stroud had two touchdown passes for Houston, but went 23-for-39 for 244 yards, including two interceptions.
The Chiefs are now 14-1 and are one win away from clinching a first-round bye as well as home field advantage. A Bills loss Sunday against New England would wrap up the top seed for the Chiefs. Else, the Chiefs will need to take of business on the road, starting Wednesday at noon against the Steelers in Pittsburgh.