Patrick Mahomes threw three interceptions and had 11 of his last 13 throws fall incomplete, as the Kansas City Chiefs allowed the Houston Texans to retake the lead and hold on for a 20-10 victory Sunday, Dec. 7 at Arrowhead.

The Chiefs struggled to get their offense together, going three-and-out on their first two drives, then punting a third time after the defense held the Texans to a 35-yard field goal late in the first. The Texans extended their lead with a ten-play, 70-yard drive that saw CJ Stroud complete a nine-yard pass to Woody Marks. Two plays later, the Texans would go on offense after Jalen Pitre picked off Mahomes. The Chiefs would end the half driving 72 yards on 12 plays, only for Harrison Butker to hit the right upright on his 43-yard field goal attempt.

The second half started out better for the Chiefs, as the defense forced Houston to punt on their first four drives. The Chiefs went 56 yards on eight plays in their first drive of the half, spurred by a 35-yard pass play to Hollywood Brown. On fourth and one at the two, the Chiefs gave the ball to Kareem Hunt, who charged through the line to score what turned out to be KC’s only touchdown of the game.

Butker added 36-yard field goal later in the quarter to tie the game. Momentum was still on the Chiefs side, even after Mahomes’ second interception of the game, until a gutsy play call on fourth and one from the Chiefs’ own 31 backfired when Rashee Rice dropped the pass from Mahomes.

That gave Stroud and the Texans a doormat to the endzone, as four run plays and a completed pass set up the five-yard go-ahead score by Dare Ogunbowale. The Chiefs failed again when going for it on fourth down, but had another chance to tie the game after the defense forced another three-and-out. That chance would slip through the fingers of Travis Kelce and into the hands of Azeez Al-Shaair for Mahomes’ third interception of the game. Fairbairn chipped in a 28-yarder to ice the game.

Mahomes completed just 14 of his 33 pass attempts for 160 yards, including one throw to himself that was recorded as a ten-yard loss. Stroud was 15 for 31 totaling 203 yards and one touchdown throw. Woody Marks carried the ball 26 times for the Texans, while Nico Collins had four catches for 121 yards. Mahomes had the bulk of the Chiefs’ yardage on the ground, running seven times for 59 yards, while Xavier Worthy caught three passes for 55 yards. The Chiefs defense kept KC in the game as long as they could by sacking Stroud three times, as Nick Bolton recorded 12 tackles and Drue Tranquill added 10.

The Chiefs fall to 6-7 on the year, and are officially out of contention for the AFC West, the first time in ten years that someone else will win the division. A faint possibility exists for the Chiefs to still make the playoffs, but they’ll have to start by snapping their losing streak when the Los Angeles Chargers visit Arrowhead Stadium next weekend. Kickoff is at noon, with pregame at 11 a.m. on KMMO-FM 102.9.