Houston Texans: Studs and duds from Week 1 vs. Chiefs

The Houston Texans fell short in a rematch with the Kansas City Chiefs.

It’s a franchise that has been on the field for 18 years and one game. The Houston Texans entered the league in 2002 and in their first nine seasons of existence failed to reach the playoffs. Since 2011, the clubs has won the AFC South an impressive six times, including in 2018 and ’19. Head coach Bill O’Brien was hired in 2014 and the club has captured four division titles and had just one losing campaign.

But that hasn’t mean all that much. And the team is still waiting to make an appearance in the AFC title game. After knocking off the Bills in the wild card round this past season, the Texans owned a 24-0 second-quarter lead at Arrowhead Stadium in the divisional round and it appeared that Houston would have no problem reaching the conference championship game for the first time.

But they didn’t. The Chiefs outscored Houston 51-7 the rest of the way and it added up to another disappointing showing. Revenge was on the Texans’ mind on Thursday night as O’Brien’s team wound up getting on the board first in this prime time matchup.

Running back David Johnson capped off a nine-play, 80-yard drive in the first quarter with a 19-yard scoring run. And the Texans owned a seven-point lead after 15 minutes of play and into the second quarter.

But once again it all came apart. John McClain of the Houston Chronicle takes a look at the team’s 34-20 loss to the Chiefs. There were certainly some pluses and minus when it came to O’Brien’s club.