Tag: Texans playoff

Texans-Chiefs Divisional Round: Offense, defense and special teams snap counts

The Houston Texans season comes to a close following Saturday’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Much like last season, the Houston Texans are still looking to get over the hump.

Patrick Mahomes’ 11-yard diving touchdown pass to Travis Kelce in the fourth quarter marked the beginning of the end for the Texans at Arrowhead Stadium. That pass would be the deciding factor as the Kansas City Chiefs advanced to their seventh consecutive AFC title game appearance with a 23-14 win in the divisional round.

“We knew it was going to be us against the refs going into this game,” defensive end Will Anderson said postgame.

Kansas City, which becomes the fourth team in NFL history to follow back-to-back Lombardi Trophies by advancing to the conference title game, did have some calls land in their favor. Mahomes was hit twice with a roughing the passer call that led to scoring drives.

The two-time MVP also was “tackled” late while going down as an open-field runner, which led to a 15-yard penalty and a fresh set of downs in the fourth quarter. Six plays later, Mahomes found Kelce for the score to extend Kansas City’s lead by eight.

“We knew going into this game, that it was us vs. everybody,” said Ryans, before clarifying a bit. “When I say everybody, it’s everybody. All the naysayers, the doubt, everybody we had to go against today. Knowing going into this game what we were up against, we can’t make the mistakes that we made. We had a lot of self-inflicted mistakes that happened.”

C.J. Stroud tried to make the most of his afternoon, but the pressure was powerful from Kanas City’s front seven. He was sacked eight times, including three times on fourth down.

Outside of a 13-yard touchdown run in the third quarter from Joe Mixon, Kansas City held Houston’s offense mostly in check. Special teams also were far from dynamic from the get-go.

Kris Boyd was flagged for a 15-yard penalty after Houston gave up an opening 63-yard return. Ka’imi Fairbairn missed two kicks and a PAT.

Here are the snap counts from Saturday’s showcase at Arrowhead Stadium.

Offensive Snaps: 68 

Defensive Snaps: 51

Special Teams Snaps: 21

The Texans will finish the 2024 season with an 11-7 record. They will selected 25th overall in the upcoming NFL Draft.

‘I’m sorry Houston!’: ESPN’s Rex Ryan issues statement following Texans win

Rex Ryan is taking the heat for his comments on the Houston Texans leading up to a dominant win on Saturday.

Rex Ryan is eating a slice of humble pie for breakfast on Sunday morning.

The longtime ESPN analayst and former NewYork Jets head coach was forced to swallow his pride and apologize to the Houston Texans and their fans after Saturday’s 32-12 beatdown over the Los Angeles Chargers.

Ryan said Los Angeles would be “on a bye” taking on Houston. Instead, the Bolts’ offense never showed up behind a four-interception afternoon from Justin Herbert.

“My goodness, who had a worse day? Me or Justin Herbert? It’s probably right there,” Ryan said on ESPN’s NFL’s Sunday Countdown. “But you’ve got to tip your hat to them because those guys played their absolute asses off.”

Texans players had their fun with Ryan’s comments throughout the week and postgame. In the locker room following the 20-point victory, Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon posted a live video on his Instagram of him and his teammates calling out the coach while smoking cigars in his honor.

“We smoking on that Rex Ryan bye week pack,” Mixon said in the clip.
Players weren’t the only people dogging Ryan. ESPN’s Mike Greenberg asked analyst Tedy Bruschi who he picked to win the game.

He said the Texans.

Without missing a beat, Ryan quipped in saying, “I think I did, too, didn’t I?”
The Texans players never fell for the trap, so it’s all good fun when looking back. Seeing Ryan embarrassed on national television might have been enough for the fan base, anyway.

“If you guys were going to play like that, I would’ve taken you to win the Super Bowl. I’m seeing in the games going up to it, 1-5 against playoff teams,” Ryans said. “I’m seeing all that … I’m sorry, Houston. I’m not picking you next week, either. Or maybe I will.”

The Texans await the outcome of the Broncos-Bills game to know where they’re playing next week.

Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh gives stellar praise to Texans ahead of playoff game

Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh is excited to take on a hot Houston Texans roster at the right time.

As the Houston Texans prepare for their wild-card round matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, most pundits aren’t giving the AFC South champions much hope to advance.

First-year Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh isn’t one of those doubting Houston’s potential in a winner-take-all showdown. He understands that at their peak, the Texans can cause defensive fits for Justin Herbert and a surging Chargers offense.

“Defensively, really good,” Harbaugh said following Sunday’s Week 18 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. “Really good against the run, not a lot of people running the ball on them. They’re playing really well on the back end.”

Fresh off a 23-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans, the Texans might have refound their mojo. The defense recorded four sacks and scored a 36-yard fumble recovery thanks to defensive tackle Derek Barnett.

Offensively, Nico Collins and Joe Mixon made headlines on the opening drive, each surpassing 1,000 yards receiving and rushing on the season. Dameon Pierce also provided a spark on the ground with his 176-yard rushing performance.

The headline of Saturday’s showdown will be between C.J. Stroud and Herbert. The last time Houston fans saw the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year, he went 6-of-6 passing for 53 yards and a touchdown.

“C.J. Stroud is really elite,” Harbaugh said. “Nico Collins is elite. They’ve got great playmakers, great competitors. It’s gonna take our A-game. We’ll turn all our preparation and focus towards the Texans. I know we’re gonna have to play good, that I can tell ya.”

With a win, the Texans would advance to the divisional round for the second time under DeMeco Ryans. In a similar situation to Saturday’s contest, the Cleveland Browns entered Houston as a 3-point favorite and a better record.

That didn’t stop Stroud from setting a playoff record en route to a 45-14 victory at NRG Stadium.

Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. CT. The game will be nationally televised on CBS and Paramount+.