The Kansas City Chiefs dug themselves a deeper hole in their quest to return to the NFL Playoffs, as they suffered a 20-10 loss to the Houston Texans on “Sunday Night Football.”
Patrick Mahomes had a terrible outing with 160 yards passing and no touchdowns on 14-of-33 completions. His three interceptions also hurt the team, although one of them was a pass that Travis Kelce mishandled, and a nearby Texans’ defender took advantage by getting the ball.
Some bold fourth-quarter decisions arrived in the game courtesy of Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, who chose to go for it on fourth down rather than kick. At coach Reid’s postgame press conference, he addressed these decisions, taking full responsibility for the mistakes.
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“I put the guys in a tough position with the fourth downs. I try to stay aggressive with it. I take full responsibility for that,” he told reporters.
“It’s important that you take advantage of opportunities. That was an opportunity. I was wrong, in hindsight. We’ve been pretty good on fourth downs [this season]. So, you know, I messed that one up,” the Chiefs coach said.
One fourth-down play late in the fourth quarter involved Mahomes trying to throw a pass to Rashee Rice in the middle of the field for a first down. However, Rice couldn’t secure the ball, turning it over to the Texans.
Another play saw Mahomes throw the ball, but the pass hit his receiver’s face mask for an incompletion. Coach Reid defended his decision to remain aggressive and spoke about the missed opportunity, also placing part of the responsibility on the Chiefs’ players to make plays.
“Listen, these are great players, and we gotta make sure they coach the ball. They know that..They’re trying. It’s not for lack of effort,” Reid also noted during the Chiefs’ postgame press conference.
At the time of the fourth-down attempt, just over five minutes were remaining in the AFC matchup, with the Chiefs down 17-10. Unfortunately, they couldn’t recover from the mistake, as the Texans added on a field goal to increase their lead.
Seven teams are currently projected for the AFC side of the NFL Playoffs, but Kansas City is not among them. The Chiefs are still in the playoff hunt, but so are the Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins, and Cincinnati Bengals.
Sunday’s loss to the Texans might be a tough pill to swallow for Reid, Mahomes, and the Chiefs, as it made it much more challenging for the team to qualify for the postseason. At 6-7, they’ll need to win their remaining games and hope for some luck based on other teams’ results.
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