The Houston Texans’ Super Bowl dreams came to a screeching halt on Saturday in a 23-14 AFC Divisional Round playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. But according to star defensive end Will Anderson Jr., the Texans were battling more than just Patrick Mahomes and the high-powered Chiefs offense – they were also up against the referees.
“We knew it was going to be us versus the refs going into this game,” a visibly frustrated Anderson said after the loss that ended Houston’s season. The Texans were flagged for several costly penalties, including two controversial calls on hits to Mahomes that extended Kansas City drives and led to 10 crucial points.
Texans Feel Targeted by Questionable Calls
The most notable penalty on Anderson came in the first quarter, when he appeared to hit Mahomes in the neck area just after the quarterback released a third-down pass. The questionable roughing the passer flag gave the Chiefs a first down, and they went on to kick a field goal on the drive.
Houston’s defense was hit with another pivotal call in the third quarter when Mahomes scrambled and slid, drawing an unnecessary roughness penalty as Texans defenders Foley Fatukasi and Henry To’oTo’o converged on him. The Chiefs capitalized on the extra yardage, scoring a touchdown to go up 20-12.
We knew going into this game, man, it was us versus everybody. And when I say everybody, it’s everybody.
-Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans
Missed Opportunities Haunt Texans
As much as the Texans felt wronged by the officials, head coach DeMeco Ryans acknowledged that self-inflicted mistakes and missed chances ultimately sunk his team. Costly special teams errors, coverage breakdowns, and a failure to protect rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, who was sacked a career-high tying 8 times, proved too much to overcome.
- Gave up 63-yard kickoff return to open game
- 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on opening kickoff
- Missed extra point and field goal by kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn
- C.J. Stroud pressured on career-high 23 dropbacks
This one hurts, because I know we’re a better football team than what we showed today. To go back and still have to talk about mistakes that we made in this moment, it’s discouraging.
-DeMeco Ryans
Stroud Shows Grit Despite Constant Pressure
To his credit, Stroud managed to use his legs to escape pressure at times, rushing for 42 yards and converting multiple third downs with his feet. But in the end, the constant siege from the Chiefs’ pass rush was too much, as Stroud went just 3-of-8 for 41 yards with 2 sacks when blitzed in the fourth quarter.
Just being a competitor, trying to put my team in positions to win. There’s times where I probably shouldn’t have done that, and just throw the ball away.
-C.J. Stroud on fighting through pressure
The loss ends a promising Texans season in painful fashion, as they became the first team in NFL postseason history to out-gain their opponent by 100+ yards (336-212), not turn the ball over, and still lose. A brilliant young core led by Anderson, Stroud, and Ryans appears to have Houston on the cusp of championship contention, but untimely mistakes and an inability to overcome adversity – whether from their own errors or questionable officiating – means it’s the Chiefs, not the Texans, moving on to the AFC Championship Game.
