The AFC playoff picture is set. The Kansas City Chiefs will host the Houston Texans in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.
After the Texans defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 32-12 on Saturday and the Denver Broncos lost to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, the Texans secured the No. 4 seed and will travel to Kansas City. This sets up a rematch less than a month after the Chiefs beat the Texans 27-19 at Arrowhead.
While the Chiefs host Houston, the Buffalo Bills, as the two-seed, will play the three-seed Baltimore Ravens, who won their Saturday game in a blowout against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
On Friday, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke to the media about how the team was preparing for the possible matchups in the divisional round.
“We actually have played, which is crazy, but we’ve played all the teams that are in the [AFC] playoffs,” Reid said. “You’ve got to go back, though. You can’t be content with that. The four teams that we have a chance to potentially play in a couple weeks here, we’ve tried to hammer those out.
We’re going to continue to do that until we find out what the results are probably Sunday night, somewhere in that area, or at least late afternoon, I would imagine.”
“We’ll figure it out and see where it goes, but we’re going to try to be ready for all of them while we have this time. We’ve tried to use it smart as a coaching staff, [but] at the same time, we want to make sure our players are fresh but still stay sharp.
They worked [Friday] in pads, and they’ll go [Saturday]. Sunday, regardless of whether it’s a Saturday game or a Sunday game, they’ll have Sunday off.”
Before the wild-card weekend started, Mark Van Sickle of Kansas City Chiefs On SI discussed how the Texans could still be dangerous, despite a major loss in their first matchup with the Chiefs.
“The Texans were never really challenged by anyone in their weak division, and despite many injuries throughout the season, they won the division with ease,” Van Sickle wrote. “The Chiefs and Texans had a good first-half battle in Kansas City less than a month ago, but the Chiefs were able to break away in the second half.”
“Dynamic wide receiver Tank Dell suffered a season-ending injury in Kansas City, and Houston will need to rely on their running game with Joe Mixon if they are going to advance in the playoffs. Wide receiver Nico Collins gives quarterback C.J. Stroud a nice receiving option and tight end Dalton Schultz gave the Chiefs some trouble in their first meeting.”
