Football analysts nationwide largely agree that our Chiefs have the edge against the Houston Texans today, but the Texans aren't exactly expected to lay an egg, either. Whichever team gets off to a hot start in a cold Arrowhead Stadium will drastically increase their odds of advancing to next week's AFC Championship Game. Our Kansas City Chiefs have the better chance to do so according to their production in the first quarter throughout the season.
Kansas City averages 5.6 points scored in the first quarter this season, which is the seventh-highest average league-wide. Only the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskin scored fewer than the Texans' 2.8 first quarter points per game. Sure, that looks like bad news for Texans fans, but the return of an oft-injured asset for Houston's offense may change things.
Will Fuller's name was all over talk radio this week because his positive influence on the Houston offense is obvious and nobody knew if he'd be ready to suit up this afternoon. Now that Fuller is officially expected to play and impressive Chiefs rookie safety Juan Thornhill is out for the year, KC's defense is unusually susceptible to giving up big plays today.
I expect other members of the Chiefs secondary, namely Armani Watts, to step up and help limit the Texans play-making capabilities. Houston head coach Bill O'Brien knows damn well that the easiest way for the Texans to sneak away with a victory today is to get a early lead and use the Texans' superior rushing attack to kill clock and limit the chances for Patrick Mahomes to be magic.
I think Mahomes will be magic anyway, of course. This Texans team only beat the Buffalo Bills by 3 points last week. Buffalo QB Josh Allen completed 24 of 46 passes for 264 yards. Our man Mahomes consistently gives us more than that, and I believe he'll be great when he needs to be great. The same goes for Andy Reid, the master of making the most out of bye weeks. Houston is a determined, legit contender that won't go down without a fight today, but the next chapter in the story of the Chiefs franchise will be about the joy of success, not the disappointment of defeat. We have all the right in the world to be not only extremely stoked, but logically confident about today's game.
In mere minutes, a major moment of Kansas City football history will be written. Are you ready, Chiefs Kingdom?
Doug LaCerte writes about Kansas City Sports while neglecting Facebook and Twitter.
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