Houston Texans

Chiefs at Texans: Grades for Week 2

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Sep 18, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Jeremy Maclin (19) is unable to make a reception as Houston Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph (24) defends during the third quarter at NRG Stadium. The Texans won 19-12. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Kansas City Chiefs traveled to Houston for what has become their annual meeting with the Texans.

The Chiefs have dominated in NRG stadium recently but Sunday was a much better team than in the past. The Texans upgraded in a big way at quarterback by adding Brock Osweiler and having JJ Watt and Jadeveon Clowney healthy definitely makes this team much better. Because of that, the Texans can now put less pressure on their own offense and let the defense win games. Alex Smith was pressured all game and could not get the ball to his playmakers.

The Texans front seven is what the Chiefs hoped they would have had if Justin Houston were healthy. Instead they have Dee Ford who, to be fair, played much better than in recent games. However, he still isn’t the force that the Chiefs need off the edge and Osweiler had all day to throw in the first half. Once the second half hit they were able to limit the Texans offense. However they stayed on the field too long thanks to an ineffective offense.

Overall the Chiefs lost to a solid Texans team who should win the AFC South for the second season in a row. This shouldn’t send them into a tailspin. There are things to take from this game moving forward as the Chiefs face the New York Jets at home next week.

Sep 18, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans inside linebacker Benardrick McKinney (55) attempts to tackle Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Albert Wilson (12) during the third quarter at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

Offense: D

The offense failed to score a touchdown and relied on Cairo Santos for all of their points. It was reminiscent of Cincinnati last season except the defense still had the Chiefs in the game at the end. The biggest issues were offensive line play, fumbles, and penalties. Most will look at the play calling and say that was an issue as well. Andy Reid failed to adjust his play calling to the demanding situations in the game. But even with poor play calling, Kansas City should be able to execute their game plan and move the ball with all of their talent.

When Alex Smith has a bad day usually there is a solid run game or good hands from receivers to make up for it. In Houston, Smith had a very off day. However even when he was accurate, his receivers failed by dropping passes. On top of that his offensive line allowed 4 sacks and 13 pressures.

The two bright spots on the offense ended up being running backs Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware who combined for over 100 yards on the ground. West ended up with an average of 10 yards per carry and Ware had 5.7. Those are solid numbers yet Reid didn’t utilize play action to get the corners off of their spot.

If the Chiefs did get anything going offensively they quickly shot themselves in the foot. The team ended the day with three turnovers and nine penalties for 77 yards. Several times Kansas City faced first and 10+. With Jeremy Maclin struggling to catch the ball they could not overcome the mental mistakes. Against a strong front seven that the Jets possess the Chiefs are going to have to adjust quickly to keep up in the AFC West.

Sep 18, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans running back Lamar Miller (26) is tackled from behind by Kansas City Chiefs inside linebacker Derrick Johnson (56) during the first quarter at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

Defense: B

The Kansas City defense allowed two big drives in the first quarter but then kept the Texans out of the end zone the rest of the way. Marcus Peters had a Jekyl/Hyde performance with two picks and two big plays allowed. Tamba Hali and Dontari Poe graded out well according to PFF (subscription required) with their solid run and pass defense.

Kansas City looked out of sorts a bit during the first half as Osweiler picked apart the secondary with a massive amount of time. The Chiefs could not get pressure on the quarterback until the second quarter. There they forced Osweiler to check out of his main read and make short throws. Once the Texans started punting the defense continued to work and held Lamaar Miller to 83 yards on 25 carries. That ends up being less than 3.5 yards per carry which is something the defense can hang its hat on.

It fell to the defense however late in the second half to continue to stop Houston with virtually no rest between drives. The offense for the Chiefs was so inept that Kansas City’s defense ran out of gas and allowed two more field goals. This is a struggle that we thought the team would no longer face as the offense was expected to take off in 2016. While the defense has certainly taken a step back, their progression has occurred more quickly than expected.

Sep 18, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Kansas City Chiefs kicker Cairo Santos (5) kicks a 30 yard field goal during the fourth quarter against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

Special Teams: A

This facet of the game continues to be a Kansas City strength. You could say that they failed by holding on the last return which would have been a touchdown. I’ve watched that play three times now and while there was a slight hold, it was ticky-tack at best. Tyreek Hill is a man who just needs more chances on the field.

Not only did he run a kick back for a touchdown that was called back, he made great defensive plays as a gunner on punts. Hill will continue to take return time from Knile Davis and could eventually take the spot of Albert Wilson on offense.

Cairo Santos continued his perfect season thus far by going 4 for 4 on field goals. Unfortunately he didn’t get a chance to tack on some extra points. Santos’ lone mistake came on a kick off that bounced out of bounds on the one yard line which set up the Texans on their own 40. Despite that, Santos is showing that he is one of the most accurate kickers in the league despite the Chiefs putting him in some fairly high pressure situations.

Dustin Colquitt had a busy day and a better day on punts by pinning 3 inside the 20 yard line. He averaged 45.5 yards per punt which turned out much better than his 33.6 from last week. It does help for him to have two solid gunners in Demarcus Robinson and Tyreek Hill.

Overall C

The Chiefs played terribly on offense and yet managed to still be in the game at the end. This is indicative of good coaching and leadership. The Chiefs never panicked and worked to win the game all 60 minutes despite having an off day in execution. That is a team that will make the playoffs and win one or two playoff games.

It wasn’t too long ago that a Chiefs team unable to get a good start on offense would have lost by 20 points. Be patient Chiefs fans, this is our best chance at a Super Bowl title and its a good one.