Kansas City Chiefs

Chiefs at Texans: Odds, trends, and more

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

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For the third time in just over a calendar year, the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans will collide in the state of Texas. Could this be another playoff preview?

Is it possible that these two teams are truly sick of each other?

Once again, it’s the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans, a pair of clubs that faced each other twice last season in the Lone Star State. And in both instances, Andy Reid’s club came out on top.

In last season’s sweep of Houston, the Chiefs prevailed 27-20 in Week 1 in a Pick ‘Em game. Four months later in the AFC Wild Card Playoffs, Kansas City rolled Bill O’Brien’s club and easily covered as a 3-point favorite courtesy of a 30-0 shutout (odds courtesy of The Gold Sheet). That contest saw then-Texans quarterback Brian Hoyer turn over the ball five times as the Chiefs won their first postseason game since 1993.

As for more recent times, both clubs come off Week 1 comeback wins — one of more significant proportion. Andy Reid’s club fell behind the visiting San Diego Chargers 24-3 in the third quarter before coming all the way back for a rousing 33-27 overtime victory. The Texans trailed the Bears at halftime, 14-10, but totaled 13 unanswered points in the second half for a nine-point win.

Both of these teams have apparently picked up where they left off at the end of the regular season. Kansas City’s victory was its 11th straight following last season’s 1-5 start. Meanwhile, Houston opened 2015 at 0-2 and then owned a 2-5 record after seven games. They’ve now won eight of their last 10 regular-season contests.

Last year’s sweep of the Texans has obviously influenced the betting line. Despite being the road team once again, Kansas City is an early 2.5-points favorite this week, with the OVER/UNDER set at 43.5 (according to Odds Shark).

Both team’s defenses were excellent in the second half of their respective wins last Sunday, with neither club allowing a touchdown in the final 30 minutes (or 30-plus if you were the Chiefs). Keep that in mind when looking at that total of 43.5.