{"id":10701,"date":"2025-01-16T02:59:30","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T02:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701"},"modified":"2025-01-16T02:59:30","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T02:59:30","slug":"mcclain-offensive-defensive-lines-vital-to-texans-plan-to-upset-chiefs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701","title":{"rendered":"McClain: Offensive, defensive lines vital to Texans\u2019 plan to upset Chiefs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n

Texans fans are invited to gather at NRG Stadium to send the team off to Kansas City with energy and H-Town love.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

It’s going to take another Herculean effort for the Texans to pull off a second consecutive upset in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

The reward for their 32-12 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild card round is a trip to Kansas City, where the top-seeded Chiefs are waiting to host the Texans in the Divisional Round.<\/p>\n

The Texans are accustomed to playing in the early Saturday playoff window, and they’re no strangers to Arrowhead Stadium. They lost 27-19 at Kansas City on Dec. 21, an experience that won’t make them feel at home, of course, but might not be as intimidating as the Sea of Red can be to opponents, especially in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

The Texans have never won a divisional round game. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has never lost one.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Seven times in franchise history the Texans have won a wild card game at NRG Stadium, and seven times they lost on the road in the next round, including last season at Baltimore.<\/p>\n

Since Patrick Mahomes became their starting quarterback in 2018, the Chiefs are 6-0 in the divisional round, all played at Arrowhead Stadium. He has 1,813 yards, a completion percentage of 70.4 percent, 16 touchdown passes, no interceptions and a 115.8 rating.<\/p>\n

“We understand what’s in front of us,” Head Coach DeMeco Ryans said this week. “KC has done a great job for the past few years of really dominating the league (and) being there at the end.<\/p>\n

“Great coaching staff, great players, great team all the way across the board. We know it’s a tough team to beat. It’s going to take everything we have for all four quarters.<\/p>\n

“Similar to our last game, we have to stay the course, remain persistent throughout the game and find a way to win in those critical moments.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

National Weather Service calls for a Saturday afternoon high of 27 degrees and partly sunny. There’s s 10-percent chance of precipitation.<\/p>\n

Ryans is more worried about Mahomes and Chiefs’ Head Coach Andy Reid than he is the Kansas City weather. It should be a lot better for the Texans than it was for the Dolphins last year when gametime temperature was minus-4, and the wind chill was minus-27.<\/p>\n

“The weather can be a challenge if you allow it to be a challenge,” Ryans said. “It’s something we can’t control. Wherever we have to play, we’re ready to play. We understand we’ll be on the road, and it’s going to be cold, and that’s what we have to deal with. It’s something the other team has to deal with as well.<\/p>\n

“There’s no excuses about weather. We’ve got to suit up and play ball.”<\/p>\n

Ryans also doesn’t believe the Texans’ eight-point loss at Arrowhead Stadium in December will have a bearing on Saturday’s game. That game was one of the Chiefs’ 11 one-score victories this season when they finished 15-2. The Texans finished 10-7, including a 7-5 record in one-score games.<\/p>\n

In that loss to Kansas City, quarterback C.J. Stroud completed 23-of-39 for 244 yards with two touchdowns, two interceptions and a 73.0 rating. The Texans lost receiver Tank Dell in that game with a devastating knee injury suffered when he was catching a touchdown pass. Dell had six catches for 98 yards and the touchdown before tearing multiple ligaments.<\/p>\n

Mahomes was 28-of-41 for 260 yards and one touchdown. He didn’t throw an interception, and his rating was 93.5. He also ran five times for 33 yards and a touchdown. The Texans sacked him once on a blitz by linebacker Christian Harris.<\/p>\n

“Different game, I don’t take much from it,” Ryans said. “It’s different circumstances from that particular week. Now it’s a new game and a fresh start.<\/p>\n

“We’ll attack it like it’s our first time playing these guys. I always go into each game with a fresh set of eyes, not really harping on what happened in the previous game. We’ll see the things we need to do to be better, the things we need to do to close out the game.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Like they closed out the Chargers’ game after being three-point underdogs in their home stadium.<\/p>\n

The Texans’ defense was outstanding from start to finish, allowing 261 yards, including 50 rushing, and one touchdown on quarterback Justin Herbert’s 86-yard touchdown pass to receiver Ladd McConkey in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

Obviously, the Texans would like to have a similar performance against Mahomes and the Chiefs.<\/p>\n

Herbert may still be having nightmares after the way the Texans treated him.<\/p>\n

They intercepted him four times \u2013 two by cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. \u2013 and harassed him for start to finish. Head Coach Jim Harbaugh called the Texans’ pass rush the best he’d seen this season.<\/p>\n

Herbert, who threw only three interceptions during an 11-6 season, was pressured on 52 percent of his passes and sacked four times, 1.5 each by end Will Anderson Jr. and tackle Mario Edwards. Denico Autry recorded the other sack.<\/p>\n

Anderson, Autry and end Danielle Hunter combined for 17 pressures. As a result, he was 14-of-32 for 242 yards and a rating of 40.9, the worst of his career.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

“Seeing all nine guys we have on the defensive line who were up on game day, they all help in some fashion,” Ryans said. “When it comes to the run game specifically, the run game isn’t stopped without our D-tackles. All those guys contributed.<\/p>\n

“They’re smart players. It’s not just firing off the ball and playing blind. They play with great awareness, and they put us in position to make a lot of plays in the run game by eliminating space.<\/p>\n

“It’s about a collective effort from all those guys working together.<\/p>\n

The way those guys continue to work together and feed off each other, that’ll be important to our success.”<\/p>\n

If the Texans are able to put on a defensive performance at Arrowhead Stadium like they did at NRG Stadium, they’ll have a chance to author another upset. The defense covered up a slow start by an offense that either punted or turned the ball over on its first five possessions, but the Chargers were limited to a pair of field goals.<\/p>\n

“We’re able to force a lot of takeaways because we have a lot of good players,” Ryans said. “It’s about players making plays. Guys have done an outstanding job. That’s the main thing we talk about every week — attacking the football and taking the football away.<\/p>\n

“When you take the football away, it just raises your percentages of winning.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

On the Texans’ sixth possession against the Chargers, Stroud made one of the greatest plays in team history. He picked up his fumble and, under tremendous pressure running toward the sideline, threw a 34-yard completion to Xavier Hutchinson on what turned into a 99-yard touchdown drive that ended with his 13-yard scoring pass to Nico Collins. And a route was on.<\/p>\n

“When you have the big play that C.J. made, it does lift everyone — the energy, the morale of the team,” Ryans said. “Even though it’s not going great, when you see that one play, it sparked the energy and the enthusiasm for our entire team.<\/p>\n

“It was a difference-maker for us, and our guys fed off it.”<\/p>\n

The Texans scored touchdowns on offense and defense, and special teams contributed three Ka’imi Fairbairn field goals and a two-point score on cornerback D’Angelo Ross’ return of a blocked extra point.<\/p>\n

Stroud finished with 22-of-33 for 282 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He averaged 8.5 yards per attempt and finished with a 90.7 rating. He also ran six times for 47 yards, including a 27-yard gain that was one of his many spectacular plays.<\/p>\n

Collins had seven catches for 122 yards. Joe Mixon rushed for 106 yards and a 17-yard touchdown on 25 carries.<\/p>\n

The offensive line deserved a lot of praise, too. Tackles Laremy Tunsil and Blake Fisher, guards Juice Scruggs and Tytus Howard and center Jarrett Patterson got a lot of recognition because of the way they dominated the Chargers front seven.<\/p>\n

The Texans’ performance was the very definition of team.<\/p>\n

If the offense has another start like last week, it’s doubtful they’ll be able to overcome it consider they’re playing the Chiefs in one of the toughest stadiums in the league.<\/p>\n

Since Reid traded up to get Mahomes in 2017 and named him the starter a year later, the Chiefs have won three Super Bowls. They’re trying to become the first team to win three consecutive Super Bowls.<\/p>\n

For the Texans to shock the world, they’ll have to play their best game of the season for a second consecutive week.<\/p>\n

“For us to play well every week, it’s going to start with our D-line and our offensive line — that’s the challenge,” Ryans said. “For us to win this game, we have to win up front.<\/p>\n

“If we come out of this game and can say our offensive line and defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage, played physical and dictated the tempo, then we’ll come out on top.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cSimilar to our last game, we have to stay the course,” Head Coach DeMeco Ryans said this week. “Remain persistent throughout the game and find a way to win in those critical moments.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kansas-city-chiefs"],"yoast_head":"\nMcClain: Offensive, defensive lines vital to Texans\u2019 plan to upset Chiefs - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"McClain: Offensive, defensive lines vital to Texans\u2019 plan to upset Chiefs - Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cSimilar to our last game, we have to stay the course," Head Coach DeMeco Ryans said this week. "Remain persistent throughout the game and find a way to win in those critical moments.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-16T02:59:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ETR6GV.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701\",\"name\":\"McClain: Offensive, defensive lines vital to Texans\u2019 plan to upset Chiefs - Breaking News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ETR6GV.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-16T02:59:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-16T02:59:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ETR6GV.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ETR6GV.png\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"McClain: Offensive, defensive lines vital to Texans\u2019 plan to upset Chiefs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"Breaking News\",\"description\":\"Explore top US sports stories, and live updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\",\"name\":\"MrKen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MrKen\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"McClain: Offensive, defensive lines vital to Texans\u2019 plan to upset Chiefs - Breaking News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"McClain: Offensive, defensive lines vital to Texans\u2019 plan to upset Chiefs - Breaking News","og_description":"\u201cSimilar to our last game, we have to stay the course,\" Head Coach DeMeco Ryans said this week. \"Remain persistent throughout the game and find a way to win in those critical moments.\u201d","og_url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701","og_site_name":"Breaking News","article_published_time":"2025-01-16T02:59:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ETR6GV.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"MrKen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MrKen","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701","name":"McClain: Offensive, defensive lines vital to Texans\u2019 plan to upset Chiefs - Breaking News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ETR6GV.png","datePublished":"2025-01-16T02:59:30+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-16T02:59:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ETR6GV.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ETR6GV.png","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10701#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"McClain: Offensive, defensive lines vital to Texans\u2019 plan to upset Chiefs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/","name":"Breaking News","description":"Explore top US sports stories, and live updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15","name":"MrKen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MrKen"},"url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10701"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10703,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10701\/revisions\/10703"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}