The Houston Texans are left pondering what might have been after their defeat against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round.
The Kansas City Chiefs advanced to the AFC Championship Game, with aspirations of achieving the NFL’s first Super Bowl three-peat. On Saturday afternoon, Kansas City emerged victorious, prevailing over the Houston Texans with a final score of 23-14.
For the Texans, the journey home will undoubtedly be filled with thoughts of “what if.” Kicker Kai’mi Fairbairn faced a challenging game, missing one field goal, having another blocked, and failing to convert an extra point. Despite outgaining the Chiefs 336-212 and securing 18 first downs to Kansas City’s 12, the Texans lost the time of possession battle, managing 33:26 compared to 26:34 for the Chiefs, while also not turning the football over.
Typically, achieving such statistics in an NFL Playoff game would lead to a victory, but today was not the Texans’ day.
Remarkably, Houston became the first team in NFL Playoff history to outgain their opponent by 100 yards or more without turning the ball over and still lose the game. As noted by Benjamin Solak of ESPN, the Texans now hold this unique distinction.
In contrast, the other 49 teams that have outgained their opponents by 100 yards or more without turnovers have all secured victories in their playoff games:
Per @ESPNStatsInfo, the Texans are the first team to out-gain their opponent by 100+ yards (336-212), not turn the ball over, and lose a postseason game.
Previous such teams were 49-0 in the playoffs.
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) January 19, 2025
This statistic will certainly make for a difficult flight home for the Texans.
