In the NFL’s Week 15, the Kansas City Chiefs guaranteed their eighth straight playoff appearance (and their seventh consecutive AFC West crown) with a 30-24 overtime road victory against the Houston Texans.
The 1-11-1 Texans were surprisingly competitive, holding a 14-13 halftime lead after running back Isiah Pacheco fumbled in the second quarter, giving Houston a short field that led to its second touchdown. In the third quarter, another fumble by wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster gave the Texans another short field that led Houston to take a 21-16 lead. With the game tied at 24, Kansas City placekickers Harrison Butker’s 51-yard field goal attempt with 17 seconds remaining was wide right.
In overtime, the Texans forced a Kansas City punt on the opening drive — but on successive plays, defensive end Frank Clark forced a fumble by Houston quarterback Davis Mills. Willie Gay Jr. extracted it from the scrum to get the ball back — and running back Jerick McKinnon ran for a game-ending 26-yeard touchdown.
McKinnon was the Chiefs’ offensive star with 122 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns — but none of it would have been possible without quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who competed 36 of 41 passes for 336 yards and two touchdowns — and also ran for a score.