Texans vs Chiefs Sunday Night Football Preview: Predictions and Best Bets | NFL Week 14

Texans vs Chiefs Sunday Night Football Preview: Predictions and Best Bets | NFL Week 14

back to CBS sports HQ. The AFC takes center stage on Sunday night with two teams trending in opposite directions. The Texans have gone seven and two since starting the season zero and three, but they got to keep winning to keep their playoff hopes alive. As for the four time Super Bowl champions, it’s been do or die for weeks now. Casey looking for the recipe to success late in the season. Just a 38% shot to play postseason ball at this point. Of course, a rematch and the first meeting between these two since Kansas City won 2314, in the 2014 divisional round. Always love talking ball. When it’s these two fellas on set. We’ve got Pete Prisco and DuSable here ready to break down this colossal Sunday night showdown between these two. And guys, I want to start with the Kansas City Chiefs because it feels like this season, every single week, it’s almost like we’re making excuses for why they should still be in the conversation. And every week we’re saying they have to win this game. They have to win this game. And when you look at Patrick Mahomes, he’s done everything possible to keep this team afloat. And yet, for the first time in his career, Pete, he’s staring at a less than 50% chance to make it into the postseason. What do you make of Kansas City moving forward? They can’t afford another loss that much we know. And he came out and said that we got to win every game. And I think they really do have to win every single game left on their schedule. They’re not going to get in the playoffs. And by the way, everybody else in the AFC. Big Texans fans, this 100% other than other than those the those two teams in their own division, the Colts and the Jaguars. But everybody else rooting for the Texans. Nobody wants the Chiefs in. I just think that there’s been a lot of flaws. The offensive line early in the season, the wide receivers were in and out of the lineup. You get rice back. The line hadn’t played as well. You got injuries at tackle and guard Trey Smith was hurt. Jawaan Taylor went out of the game. Simmons went out of the game. So add it all up. And they haven’t been as good on offense. But on defense Chris Jones starting to play better. The last two games have been good. But where’s the pass rush. You already know. You don’t rush the passer. You’re not going to win in this league. And Spagnola can scheme a lot of things up. But if you don’t rush the passer better than they’ve rushed it, they’re going to be home for the postseason. And that’s where I want to start because that was my concern. And Pete knows this. I’ve said it the last couple of weeks. Last week when you look at the game versus the Dallas Cowboys, Dak Prescott had all day to throw the ball. And when you have the type of firepower he has on the outside, it doesn’t bode well. Even though you got good young corners. There was too many times that Trent McDuffie and Jalen Watson were on islands and asked to cover for 4 or 5 six seconds. That’s not indicative of having success on defense. And then you talked about it on the offensive side. Me and Pete talked about this earlier at the pivotal times in games, Mahomes mobility comes into play, but there’s times where he doesn’t trust his playmakers on the outside. There’s times where guys are open, but he’s like, I’m going to make sure that we get a first down here. I think he has to trust his receivers a little bit more, especially in a game like the Houston Texans, because we know what their book ends. They’re going to be hot off the edge. They’re already have issues at the offensive line with the injuries that the Chiefs have right now. So that would be something to circle in this game. Patrick Mahomes is number one in the NFL when it comes to pass yards outside of the pocket. Well the Houston Texans are number one when it comes to not allowing pass yards outside. They only give up 11 pass yards per game outside the pocket. So that’s what has hurt teams when they play Patrick Mahomes in this offense. Him getting outside and using his mobility not only to run the ball, but to throw the ball. That’s the matchup I want to see today, because the Texans are really good at stopping quarterbacks from doing that. You’re peeking at my notes. I had that written down no I didn’t. You guys all got got the research patch pad we did. You need to get locked in Pete. Something you mentioned though, the fact that Kansas City has to win out essentially to stay alive, sports lines, giving them a 16% chance to do that. The saving grace, at least this week, is that they have dominated Houston for the most part, five straight wins. But you kind of alluded to it. You know, there’s been a lot of things that have gone wrong for KC over the season. If you could point to maybe one thing, is there one thing that’s held them back or is it just a collection? I feel like it’s a collection, but it’s what Pete talked about and I’ve said it for a while. Lack of pass rush. I’ve said it since day one. The league is run by passers and guys that affect the passer. So pass rushers and they have not had consistency in regards to affecting the quarterback. And then when Steve Spagnola decides to blitz like last week versus Dallas Cowboys, it’s hard for your for you to ask your corners against two really good receivers to hold up. Now the interesting thing is Texans don’t have a a George Pickens or CeeDee lamb combination. But Nico Collins kind of reminds you of George Pickens. He can really be an issue. And when you look at what he’s done, he’s really come on strong. The last four games, Pete over 380 yards receiving over the last four games. And he’s really good off platform with C.J. Stroud. So if guys don’t get to the quarterback and C.J. Stroud is able to get to his second or third read and then maybe get outside the pocket, that’s where you worry about this Kansas City defense. So when you look at it to me, the major issue for them has been lack of pass rush on defense. Let’s not forget about this Texas team. Everybody’s ready to crown him and everything. They were trailing Jacksonville by 19 points in the fourth quarter in their season was over. And they somehow Jacksonville let him off the hook. And they rallied. So they also were pushed to overtime by the Titans a couple of weeks ago. And that was without CJ Stroud I get it. But he wasn’t very good in the beginning of last week’s game either. He came on though. Then he came on. He started to feel comfortable a little bit. The key matchup here and you mentioned it is can they block Chris Jones on the interior and can Karlaftis or somebody get some pressure on the edge. Because if they don’t it’s going to be a long season but the season will be over. But look at the schedule though, the way it plays out. It’s favorable for the Chiefs. When you look at it, you know you can look at Broncos game, but that’s at home though. It’s at home. And so if it was at Denver it’d be different story but it’s at home. And so if they get past this one which is at home the Chargers you know and then you look at the Titans come on. The schedule is favorable. And they close out with the Raiders who might be well I mean they still have three times even though they’re at home. They have three challenging games right. You talk about this game versus Texans. The Chargers who already beat them earlier this year and who are fighting for their playoff lives, and then the Denver Broncos are probably going to see them sweeping all they could because they’re at home and I believe they’re five and one at home. They’ve been really good at home this year. They have not been very good. On the road is where the struggles come. So as long as they’re at home it seems like they have a shot. I do want to go to the other side of this one. Where, to your point, CJ Stroud has not been available dealing with that concussion. But Davis Mills stepped in. They won three in a row. They found ways to win in the overtime moments Pete we’re going to talk extensively about the defense in just a minute because I know that that’s a big key to success here. But Pete I’ll give you first word what’s been clicking for the Texans even without CJ Stroud in the mix. Well one thing that’s improved is the offensive line. No question. They were a disaster to start the season. And they’ve kind of solidified the group up front. And they’ve settled on five guys and they’re much better than they were early in the season. And when that’s the case he’s more comfortable and everybody can stand back there. And you saw it with Davis Mills. He was he wasn’t putting up gaudy numbers, but he was precise. He was accurate. He made the throws when he needed to make him. And I think CJ Stroud the second half against the Colts did the exact same thing. So that’s the big to me. That’s the biggest the biggest thing, the offensive line I would say. And then to couple that Woody Marks, you know me and Pete, we’ve talked about him. He’s really come on strong now. He didn’t have gaudy numbers last week. But you always say Pete right. To close out games. You got to be able to run the ball. And that’s what he was able to do last week. So I think his ascension has really helped this offensive line as well. I would say, Pete, it’s a lot easier to go forward than to go backwards. If you’re an offensive lineman, you don’t want to have to go backwards against guys that are better athletes than you. You want to go forward and not guys off the football. I know people had questions about Ed Ingram. He’s actually played pretty well. And then Trent Brown, I never thought and I have a lot of love for Trent. That’s my guy. Former teammate. But he had missed the majority of all of training camp and missed the first couple of weeks. He’s been like that key cog that has kind of solidified this offensive line. So I know that was a big get for them. So to Pete’s point, the offensive line has been significantly better. They were a struggle bus the first couple weeks of the season. Houston can be the first team in NFL history to make the playoffs in back to back years, after starting the season zero and three, so you’ve got to give them credit for. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. A tribute to Demeco Ryans. By the way, what have you liked about him? I mean, just he just has the right demeanor. The players respect him. He can see that even when things don’t go well, he always has the mentality that they’re going to rally and get this thing together. He seems like a coach’s guy as well too, for the players. I’m so glad I have you on set though, because we get to talk about this Texans defense. Oh yeah, and you know, I love giving you your flowers. I remember sitting with you like last year and we were talking about Danielle Hunter and the impact that he’s had. Now you add in the rest of that defense they’re the number one scoring defense. Best total defense this season. No team in the Super Bowl ERA has missed the playoffs with those two categories. They’ve literally held this team up the entire year. Like when you look at it, I believe the Texans are four and oh in one score games the last four games. But I believe they were zero and five before that in the beginning of the year. But that lets you know how good the defense was because they had no help from the offense the first couple of weeks of the season. Pete, you talked about Haley. They were oh, and three a lot of people were like, are they even going to make the playoffs? Are they going to make a run? It’s been because of this defense. And it starts with the bookends. And that’s why that’s the key matchup this week. We don’t know who’s going to be healthy as far as the offensive tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs, which is a concern if you’re Patrick Mahomes. But I know who will show up. Those dynamic duo of Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson. I mean what they’ve been able to do. You go back to that bills game. They suffocated Josh Allen in that offensive line. They moved Will Anderson to standing up linebacker last week versus the Colts. And he literally ran through the center and almost took take took off Daniel Jones’s head like they everything starts on defense with those two bookends. But they have one of the best secondaries in football. Caleb Bullock has really come into his own. And Derek Stingley I believe, had 30 coverage snaps. Peak didn’t allow a catch last week. That’s how dominant he is. Everything starts with this defense. You didn’t get the the Bortolini turtle turtle. He was on his. He was on his back like a turtle. He ran and played pretty good. The Colts this year. He ran right over. I’ll let you know. How good will they do a great job of stunning and looping him. And he’s really good at it. They’re tough to contain. But the thing you have and this is where the Chiefs have some problem, the thing to do against them, I believe, is to run right at them. And the problem is the Chiefs don’t have a great run game. I mean, they’ve had problems running the football consistently this year, but I think they’re not big up front, you know. And so I think the best thing to do is run right at them and neutralize those pass rushers if you can. And coming from me, you believe I’m saying that right. You let those pass rushers dictate to you. You’re in big trouble, particularly with the coverage. They don’t do a lot of exotic stuff on defense. They have great cover corners and pass rushers who can rush in a four man front. So the best thing to do is run right at them. Advocating for running backs, advocating kicking field goals. Who is Pete Prisco? All right, it is time for fresh picks presented by fresh pet healthy fresh food fresh from the fridge. Ooh say that three times fast Texans chiefs. The Chiefs are favored in this one minus three and a half. It’s a home game so that makes sense. The point total is set at 42 Pete I’ll give you first word. What’s your pick. I’m going down with the ship. Like I said yesterday, every week I’m going down with the ship. I just believe that they’re going to find a way. Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes will find a way. Not only are they going to find a way, I think they’re going to find a way to win the rest of their games and get into the postseason, and nobody wants them there. Well, you know, we’ve been on opposite sides of this going back to that Dallas game, going back to the game before that that the Chiefs lost. I just think this defense is out of this world. And when you look at it, the woes that the Chiefs have had on offense, being able to protect Patrick Mahomes now a lot of times he’s done a really good job being able to get outside the pocket with his mobility. But I gave you the stat earlier. This Texans defense is the number one defense in football and not allowing quarterbacks to throw the ball outside the pocket. I think those bookends really get after it. And I actually think they force Mahomes into a couple turnovers. I was going to take the points. Give me the Texans on the money line. The streak ends okay. You see he loves him some defense. Yes he does. Well you know I’m gonna go with the defensive team. All those defenses go with the defense. The Broncos he loves the Texans loves them defenses. How’s the old saying Pete. Defense wins championships. You better be able to get some chunk plays though. We’ll see if that rings true. Big chance for this defense taking on the Chiefs. It’s always hard to take on Patrick Mahomes regardless of where they’re at in the conversation. It’s never hard, though, to hang out with us on Sunday night’s game day recap. We bring you the best when it comes to reacting to all of the games on Sunday. We give us your winners and losers and it’s all happening right here on CBS

Leger Douzable and Pete Prisco join CBS Sports HQ to preview the AFC Matchup between the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs.

[0:00:00] Chiefs playoff chances hitting danger zone
[0:03:42] What has gone wrong for the Chiefs in 2025
[0:06:02] Texans rattle off 4 straight wins
[0:08:13] Texans boast the best defense in the NFL
[0:10:38] Game Picks

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