Film study: How Houston Texans' defense shut down, frustrated Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce

Travis Kelce was a big reason why the Houston Texans‘ 2024 season ended in mid-January at Arrowhead Stadium.

The tight end gashed the Texans for 117 yards on seven catches as the Kansas City Chiefs bested them 23-14 in the divisional round of last year’s AFC playoffs. Kelce’s fourth-quarter touchdown – an 11-yard pass from Patrick Mahomes through the middle of Houston’s zone coverage – provided the game-winning score and prevented the Texans from reaching the conference championship game for the first time.

But just under 11 months later, Kelce’s containment helped Houston continue another historic crusade.

The Texans held Kelce to just one catch for 8 yards in Sunday night’s 20-10 victory in Kansas City. The output was the lowest of the year for the four-time All-Pro, and it tied for his second-fewest receiving yards in a game since 2018.

The fruitless performance didn’t come without effort from the Chiefs. Kelce was targeted five times on the night. But Houston’s top-notch defense took away almost all of his opportunities, partly propelling its team to a win that put it back into an AFC playoff spot after a 0-3 start.

Texans Insider with Jonathan M. Alexander

Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said there was no focus on limiting Kelce specifically going into the game. The Texans’ overall execution just allowed them to do so.

“Everybody just did what we had to do,” Ryans said Monday. “We just played defense the proper way.”

Houston will remember the win fondly for how its defense forced Mahomes into one of his worst professional starts ever. But as it does, here’s a look at how the coverage of Kelce created such a defensive domination for the Texans.

Clamping Kelce

A major factor for Kelce’s success against Houston last playoffs was his ability to run free. The tight end was rarely touched as he went out on his routes, allowing him to easily find open space for big plays. Kelce didn’t have such liberties Sunday night.

The Texans were consistently physical with the big target across his 33 routes ran on the evening. Houston disrupted Kelce’s timing with Mahomes by contacting him early and taking him out of the quarterback’s progressions. The strategy was particularly effective in critical situations, as the Texans’ tight coverage eliminated Kelce from third and fourth-down plays that he’s come up big on throughout his 13-year career.

Houston’s physical plan first shined midway through the third quarter on a Kansas City third-and-4 attempt. Kelce was Mahomes’ first read on a slant route from an empty formation, to which the Texans countered with off man coverage.

Despite Azeez Al-Shaair starting five yards from the line of scrimmage, he found a way to legally get hands on Kelce. The linebacker sniffed out his route and took a step forward to contact the tight end in the legal area downfield. Kelce had to run his route short of the line to gain because of Al-Shaair’s technique and inside leverage, forcing Mahomes to pump fake his throw and move on to secondary target Rashee Rice. The Texans’ pass rush had pushed the pocket by then, and Denico Autry batted away the pass to create a fourth down and force a punt.

Houston displayed more physicality with Kelce on a critical third down late in the second quarter. Kansas City was driving with just over a minute left in the half down 10-0, but Kamari Lassiter’s tight coverage of the tight end helped create a sack on 3rd-and-5 to end any touchdown chances. Harrison Butker would miss the ensuing field-goal attempt, causing the Chiefs to be shut out in the first half for the first time since 2018.

Kelce wasn’t Mahomes’ first target on the play as he read through a bunch concept to the opposite side. Great coverage from Houston’s secondary took away all those options, forcing the quarterback to look backside. But he didn’t have anything open there either, as contact from Lassiter covered up Kelce and forced his route short of the first-down marker.

The tight end took off after seeing Mahomes was out of options, looking to make a scrambling play with the quarterback like he’s done so many times before. Yet Lassiter stayed tight and wouldn’t let him break free. Mahomes bounced around the pocket searching for fleeting avenues to throw before succumbing to the Texans’ pass rush.

More physicality with Kelce caused issues for Kansas City during the second half. Mahomes targeted the tight end on a third-and-4 slant midway through the third quarter. But legal contact from Jalen Pitre – whether Mahomes and Kelce saw it as such or not – disrupted the route and forced another Chiefs punt.

Houston matched Kansas City’s three-by-one formation with Tampa 2 coverage, as Al-Shaair traveled with receiver Tyquan Thornton’s seam route downfield. That left open space over the middle for Kelce’s slant. But the tight end himself never got open because of Pitre’s push.

The Texans’ nickel corner got his hands on Kelce at the top of his break, keeping them on him through the legal contact zone five yards downfield. The tight end couldn’t separate from Pitre’s tight coverage despite no holding coming from the defensive back. Mahomes tossed the ball at Kelce’s feet in an attempt to draw a penalty. But the officiating crew saw Pitre’s play as clean, forcing yet another Chiefs punt.

Houston’s containment of Kelce didn’t just exist near the line of scrimmage, however. On Kansas City’s opening first down of the fourth quarter, Al-Shaair perfectly defended a Kelce option route deep downfield and forced Mahomes to throw the ball away.

The linebacker carried with the tight end from his Cover 3 underneath zone, jumped outside as he diagnosed the route combination and took him away as a viable option. The coverage forced Mahomes to hold onto the ball and let the Texans’ pass rush penetrate, ultimately causing the quarterback to give up on the play.

Houston’s coverage of Kelce was up close and personal no matter who was responsible for him throughout the night. The team used a myriad of defenders to take away Kansas City’s top target, ranging from linebackers like Al-Shaair to Pitre at nickel and even corners like Lassiter and Derek Stingley Jr. But all were consistent in contacting Kelce early and sticking with him tightly afterwards, a technique that prevented Mahomes from finding him often and gave the Texans’ pass rush time to affect the quarterback’s other throws.

Receiving recovery

While minimal, there were a few instances where Houston gave Kelce opportunities to get open. Yet its coverage unit got assistance from elsewhere whenever those did happen.

Kansas City faced a critical fourth-and-1 three plays after Mahomes’ throwaway in the fourth quarter. Kelce found open space on the play and became available for a key conversion, much like he’s been able to do for the Chiefs in the past. But Mahomes did not target his trusty tight end because of other factors, and the ball fell incomplete. The failed attempt gave the Texans’ incredible field position on Kansas City’s 31-yard line and Dare Ogunbowale ran in what would be the game-winning score six plays later.

Kelce got open initially because of a Houston coverage bust. The secondary was playing man, but two defenders ran with receiver Hollywood Brown leaking out of the backfield. That left no one near Kelce as he settled over the middle of the field.

Mahomes was never able to see that, however, as he was too busy fleeing Will Anderson Jr. on the edge. The dominant defensive end beat right tackle Jaylon Moore for one of his seven pressures on the night, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, and forced Mahomes up into the pocket.

The quarterback then saw Rice running across the field and targeted him. But Derek Stingley Jr. was tight behind the receiver and got a hand in to disrupt the catch, forcing the pivotal turnover on downs.

The Texans also got help from Kelce and Mahomes themselves, both of whom didn’t play quite to their Hall of Fame caliber on the evening. Kelce dropped an easy completion to open the Chiefs’ penultimate drive of the night. Then a combination of a poor Mahomes throw and Kelce’s inability to wrangle it led to an Al-Shaair interception on the next play and iced a Houston victory.

Kelce broke open on the play with his corner route, separating from Al-Shaair’s underneath zone in Cover 2. Mahomes also saw that quickly, stepped into his throw and tossed in rhythm to his tight end. But the ball was uncharacteristically behind Kelce, who reached back and got his hands on the pass but couldn’t quite complete a catch.

The tight end would bobble the ball just enough to let Al-Shaair recover on the play, as the linebacker continued his pursuit and eventually caught the tight end. Al-Shaair then delivered a blow to Kelce’s back that completely jared the ball loose before snatching it away for the turnover.

As good as the Texans’ second level has been all year, there were bound to be busts Sunday night given the quality of Kansas City’s offense. But when they happened, either Houston’s pass rush picked up for the coverage or things fell apart for the Chiefs. The Texans’ defense was otherworldly in the win and also caught some breaks. And it was due for some in Arrowhead after such struggles there in recent seasons.

Takeaways

Kelce has dominated even the best defenses in his NFL career and had plenty of recent success against Houston’s unit. Yet the tight end found no prosperity against the Texans group Sunday night because of its physicality. That obviously frustrated Kelce, as he reportedly declined to speak to the media twice after the game.

The performance shows that Houston’s defense can rattle even some of this generation’s greatest players. It also backs up a self-proclaimed notion that the group is the best in the NFL.

It’s hard to argue otherwise if the Texans continue to play this way defensively. And if it does, this group can take Houston wherever it wants to go come January’s playoff rebirth.

This article originally published at Film study: How Houston Texans’ defense shut down, frustrated Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce.

Film study: How Houston Texans’ defense shut down, frustrated Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce

Tags: