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A20 SPORTS
Monday 13 January 2020

Chiefs rally from 24-0 hole to beat Texans 51-31 in playoffs

By DAVE SKRETTA 41 against the Colts in the
AP Sports Writer 2002 wild-card round.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Even when the Texans final-
The Kansas City Chiefs are ly cracked the scoreboard,
back in the AFC champion- when Watson scrambled to
ship game. his left and dived over the
How they returned to the pylon, the Chiefs rendered
brink of their first Super Bowl the touchdown moot. In
appearance in 50 years four plays they went 72
was unlike anything any- yards to set up the fifth TD
body could have imag- pass by Mahomes, the strike
ined. to little-used tight end Blake
After digging a 24-0 hole Bell giving coach Andy
against Houston early in the Reid's team a postseason-
second quarter Sunday, record seven straight TD
Patrick Mahomes and the drives.
rest of the high-flying Chiefs It also gave a festive crowd
embarked on the biggest that turned out early in
comeback in franchise his- freezing weather and a
tory. Their young superstar slight drizzle a chance to
proceeded to throw for 321 celebrate early.
yards and five touchdowns, INJURIES
Travis Kelce and Damien Kansas City Chiefs running back Damien Williams (26) scores a touchdown past Houston Texans Houston played without S
Williams reached the end safety Justin Reid (20) during the second half of an NFL divisional playoff football game, in Kansas Jahleel Addae (hamstring)
zone three times apiece, City, Mo., Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. and TE Jordan Akins (ham-
and Kansas City reeled off Associated Press string). They also lost RT Chris
41 consecutive points in a they were outscored 28-0 ter finishing on a 22-3 run return set up a second Clark to a knee injury early
51-31 victory over the Tex- in the second quarter. They to beat Buffalo last week, Mahomes-to-Kelce touch- in the game, and backup
ans in the divisional round continued to allow Kansas while the mountain of mis- down in a matter of sec- Roderick Johnson struggled
of the playoffs. City to pull away during a cues made by the Chiefs onds. And a third came af- against the Chiefs pass rush
The Chiefs (13-4), who lost dismal third, their epic col- made them only the fourth ter the Chiefs forced a punt the rest of the game.
to the Patriots in overtime in lapse leaving the reborn home playoff team to trail — a successful one, for a Kansas City sat defensive
last year's conference title Houston franchise 0-4 in the 21-0 after the first quarter. change — and they drove tackle Chris Jones, who
game, will play Tennessee divisional round. Then it was the Texans' turn 90 yards to take a stunning strained his calf muscle late
next Sunday for a spot in The Chiefs certainly gave to struggle. 28-24 halftime lead. in the week and couldn't
Miami. The Titans stunned them the perfect oppor- They had stretched the The comeback became a make it through pregame
Lamar Jackson and the tunity to finally break that lead to 24-0 before the clobbering by the time the warm-ups. WR Tyreek Hill
top-seeded Baltimore Ra- streak in the first quarter. Chiefs, whose largest defi- third quarter ended. left briefly after a hard hit
vens on Saturday night. On defense, Kansas City cit overcome had been The Chiefs' breezed down- but eventually returned to
Kelce finished with 10 blew overage on Kenny 21 points, put together a field to start the second the game.
catches for 134 yards, Wil- Stills on the opening posses- comeback for the ages. half, and Williams finished UP NEXT
liams ran for two scores sion, allowing him to walk Mahomes hit Williams with the drive with his first TD run. The Texans will spend the
while catching a TD pass, into the end zone from 54 a quick touchdown toss to Their overhauled defense offseason wondering how
helping the Chiefs win their yards. On offense, they begin it, then Houston cu- under coordinator Steve they let a 24-0 lead slip
seventh consecutive game wasted timeouts, dropped riously faked a punt at its Spagnuolo sacked Watson away, and the Chiefs will
and reach back-to-back a series of easy passes and own 31-yard line and was on fourth down to get the begin preparing for the Ti-
AFC title games for the first managed just 46 yards. stuffed, giving the Chiefs ball right back, and Ma- tans in the AFC title game.
time. And on special teams, the a short field and another homes and Co. required Kansas City lost lost 35-32
Watson, meanwhile, threw Chiefs had a punt blocked easy touchdown. just six more plays to posi- at Tennessee in Week 10,
for 388 yards and two for a score and fumbled a On the ensuing kickoff, Tex- tion Williams for another TD when Derrick Henry ran for
touchdowns while run- return that set up another ans return man DeAndre run and a 41-24 lead. 188 yards and two touch-
ning for another, but not touchdown. Carter had the ball pop It was the most unan- downs against them. It was
even his heroics could bail Indeed, the Texans were loose and into the arms of swered points in a playoff the most recent time the
out the Texans (11-7) after humming right along af- Darwin Thompson, whose game since the Jets had Chiefs lost a game.q