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The Kansas City Chiefs (11-5) head to NRG Stadium to square off against the Houston Texans (9-7) this Saturday at 3:35 p.m. in the Wild Card round of the AFC playoffs.
The Texans, in similar fashion to the Chiefs, rallied after a 2-5 start to make the postseason by winning 7 of their last 9 games. It's head coach Bill O' Brien's first playoff trip in his two years coaching the Texans.
"It's an exciting time and we're just happy to be in it," O'Brien said. "We know we have a huge challenge here with the Chiefs, but it's an exciting time."
Just as Chiefs head coach Andy Reid noted this week, O'Brien explained that although the Texans played the Chiefs in Week 1, a lot has changed over the course of the 17-week season.
"Obviously, the first game, they had Jamaal Charles, and unfortunately he's injured," he said. "There are some things that happened during the course of the year where your team has to weather the storm and variably, the team has to change. I think both teams have changed a bit."
Here's a look at the Texans coaching staff:
Texans Coaching Staff
Position
Name
Head Coach
Bill O' Brien
Offensive Coordinator
George Godsey
Defensive Coordinator
Romeo Crennel
Special Teams Coordinator
Bob Ligashesky
The most talented player on the Houston Texans offense is wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who became the team's true No. 1 option this year with Andre Johnson's departure this past offseason.
Hopkins finished third in the league in yards receiving (1,521) and had a team-leading 11 touchdowns receiving this season, sending him to the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career.
"It means a lot," he explained of making the Pro Bowl. "It means my teammates have definitely been playing some good football and the coaches have been doing a good job of helping me get there. The Pro Bowl really isn't, in my position, an individual award. It takes a lot of guys to do their job for you to be successful."
O'Brien explained that Hopkins is as good as he is because of his work ethic.
"From the day we walked in here, he's put in extra time to really learn our offense," O'Brien said. "He's able to line up in different spots and then, he's got a really unique skillset. He can run good routes, he's got great hands. He can catch anything. He's a smart guy. He's got size. He's a guy that has really played well for us this year."
Hopkins and the Texans have played with four different starting quarterbacks this season, led in starts by Brian Hoyer, who currently has the role and will start against the Chiefs on Saturday.
Hoyer has been in the league since 2009 and spent three seasons as New England Patriots QB Tom Brady's backup, learning from the future Hall of Famer.
While he was able to showcase that he had the capability of starting for an NFL team last season in Cleveland, 2015 was by far the best season of his career. In 2015, Hoyer set career highs in touchdowns (19), completion percentage (60.7) and passer rating (91.4) in seasons in which he started three games or more.
When Hoyer wasn't throwing the ball this season to Hopkins, he utilized veteran Nate Washington. But with Washington (hip) and Cecil Shorts III (hamstring) both dealing with injuries, rookie Jaelen Strong would be the next man up if need be. Strong had 14 receptions for 161 yards receiving and 3 touchdowns for the Texans this season.
As far as a rushing game, after Arian Foster went on Injured Reserve earlier this season, second-year running back Alfred Blue took the lion's share of the snaps for Houston. Blue averaged 3.8 yards on 183 attempts (698 yards) this season.
The Texans tend to pass more than throw by far, throwing 619 times and rushing 472 times during 2015.
A key injury to note heading into Wild Card weekend is that of starting left tackle Duane Brown, who tore his quadriceps during the first quarter of Week 17. Veteran offensive lineman Chris Clark, who has started 31 career games since 2010, will start in Brown's place.
Here's a look at the unofficial offensive depth chart for the Texans:
Houston Texans Offensive Depth Chart (Unofficial)
POS
FIRST
SECOND
THIRD
OTHER
WR1
DeAndre Hopkins
Cecil Shorts
LT
Chris Clark
Andrew McDonald
LG
Xavier Su'a-Filo
Oday Aboushi
C
Ben Jones
RG
Brandon Brooks
Oday Aboushi
RT
Derek Newton
Kendall Lamm
TE
C.J. Fiedorowicz
Ryan Griffin
Garrett Graham
WR2
Nate Washington
Keith Mumphery
Jaelen Strong
QB
Brian Hoyer
Brandon Weeden
B.J. Daniels
RB
Alfred Blue
Jonathan Grimes
Chris Polk
Akeem Hunt
FB
Jay Prosch
Here's a look at the Texans numbers and ranks so far this season on offense:
Offense
Chiefs
Texans
Net Yards Per Game
331.2 (27th)
347.8 (19th)
Yards Per Play
5.55 (12th)
4.94 (31st)
Points Per Game
25.3 (9th)
21.2 (T-21st)
Possession Average
30:55 (11th)
30:48 (14th)
Net Rushing Yards Per Game
127.8 (6th)
108.2 (15th)
Net Passing Yards Per Game
203.4 (30th)
239.6 (18th)
Had Intercepted/Yards
7/116
12/123
Sacks Allowed/Yards
46/-238.0 (T-26th)
36/-246.0 (16th)
Fumbles/Lost
16/8
22/8
Third down Pct.
38.2% (T-19th)
38.6% (18th)
Red Zone TD Pct.
57.4% (14th)
57.8% (13th)
Giveaways
15 (2nd)
20 (T-11th)
The Texans defense begins with defensive end J.J. Watt, who recently fully healed from a broken left hand suffered at practice in early December.
Watt finally shed the cast he had been playing with last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"Even when he had the club on his hand, he was still disruptive, very disruptive," O' Brien explained, "but obviously when you're on the defensive line and you have the use of your fingers and your full hand, you can do more. He had a great game for us Sunday against Jacksonville. I think everybody understands how much he means to our team."
Watt had 3 of Houston's 8 sacks against QB Blake Bortles and the Jaguars Sunday and in doing so, clinched the NFL's sack lead for 2015 with 17.5.
Watt is complemented in the Texans front seven by linebacker Whitney Mercilus, who finished second on the team in sacks with 12.0. Mercilus roomed with Chiefs offensive lineman Jeff Allen at the University of Illinois.
"I think we've played really good team defense," O'Brien added of his entire unit. "When you look at it and you show the team on J.J.'s plays or Whitney Mercilus, or (Vince) Wilfork or John Simon, all these guys that get to the quarterback for us, (Jadaveon) Clowney when he's been in there, a lot of it has to do with the coverage. The coverage has been good. Whether it's Brian Cushing underneath, or Johnathan Joseph, Kareem Jackson, the safeties (Quintin) Demps and (Andre) Hal, it all has to work together and I think that that's what happens. We're playing good team defense and obviously the challenge is to continue that against the Chiefs."
Hal leads the Texans in interceptions with 4, while Joseph leads the team in passes defensed with 22.
Familiar Face:Safety Quintin Demps played for the Chiefs in 2013. Demps played in all 16 games, recording 4 interceptions. Demps had the only fumble recovery touchdown for the Texans in 2015.
Here's a look at the unofficial defensive depth chart for the Texans:
Houston Texans Defensive Depth Chart (Unofficial)
POS
FIRST
SECOND
THIRD
RDE
J.J. Watt
Jeoffrey Pagan
NT
Vince Wilfork
Christian Covington
LDE
Jared Crick
Brandon Dunn
OLB
Whitney Mercilus
MLB
Brian Cushing
Akeem Dent
Max Bullough
ILB
Benardrick McKinney
Justin Tuggle
Brian Peters
JLB
Jadeveon Clowney
John Simon
LCB
Kareem Jackson
Kevin Johnson
Darryl Morris
RCB
Johnathan Joseph
A.J. Bouye
SS
Quintin Demps
Eddie Pleasant
Kurtis Drummond
FS
Andre Hal
Rahim Moore
Corey Moore
Here's a look at the Texans numbers and ranks so far this season on defense:
Defense
Chiefs
Texans
Net Yards Per Game
329.3 (7th)
310.2 (3rd)
Yards Per Play
5.08 (6th)
5.03 (5th)
Points Per Game
17.9 (3rd)
19.6 (T-7th)
Net Rushing Yards Per Game
98.2 (8th)
99.8 (10th)
Net Passing Yards Per Game
231.1 (9th)
210.4 (3rd)
Intercepted by/Yards
22/477
14/180
Sacks For/Yards
47/-290.0 (4th)
45/-311.0 (5th)
Opponent Fumbles/Lost
19/7
20/11
Third down Pct.
33.2% (2nd)
28.5% (1st)
Red Zone TD Pct.
60.0% (21st)
56.4% (15th)
Takeaways
29 (5th)
25 (T-12th)
Finally, here's a side-by-side comparison of the individual statistical leaders for both teams:
Chiefs
Texans
Passing Yards
Smith
3,486
Hoyer
2,606
* *
* *
* *
Yates
370
* *
* *
* *
Weeden
305
Rushing Yards
West
634
Blue
698
Smith
498
Polk
334
Ware
403
Grimes
282
Receiving Yards
Maclin
1,088
Hopkins
1,521
Kelce
875
Washington
658
Wilson
451
Shorts III
484
Points Scored
Santos
129
Novak
83
Maclin
48
Hopkins
68
Ware
36
Washington
24
Interceptions
Peters
8
Hal
3
Parker
3
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Three tied
2
Five tied
2
Four tied
1
Branch
1
Sacks
Houston
7.5
Watt
17.5
Hali
6.5
Mercilus
12
Howard
5.5
Simon
5.0
Parker
5
Clowney
4.5
Defensive Tackles
Johnson
116
Cushing
110
Parker
78
Watt
76
Berry
61
Demps
61
