Houston Texans Games by Difficulty: No. 3
By Josh McSwain
The Kansas City Chiefs whipped the Texan’s tails twice last season. The Texans don’t have to wait long for a shot at revenge as they meet in week 2:
The Texans opened the season at home against the Chiefs last year, a game in which Brian Hoyer was so bad he was benched for Ryan Mallett, who nearly led the team back into the game. The season ended in the wild card round against the Chiefs, who picked Hoyer off four times en route to a 30-0 win.
The Chiefs and Texans have met eight times (including playoffs), with the Chiefs taking five of the meetings. Of those eight, six have been in Houston, with the Chiefs taking four the six. The Chiefs have a three game winning streak in the series (including playoffs).
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This will be a significant mental challenge for the Texans early in the season. Brock Osweiler will face a familiar opponent from his days in Denver, but he did not play that well against them when he replaced Peyton Manning last season.
For the Texans to win, the biggest thing will be to take care of the ball. That was what got them down early in both games against the Chiefs last year and will do so again if they let it. The Chiefs offense is built a lot on the play action pass, which means it will be crucial for the Texans to slow down the running game of Jamaal Charles and Charcandrick West.
Offensively for the Texans, this may not be a game where they can just lob it up to DeAndre Hopkins and let him go to work. Marcus Peters is a great young corner, so it will be the new receivers and Lamar Miller who will have to make plays offensively. If the new guys make plays and the Texans don’t turn it over, they can win this game.