The Houston Texans are taking on the Kansas City Chiefs this afternoon and will welcome an old friend as part of the festivities. When the two teams go toe-to-toe, Lovie Smith’s squad is going to be behind a couple of eight balls.
The first issue of course is that even when the Houston Texans have been mostly healthy, they haven’t been strictly … good. Having said that, the squad is 1-11-1 thanks in large part to the fact that it has spent a great deal of the 2022 season missing key players. Especially lately.
That trend continues against a Chiefs team that is trying its best to nab the top spot in the AFC Playoffs and earn itself home-field advantage throughout. Yes, the Chiefs have their own injured players, but they just aren’t anywhere near as impactful as what the Houston Texans are going to be missing.
Houston Texans Inactives
- QB Kyle Allen
- WR Nico Collins
- WR Brandin Cooks
- DB Steven Nelson
- LB Garret Wallow
- OL Kenyon Green
- TE O.J. Howard
Before you get too excited, the inactives list does not include players that have already been put on the IR. That’s why Dameon Pierce and Derek Stingley Jr. aren’t on here.
They are absolutely not playing today. One player that I had hope for this week is Brandin Cooks. He practiced towards the end of the week and looked good doing it. However, he’s not playing today. One has to wonder if, with just three games after the Chiefs game, if he might join his teammates on the IR.
Kansas City Chiefs Inactives
- QB Shane Buechele
- DE Joshua Kaindoh
- T Geron Christian
- T Darian Kinnard
- DE Malik Herring
While the Houston Texans have both their top receivers, their top tight end and a quarterback who started two games on their inactive list (and again, their starting running back is out too) it’s hard to find an impact player on this particular list.
Of course, Lovie Smith’s squad went into last week’s contest in a similar state and almost came out the victors, on the road. Can they close it out at home? It would be the biggest upset of the season if so.