Last time KC Chiefs played Texans in NFL playoffs, they ran out of touchdown fireworks
The last time the Chiefs played the Houston Texans in an AFC playoff game, Kansas City scored so often that the pyrotechnics team at Arrowhead Stadium ran out of fireworks for the touchdown celebrations.
It was Jan. 12. 2020, the day Patrick Mahomes marched the Chiefs out of a 24-point deficit to a stunning 51-31 victory in the AFC Divisional playoffs.
The NFL postseason rematch comes Saturday at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. And whether the Chiefs can burn through that many fireworks again against the Texans is, well, up to Mahomes and company.
“Who knows? Patrick gets hot, Kelce has a good game. You never know,” said pyrotechnician Jerry Vaill, who worked the fireworks at that 2020 game vs. Houston.
That night, fans in the stadium saw a message on the video board explaining why the touchdown fireworks had gone silent. The Chiefs had the message ready to go because of another high-scoring game earlier in the season that nearly caused the same problem, said Vaill.
“Chiefs fans, we are sorry to report, but due to your support and the Chiefs continually finding the endzone, we have run out of touchdown fireworks. Please direct all of your complaints to your nearest fans first booth.”
The pyrotechnics team loads enough fireworks to celebrate five or six touchdowns per game, said Vaill. A typical game plan calls for fireworks for the national anthem, each touchdown and a “win shot” at the end of the game — if, of course, the team wins.
When the touchdown fireworks begin to run out, the crew must make a quick decision about how to use the remaining ones. It can be tricky.
In the second quarter of that postseason game against Houston, no one at Arrowhead could have expected the Chiefs to deplete their pyrotechnics supply. The Chiefs had no score to celebrate.
The Texans went ahead 24-0 on a Ka’imi Fairbairn field goal with 10:54 to play before halftime.
But then the Chiefs lit up the “fireworks” on the field.
Mecole Hardman’s long kickoff return led to a two-play touchdown drive. A fake punt by Houston was snuffed out by KC’s special teams and the Chiefs scored a touchdown three plays later.
Houston fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Chiefs recovered. Three plays later, the Chiefs were in the end zone again. When Mahomes threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kelce, the Chiefs took a 28-24 halftime lead.
It was a stunning reversal for the books, the first time in NFL history, regular season or playoffs, that a team led at halftime after trailing by 24 points in the second quarter.
The Chiefs scored touchdowns on their first two drives of the second half and ended up blowing out the Texans 51-31.
They reached the end zone seven times that day.
High above the stadium, on the roof of the press box, a crew from Wald & Co. out of Greenwood, Missouri, had loaded enough fireworks for six touchdowns.
Are you ready for it?
It’s not that unusual for a team to run low on fireworks during a game.
That said, when the Chiefs ran out against Houston it was reportedly the first time this had happened to an NFL team since 2017, when the Philadelphia Eagles scored 51 points against the Denver Broncos.
“Honestly, any team has that potential,” said Vaill, who teaches pyrotechnics at Missouri University of Science & Technology in Rolla.
He also works for Baltimore-based Image Engineering, which provides fireworks and in-game special effects for nearly 20 NFL teams, including the Chiefs.
Last weekend Vaill worked the pyrotechnics at the Texans-Chargers game in Houston, which the Texans won 32-12.
“We had five touchdowns loaded,” Vaill said. “We got to the fourth one and it was like ... oh, oh. Now what? And I was texting with my boss ... OK, what do I do boss?
“On any given day, you can run into that situation. Those are the kinds of things we talk about over coffee in the morning, hopefully not before you have to make a decision.”
When the touchdown fireworks are used up, the pyrotechnics crew must decide whether to use the “win shot” set aside for the post-game celebration.
Because of the extra hype around a playoff game, however, a team might have extra fireworks on hand.
For a Chiefs regular-season game, for instance, the pyrotechnics crew typically would have 1,200 pieces ready to fire off. “And my understanding for this game (on Saturday), they’re going to load 1,800-plus. So it should be good,” said Vaill, who will not be working the game.
Maybe the Royals will be on standby.
The team that shares the Truman Sports Complex with the Chiefs jokingly rushed to help the Chiefs out of their fireworks jam after that Houston game five years ago.
The Royals posted a video showing the team’s mascot, Sluggerrr, in a Chiefs jersey, digging a box of fireworks out of a closet at Kauffman Stadium and rushing them to KC Wolf next door at Arrowhead.
Arrowhead ran out of touchdown fireworks again in January 2022 when the Chiefs beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 42-21 in an AFC Wild Card game.
“There were not enough fireworks to shoot off because they scored too many touchdowns. You could say the offense was too ... explosive,” snarked CBS Sports.
“It’s a tad surprising that the home stadium of Patrick Mahomes didn’t have enough fireworks on hand to support the amount of points that he’s able to put on the board.”
And once again, the Chiefs posted their “sorry, fans” message on the stadium video board.
Houston is 0-2 against the Chiefs in playoff games.
And Vaill, the fireworks guy, is all fired up.
“Go Chiefs!” he said.
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