Here is who national experts are predicting will win Chiefs-Texans playoff game
The Kansas City Chiefs are celebrating their 60th season, and on Sunday they’ll attempt to do something for the very first time in franchise history:
Win a playoff game for a second straight season.
The Chiefs advanced to last year’s AFC Championship Game, which they will attempt to do again with a win Sunday against the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium. And, as if that didn’t make the stakes high enough, the Chiefs will have a chance to be host to the title game for a second straight January thanks to the Titans’ 28-12 win at Baltimore.
Fifty-eight experts from around the nation made predictions for Sunday’s game. Here are the picks and what they’re saying about the game, which starts at 2:05 p.m. and will be broadcast on CBS (Ch. 5):
The Chiefs will win 37-27 says Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com. Here is an excerpt of what he wrote: “Bill O’Brien knows his team will need more than 22 points this time around. Houston’s secondary, outside of safety Eric Reid, is attackable. So is the Texans’ run defense, which struggled to tackle and contain the edge last week against Buffalo. If Watt was rusty, it was in this area. Andy Reid is likely to hit Houston with all sorts of sweeps from his receivers, just waiting for the moment he can set up Tyreek Hill or Travis Kelce deep in single coverage. It’s an upset that the Chiefs have the better pass rush and pass defense heading into the game, but the stats don’t lie.”
Six of seven experts from USA Today picked the Chiefs: Jarrett Bell (31-24 final score), Nate Davis (27-20), Mike Jones (35-28), Mike Middlehurst-Schwartz (31-14), Lorenzo Reyes (28-20) and Tom Schad (31-21). Going with the Texans: Jori Epstein (24-23).
Seven of the eight SB Nation writers are taking the Chiefs: Christian D’Andrea, Sarah Hardy, Morgan Moriarty, Geoff Schwartz, Adam Stites, Stephen White and Eric Thompson. The pick for the Texans: James Brady.
The Chiefs were the pick for both Mike Florio and Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. Smith sees a 35-20 score. This is part of what he wrote: “The Texans went to Kansas City and beat the Chiefs in the regular season, so it’s certainly not out of the question that they could pull the upset. But top to bottom I think the Chiefs are a significantly better team, on offense, defense and special teams..” Florio is calling a 31-20 final. He wrote: “For some reason, the Chiefs have faded from the collective national radar screen. They shouldn’t have. The offense is potent and the defense is improved.”
Six NFL.com writers all picked the Chiefs (their predictions start at the 5:45 mark): Adam Rank, Daniel Jeremiah, Colleen Wolfe, Dan Hanzus, Nick Shook and Maurice Jones-Drew.
A Chiefs’ 28-24 victory is the prediction from Tadd Haislop of the Sporting News. This is a snippet of what he wrote: “The Chiefs are the biggest favorites in the divisional round for good reason. Not only are they completely healthy and fresh off their first-round bye, but they’re riding a hot streak fueled by Patrick Mahomes’ ridiculous arm and the mismatches his targets create. Even with J.J. Watt back in the mix to make things uncomfortable for the reigning league MVP, Houston will struggle to keep Kansas City below its average of 28.2 points per game.”
All of the eight CBS Sports experts predicted a Chiefs victory: Ryan Wilson, Jason La Canfora, John Breech, Dave Richard, Pete Prisco, Jared Dubin, Jamey Eisenberg and Will Brinson. Prisco predicted a 33-23 Chiefs win. This is part of what wrote: “The Texans defense has major issues, which is why I think Patrick Mahomes will light them up. Look for a big game from Mahomes as he outplays Deshaun Watson.” Breech predicted a 31-17 Chiefs victory. Here is part of what he wrote: “The Texans biggest weakness on defense is their secondary and that’s not a good weakness to have when you’re going up against Mahomes, who might throw for 400 yards and four touchdowns on Sunday. Also, let’s not forget that this game is giving us ANDY REID OFF THE BYE. As bad as Reid can be in the playoffs, he’s nearly unbeatable off the bye, going 18-3 in his coaching career in the postseason and regular season combined.”
A 31-24 Chiefs win is the prediction from CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin. This is part of what he wrote: “Deshaun Watson always makes things entertaining, and Houston has film on K.C. from earlier this year. But the Chiefs, at home, with Patrick Mahomes healthy and Steve Spagnuolo’s defense actually heating up? I can’t stretch myself far enough to predict a Texans upset here.”
Each of the six Sports Illustrated Monday Morning Quarterback writers picked the Chiefs: Kayln Kahler, Mitch Goldich, Andrew Brandt, Bette Marston, Connor Orr and Jenny Vrentas.
Nate Burleson of “Good Morning Football” thinks the Chiefs will win:
All nine experts at ESPN see the Chiefs winning: Matt Bowen, Mike Clay, Mike Golic, Jason Reid, Trey Wingo, Mina Kimes, Seth Wickersham, Dan Graziano and Kevin Seifert.
The eight Pro Football Focus experts picked the Chiefs: Neil Hornsby, Bruce Gradkowski, Jeff Ratcliffe, Solomon Wilcots, Sam Monson, Nathan Jahnke, Austin Gayle and Steve Palazzolo.
This story was originally published January 12, 2020 at 7:28 AM.
