NFL: Patrick Mahomes stars as Kansas City Chiefs beat Houston Texans 27-19 to close in on the top seed in AFC
The Kansas City Chiefs moved closer to the AFC’s top seed with a 27-19 win over the Houston Texans on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes overcame an ankle injury to rush for a touchdown early in the game and threw a touchdown pass to Xavier Worthy as the Chiefs improved to 14-1 burden.
If the Buffalo Bills lose on Sunday or beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day (their third game in 11 days), they will lock up the top seed and advance to the second round of the playoffs.
“Our offensive line did a great job of accepting the challenge,” Mahomes said.
The game was paused for several minutes in the third quarter when Texas wide receiver Tank Dell suffered a serious left leg injury.
Quarterback C.J. Stroud threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Dell, but the 25-year-old collided with teammate Jared Wayne in the end zone, causing him to fall to the turf and immediately grab his leg.
Texans players were in tears as Dell was pulled from the game and taken to a nearby hospital.
Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain in the Chiefs’ win over the Cleveland Browns last week and was benched in the fourth quarter.
However, he participated in all practices this week and his health showed early against Houston when he rushed 15 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter to give the Chiefs a 7-0 lead.
“It’s a great moment for us to go out and find a way to win with everybody,” Mahomes added.
