Another week, another early kick for the Houston Texans.
Houston, which secured a 32-12 win over the Los Angeles Chargers in the opening game of the wild-card round, once again will lead off the divisional round against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
Kickoff on Saturday is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. CT/4:30 p.m. ET. The game will be nationally televised on ABC and ESPN.
Joe Buck (play-by-play), Troy Aikman (analyst) and Lisa Salters (sideline reporter) will be on the call.
Divisional Round:
Saturday:
4:30 ET: Texans at Chiefs
8:00 ET: Commanders at LionsSunday:
3:00 ET: Vikings/Rams at Eagles
6:30 ET: Ravens at Bills— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 13, 2025
Buffalo’s 31-7 victory over Denver on Sunday sent Houston to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the top-seeded Chiefs. The Texans, which picked off Chargers Justin Herbert four times, were the No. 4 seed after winning the AFC South, making them the lowest seed remaining.
Should the Texans pull off the upset over Patrick Mahomes and the top-seeded Chiefs, they’ll travel to take on the winner of Buffalo and Baltimore in two weeks for a shot at the Super Bowl.
It is the same final four for the AFC as last season, though Kansas City played Buffalo while the Ravens hosted the Texans. This also marks the first time a repeat of the team since 2011-12 when it was the Patriots, Ravens, Broncos, and Texans.
Houston will have a chance to avenge a 27-19 loss and honor a fallen teammate. Wide receiver Tank Dell was lost for the season after being carted off during the third quarter with a knee injury.
And let’s not forget what happened the last time the Texans played Kansas City in the postseason. The Texans took a 24-0 lead only to allow the Chiefs 28 points in the second quarter, resulting in a 51-31 eventual victory.
Houston (11-7) enters next weekend’s showdown as an 8-point road underdog against Kansas City (15-2), according to odds from BetMGM. The over/under is currently set at 42, while the money line is at +340.
With a win, Houston would advance to its first-ever conference championship game.
No. 2 Buffalo will host No. 3 Baltimore for a chance to face off against the Texans or Chiefs at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday on CBS.