Chiefs vs. Texans 2016 final score: Brian Hoyer throws 4 interceptions as Kansas City wins, 30-0
Alex Smith completed 17 of 22 passes while Brian Hoyer threw four interceptions in Saturday’s game.
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
The Kansas City Chiefs dominated the Houston Texans in their Wild Card playoff game Saturday, winning 30-0. Alex Smith threw a rare interception in the first half, but luckily for him, Texans quarterback Brian Hoyer did a lot worse with four interceptions and five total turnovers.
In comparison, Smith looked like an All-Pro. He was efficient, completing 17 of 22 passes for 190 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Hoyer completed 15 of 34 passes for 136 yards with no touchdowns and four interceptions. The Chiefs also assisted Smith with 143 yards rushing on the ground.
Kansas City finished the regular season with 10 consecutive wins, though they fell just short of winning the AFC West. So they were forced to play a wild card game, and on the road against a Texans team that finished the regular season with a 9-7 record, barely winning the AFC South. It’s no surprise that the Chiefs took this game given how things played out prior to the playoffs.
The Chiefs had a great first half, though that has more to do with how bad the Texans looked and less about them looking great, especially on offense. Alex Smith threw for 73 yards and had a rare interception, though the Chiefs did manage a touchdown and a pair of field goals to take a 13-0 lead. The running game also put up a total of 70 yards in the opening half.
Where Kansas City really caught a break was the horrible showing from Houston quarterback Brian Hoyer. In the first half, he completed seven of 14 passes for just 61 yards with three interceptions and a forced fumble. They were all bad interceptions, and the fumble was even worse.
It was a disastrous performance for Hoyer, and the Texans went into halftime incredibly lucky that the Chiefs didn’t have a massive lead. Kansas City missed some big plays that would have led to points in the first half and the Texans were still well in the game heading into the third.
Unfortunately, both teams sustained significant injuries in the third, as the Texans lost J.J. Watt and the Chiefs lost Jeremy Maclin. Maclin seems to have sustained a potentially serious injury, while Watt just looked like all of the smaller injuries from earlier in the season started to build up and take a toll on him.
But on that same drive, Smith found rookie Chris Conley for a 9-yard touchdown to give the Chiefs a bigger lead.
That was a great touchdown for the Chiefs and the Texans looked absolutely lost after they managed to score it. It came after a brilliant Smith fake on the play action. They immediately forced the Texans to go three-and-out, gaining zero yards, and then drove another 71 yards in eight plays to score their second touchdown of the second half, giving them a dominant 27-0 lead.
Kansas City added a field goal late in the fourth but it was hardly necessary.
The Chiefs will have to wait for the outcome of the second AFC wild card game Saturday night before they know which team they’ll face next weekend in the divisional round. A Bengals win would send the Chiefs to Denver. If the sixth-seeded Steelers win, the Chiefs would travel to New England next weekend. Here’s the full playoff schedule and bracket.
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