Patrick Mahomes is probably salivating seeing Chiefs-Texans Divisional Round matchup

Nearly a dozen teams battled to secure playoff seeding in Week 18, and a dozen teams are battling to keep their Super Bowl hopes alive in the Wild Card Round. Meanwhile, the Kansas City Chiefs have been able to sit back and watch the chaos ensue. 

Kansas City earned that luxury by clinching the AFC’s top seed, which provided them with a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Chiefs had a 15-1 record before resting their starters against the Denver Broncos in Week 18. 

After a grueling stretch of three games in 11 days, the much-needed rest will allow them plenty of time to recover before hopping into the fray in the divisional round. 

Chiefs' path to Super Bowl LIX got easier after Wild Card Round

So far, Kansas City has to be giddy about how the Wild Card Round played out. With all three of the AFC Wild Card teams eliminated, Kansas City will host the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium in the Divisional Round.

Kansas City couldn’t have hoped for a much better outcome. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has a 3-1 career record against the Texans, who finished the regular season with a 10-7 record and entered the playoffs as the weakest division winner in the conference.

The Chiefs cruised to a 27-19 victory over the Texans in Week 16. Despite being by hampered by an ankle injury, Mahomes led the Chiefs to scores on five of their eight drives. On their ninth possession, the Chiefs ran nearly four minutes off the clock with a seven-play drive to seal the game.

Houston secured a 31-24 victory in their first matchup against Mahomes during the 2019 season, but they’ve failed to replicate that success. In that game, Houston fell into a 17-3 deficit in the first quarter but stormed back after the Chiefs ended three drives in the second quarter with an interception, missed field goal and fumble. If Kansas City doesn’t make those same mistakes, they should be able to get past Houston easily.

As a bonus, the Wild Card Round also featured games in which two of Kansas City’s AFC West rivals were eliminated. The Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos both saw their postseasons come to an early end.

The second-seeded Buffalo Bills and third-seeded Baltimore Ravens are the biggest threats to oust the Chiefs, but only one of them will have an opportunity to play Kansas City in the AFC Championship Game. Buffalo will host the Ravens at Highmark Stadium in the divisional round.