Who do the Houston Texans play next? Playoff bracket and matchup scenarios

The Houston Texans are riding high right now, fresh off a 30-12 pasting of the Los Angeles Chargers in their AFC Wild Card matchup. Despite playing at home, Houston actually entered the game as underdogs. But DeMeco Ryans' defense toyed with Justin Herbert for 60 minutes, snagging four interceptions and allowing the Texans to eventually pull away in the second half.

The win moves Houston on to the Divisional Round for the second straight season, as CJ Stroud and Co. will hope to atone for last year's disappointing loss in Baltimore against the Ravens. But who will they be trying to do it against? With the Buffalo Bills' blowout win over the Denver Broncos in the books, the AFC bracket is officially set. Here's where Houston's headed.

Who do the Texans play next in the NFL Playoffs?

The NFL reseeds after the Wild Card Round, meaning that Houston, as the lowest-seeded of the four remaining AFC teams, will head to the top seed for the Divisional Round. That's right: The Texans are headed back to Arrowhead Stadium for yet another showdown with Patrick Mahomes and the 16-1 Kansas City Chiefs.

The Chiefs wrapped up the top seed and home-field advantage weeks ago, and as such are spending this weekend getting some rest. K.C. may not be as dominant as its record suggests, with Mahomes limited by a depleted set of skill weapons around him. But Steve Spagnuolo's defense is as salty as ever, and recent history suggests that Houston will have its work cut out for it next weekend.

Texans vs. Chiefs matchup history: Houston, we have a problem

In the Mahomes era, the Texans have lost four of their last five games against the Chiefs. The lone win came way back in 2019, and since then, Mahomes and Co. have figured it out and ripped off four straight wins — a run that includes a painful 51-31 playoff loss back in January of 2020 and a 27-19 loss in Arrowhead earlier this year. Stroud struggled in that game, averaging 6.3 yards per attempt and tossing two picks. If Houston is going to reverse this trend, they'll need him to be a lot better in the rematch.