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The Houston Texans are set to hit the road for a rematch with the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round.
The Texans managed to take care of business in the Wild Card Round against the Buffalo Bills thanks to the late-game heroics of quarterback Deshaun Watson and they now have good reason to be optimistic going into Arrowhead Stadium once again.
After all, Houston has already proved they are capable of pulling off an upset after coming away with a 31-24 victory in Kansas City the first time around in Week 6. They will need to follow a similar recipe for success if they hope to keep their championship hopes alive.
Here are two major x-factors for the Texans.
1. Establish Run Game
Like the Chiefs, the Texans boast one of the most talented offenses in the league with Watson under center and a pair of explosive wideouts on the outside with DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller. Rather than engage in an aerial assault with them, head coach Bill O'Brien opted to go with a ground attack early and often behind running back Carlos Hyde.
This approach clearly paid huge dividends as Hyde had one of his best games in the 2019 NFL season with 116 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries. Watson also assisted in the effort by rushing for two touchdowns of his own to further expose Kansas City's shortcomings in the run game.
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Furthermore, their scheme also kept the high-powered Chiefs offense from finding their rhythm by keeping them off the field. With so many holes in the Texans' defense, this may be the only way they prevent quarterback Patrick Mahomes from lighting up the scoreboard.
2. Will Fuller
It is far-fetched to assume that the porous Texans' defense will be able to keep the Chiefs out of the end zone. As a result, they must be fully prepared for a potential shootout in order to move on to the next round.
If Houston has any hope of keeping up with Kansas City, they will need Fuller to be in elite form as an integral part of the passing game. When healthy, there is no question that he is one of the NFL's premier deep threats and he is more than capable of taking advantage of the attention that Hopkins garners from opposing defenses.
Unfortunately, his talent has largely been overshadowed by injuries throughout his roller-coaster career. Regardless, a healthy Fuller could prove to be the deciding factor in this star-studded showdown.
