NFL playoff picture: What Texans win over Chiefs means in Week 14

Dec 8, 2025 - 07:00

The Houston Texans secured arguably their biggest win of the season on Sunday, beating the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday Night Football. The Texans offense struggled, but their defense made some huge plays. Two big fourth down stops were the difference in the 17-10 victory.

Houston improved to 8-5 with the win and firmed up its position in both the AFC South race and the overall wild card picture. They climbed to a tie with the Colts and with their win over Indianapolis last week, they have the edge. That moved them to seventh place in the wild card standings. They have a win over the Bills and still face the Chargers, which means they could climb as high as the top wild card berth with those wins.

Of course, they have an even bigger opportunity in the AFC South. They are one game back of the Jaguars, with whom they split the season series. Both teams are 6-2 in divisional play, and so it could come down to a tiebreaker further down. The Texans host the Cardinals and Raiders next week, travel to face the Chargers in Week 17, and close out the season at home against the Colts.

On the other side of things, the Chiefs snapped their impressive division title streak. They had won nine straight AFC West titles, but this loss eliminated them from division contention. They now sit in a three-way tie with the Ravens and Dolphins. The conference record tiebreaker drops them into tenth place behind the Ravens.

The Chiefs host the Chargers next week in a must-win game. KC will need to win that game and potentially win out to have a chance at a wild card berth. After the Chargers in Week 15, they travel to face the Titans, host the Broncos, and travel to face the Raiders. They could very well win out, but even that might not be enough with all the teams ahead of them in the standings.