It was probably the weirdest 20-point game you’ve ever seen. The Chiefs and Texans combined for a little bit of everything in the 51-31 Kansas City victory in Sunday’s AFC Divisional Round showdown. Houston jumped out to a 24-0 lead thanks to some Chiefs miscues, only to see it evaporate by halftime, when the KC offense started to click, and never stopped, going on a 51-7 run over the final two-and-a-half quarters.
As you could imagine, there were a lot of things never seen before in an NFL playoff game. Here’s a complete list of all the records the Chiefs set in advancing to the AFC title game (per Elias Sports Bureau):
First team to score 41 straight points after trailing by at least 20:
Down 24-0, Kansas City proceeded to rip off 41 consecutive points before allowing a Houston touchdown. In fact, according to Pro Football Reference it was the biggest win ever by a team that was down at least 24 points at any point in the game, regular or postseason.
First team to score touchdowns on seven straight drives in a postseason game:
After getting shutout in the first quarter, the Chiefs couldn’t be stopped, with touchdown passes to Damien Williams, Travis Kelce, Kelce again, and Kelce a third time, following by a pair of Williams rushing TDs, and a Blake Bell TD reception before, mercifully, the Houston defense forced a short field goal. And they did it quickly: five of those drives lasted 2:03 or less, including a pair that took less than a minute.
First team to lead at halftime after trailing by at least 24 points:
Down 24-0, Mecole Hardman took the ensuing kick return past midfield, and KC was off and running. The first Williams touchdown was followed by the unbelievable fake punt by Houston, leading to the quick Kelce touchdown. Then the Texans fumbled the ensuing kickoff, leading to the second Kelce score. After trailing 24-0 with 10:54 left in the second quarter, it was 24-21 with 6:31 left. The third Kelce score with 44 seconds left capped a spectacular 10-minute stretch that sent KC into the locker room up 28-24.
It’s the largest postseason comeback in Chiefs’ history:
Overall it’s tied for the fourth-largest comeback in NFL postseason history, trailing only the 1993 Bills (32 points), the 2014 Colts (28 points, against the Chiefs), and the 2017 Patriots (25 points), and tied with the 2003 49ers (24 points).
It’s the second time in NFL postseason history a pair of teammates had three TDs in the same game:
Damien Williams (2 rush, 1 receiving) and Travis Kelce (3 receiving) had a trio of scores each, the first time a pair of teammates have done that in the same playoff game since Super Bowl XXIX, when Jerry Rice and Ricky Watters each had three in the 49ers’ win over the Chargers. In Kelce’s case, he joins Rob Gronkowski as the only tight ends in NFL history with at least 100 yards and three scores in a playoff game.
Patrick Mahomes is the youngest QB ever with 300 yards and five TDs in a playoff game:
Only nine quarterbacks ever have met such criteria, and only five have done it without throwing an interception. The youngest prior to Mahomes was Daryle Lamonica, who did it as a 27-year-old with Oakland in the 1968 AFL Divisional Round against, of all teams, Kansas City. Mahomes is 24 years old.
The first game in NFL history in which two wide receivers got sacked:
Here’s one that will get lost in the conversation. KC’s Sammy Watkins was sacked on an attempted trick play, then in the next half Houston’s Kenny Stills was sacked doing the same thing. It’s the first time in NFL history that there were two sacks of a wide receiver in the same game, according to Pro Football Reference.
