2015 NFL Playoff Preview: Pro Football Focus Previews Texans-Chiefs

On this, the day before playoff football returns to Houston, Pro Football Focus has their preview of the Wild Card matchup between the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs out for your perusal. While acknowledging that this data only provides a piece of the entire puzzle that is cogent statistical analysis, what jumps out at you?

Texans Overview:

· Here’s our game analysis for Houston’s Week 17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

· Read all about the key in-game matchups to watch as the Texans and Chiefs square off.

· Brian Hoyer has been under pressure on just 29.4 percent of his dropbacks, which ranks fourth in the league. However, his accuracy percentage of 51.9 percent when under pressure ranks as the worst of all quarterbacks (minimum 50% of the snaps).

· DeAndre Hopkins ranks fourth in the league at receiver with a +24.6 overall rating, hauling in 111 of 187 targets for 1,521 yards and 11 TDs with seven dropped passes and five missed tackles forced. He ranks seventh in the league at 2.29 yards per route run.

· Duane Brown was Houston’s best offensive lineman with a +5.2 overall, and he is now out for the year. Chris Clark will likely fill in for Brown.  Clark posted a -2.9 overall rating on 442 snaps. He was much better at run blocking (+3.6) than pass blocking (-7.4).

· J.J. Watt finished as the third highest-rated player in the NFL, offense or defense, by PFF with a +78.8 overall rating, behind only Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald. Watt recorded 59 stops, 34 QB hits, 37 QB hurries, 18 sacks and eight batted passes. He has the best pass rush productivity rating at 12.0 with 89 total pressures for 3-4 defensive ends, while ranking fifth with a run stop percentage of 10.5.

· Johnathan Joseph leads the Texans' secondary and ranks 5th per PFF at the cornerback position with a +13.9 overall rating. He’s allowed 50 receptions on 90 targets (55.6 percentage caught) for 487 yards with just two touchdowns against and ranks second in the league with 16 passes defended.

· Houston finished the season as the 8th overall team per PFF with a +122.6 rating, led by the third-best defense with a +146.2 rating.

Chiefs Overview:

· Here’s a look back at Kansas City’s 10th-straight victory, a Week 17 win over the Oakland Raiders.

· These two teams met all the way back in Week 1, so relive the Chiefs' 27-20 victory over the Texans.

· Travis Kelce (-8.3 overall) is a much better weapon in the passing game than in the running game as his passing grade (+5.4) ranked 11th amongst tight ends (minimum 50% of the snaps), while his run blocking grade (-9.6) ranks as 28th in the league.

· Jeremy Maclin leads the Chiefs wide-receiver corps with a +5.5 overall rating for the year. He led all wide receivers with a drop rate of 1.14, dropping just one of 88 catchable passes that came his way.

· Kansas City has two offensive tackles that have really struggled this season in Jah Reid (-26.6 overall) and Donald Stephenson (-20.4 overall). Both were exploited in passing situations as Reid sported a -20.5 pass blocking grade, allowing 5 sacks, 5 QB hits and 19 hurries, while Stephenson posted a -15.4 pass blocking grade, allowing 2 sacks, 3 QB hits and 27 hurries.

· The Chiefs can rotate in four defensive linemen with overall grades greater than +6.4 overall. Leading the pack is Jaye Howard at +11.2 overall, with a team-best +16.9 run defense rating and 36 stops.

· Two of the best 3-4 outside linebackers are on the Kansas City roster in Justin Houston (+44.0 overall) and Tamba Hali (+35.2 overall). Houston ranks third while Hali ranks fifth in the league per PFF as the two have combined for 15 sacks, 14 QB hits and 100 QB hurries this season.

· Kansas City finished as the 10th overall team per PFF with a +98.0 rating, led by the fifth-best defense with a +127.8 rating.

Chiefs vs Texans coverage