Kansas City Chiefs will take on the Houston Texans in the AFC Divisional Round on Saturday afternoon at Arrowhead Stadium, with different scenarios for their future in the 2025 NFL Playoffs depending on a win, tie or loss. Head coach Andy Reid‘s team will be looking to stay in the hunt for a third consecutive Super Bowl title.
The Chiefs, seeded first in the AFC conference, are rested and fully recovered for the game in Missouri against the Texans. Reid decided not to use Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and all of Kansas City’s starting lineup for the final regular season game against the Denver Broncos, meaning the key figures have not been on the field since the Christmas Day game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Houston, on the other hand, beat the Los Angeles Chargers 32-12 in the Wild Card round last Saturday and now have to travel to cold Kansas City to try and prevent the Chiefs from reaching another AFC Conference final. It will be an intense game with three possible outcomes depending on the score.
What happens if the Chiefs win against the Texans?
If the Chiefs beat the Texans, they will advance to the AFC Championship Game, where they will play the winner of the divisional round between the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens, who will meet Sunday night at Highmark Stadium. It would be the Chiefs’ seventh consecutive season reaching the conference title game, an instance to which Andy Reid’s team has qualified uninterruptedly since 2018.
Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs
What happens if Chiefs and Texans tie?
If the game between the Chiefs and Texans ends in a tie, it will be decided in overtime. The period lasts 15 minutes and follows specific rules. Both teams are guaranteed one possession. The team that scores a touchdown on their initial possession, as long as the other team doesn’t score a touchdown on theirs, will win the game. Once both teams have had possession, the game enters sudden death.
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NFL overtime rules: What happens if playoff games end in a tie?
If the team that starts with possession scores and kicks the extra point to take a seven-point lead, the second team can win with a touchdown and a two-point conversion. If the team that receives the ball first scores a field goal, the other team will have their possession with the goal of tying or scoring a touchdown to win; if both remain tied after their first possession or there are no scores of any kind, the game continues. If the tie persists after 15 minutes, a second 15-minute overtime is played until there is a winner. There cannot be a tie in the playoffs.
What happens if the Chiefs lose to the Texans?
If the Chiefs lose against the Texans, they will be eliminated from the NFL playoffs and begin the offseason. In that case, Andy Reid’s Chiefs would have failed to win their third consecutive Super Bowl and would be out of the AFC Championship Game for the first time since 2017. The Houston Texans would play for the conference title against the Ravens or Bills, with the goal of reaching the league final.
