Texans’ Brown leaves game with apparent right leg injury

It was another dominant effort for the Texans (9-7), who closed the season with three straight victories in the division.

The Chiefs got the jump on the Raiders from the first kickoff, scoring on their first two possessions as quarterback Alex Smith connected with wide receiver Jeremy Maclin on a 25-yard touchdown pass, and then fullback Spencer Ware capped a 12-play drive with a 3-yard run to the end zone.

HOUSTON (AP) – The Texans are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2012 and now have to come up with a plan to derail the Kansas City Chiefs, winners of 10 in a row.

Rather, they stuck to their convictions behind the steady hand of coach Andy Reid, and it paid off with a franchise-record 10 consecutive victories and a return to the playoffs after a one-year absence.

Quarterback Brian Hoyer returned Sunday after two weeks in concussion protocol. A few misfires led to an interception, but otherwise he completed 25/40 passes for 249 yards, one score and one interception. Being sidelined for any amount of time, is devastating for me. The early forecasts are calling for a cold afternoon, with a temperature barely in the double-digits, conditions that ought to benefit a Vikings team built around National Football League rushing leader Adrian Peterson and a stout defense that racked up 14 sacks over a season-finishing three-game winning streak. He broke his left hand in a December game against the Patriots, and played with a cast for three games. Watt showed the nation that he knows how to do every popular dance on Sunday.

Despite Bradley getting backed by ownership, his team that has offered so much vocal support was awful in its 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans. He did the “whip”, “nae nae”, “dab” and finished by running off on the “da plug” twice.

He forced a fumble with his third sack in the fourth quarter and it was recovered by Mercilus.

Still, that’s no excuse to give up eight sacks, even though Watt is likely headed toward his third Defensive Player of the Year award.

“I’m just a big white guy trying to have some fun out there”, Watt said. Duane Brown, all-pro Left Tackle for the Houston Texans, and one of my favorite all-time Texans, has been lost for the year with a torn quadriceps tendon in his knee.

Mercilus is the first player in Texans’ history to have more than one game with 3.5 sacks or more in a season.

Brown’s backup, veteran Chris Clark, was acquired by the Texans via a trade from the Denver Broncos in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick in August. Nick Novak hit a pair of 51-yard field goals.

“Give a lot of credit to Houston and their front”, Jacksonville coach Gus Bradley said. Hoyer fumbled on the next play, but Houston left guard Xavier Su’a-Filo grabbed it in the air and turned it into an 8-yard gain.