The winner of the Houston Texans vs. Kansas City Chiefs’ AFC Divisional Round game will be the team to host the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship.
With the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens going down on Saturday night, this makes the other AFC Divisional Round game all the more meaningful. That’s because the winner between the No. 4 Houston Texans and the No. 2 Kansas City Chiefs will be the team that hosts the No. 6 Tennessee Titans in the 2019 AFC Championship game next Sunday afternoon.
The path to Super Bowl LIV was supposed to go through Baltimore. Well, it briefly did, as the Titans punished the Ravens all evening in the Charm City. Now, the AFC representative to this year’s Super Bowl will get to celebrate in either Houston or Kansas City. The question remains which of the three remaining teams in the AFC will that be?
The favorite right now has to be the Chiefs, as they had a first-round bye in the AFC playoffs. Should Kansas City beat Houston, the Chiefs won’t have to go anywhere, as they can get ready to batten down the hatch and the vaunted Titans rushing attack led by Derrick Henry. For a team that has to play two games before getting to a Super Bowl, you do have to like Kansas City’s chances.
Houston can still get to the Super Bowl, but the Texans are the most inconsistent team still left in the field by far. Some weeks, they look like world-beaters. In others, they look like a team that needs to be drafting somebody pretty special in the top-10 of the upcoming draft.
The Texans could handle hosting Tennessee for a second time and playing the Titans for the third time this year. That being said, Sunday afternoon in Arrowhead is a massive stage for the Texans franchise. Houston is the only NFL franchise to never play in a conference championship game to date. Granted, the Texans are only 18 years old, but still, it should have happened by now.
In short, getting to a conference championship, let alone hosting it, would be a tremendous accomplishment for the Texans franchise. No, we shouldn’t expect them to do it this year, but that is what they are playing for the right to do on Sunday afternoon vs. Kansas City. Keep in mind the Chiefs have a history of blowing big-time playoff games at home as the overwhelming favorite.
Ultimately, yes, it’s really cool that the winner of this game now has the ability to host the AFC Championship game with Baltimore losing and all. That being said, how sure are we that either of these teams will want any part of the Titans right now?
They are playing with supreme confidence and have no fear of any team they come across at this point. Will they be homewreckers again?