KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Hours before the Texans’ top-ranked defense throttled formidable quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his Kansas City Chiefs, Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy delivered some perspective on the defending AFC South champions.
Dungy, a Super Bowl winning coach with the Indianapolis Colts headlined by Peyton Manning, expressed confidence in how coach DeMeco Ryans has manufactured a team with his aggressive mentality.
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The Texans defeated the Chiefs in typical fashion: with a defense-first, hard-nosed approach.
They intercepted Mahomes three times and held the Chiefs to just 274 yards of total offense and sacked the former Most Valuable Player quarterback twice. Mahomes had a 19.8 passer rating, the lowest of his storybook career.
“It is built in his image,” said Dungy of Ryans, a former Pro Bowl linebacker and NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, in an interview before kickoff at Arrowhead Stadium. “He hustled when he played. He never took a play off. He was fundamentally sound. And that’s what this team is. They make you beat them, and they believe in him.
“Our quarterback is hurt. We’ll play our second-team quarterback (backup Davis Mills) and we’re gonna be fine. Other guys just have to step up, no excuses, and that’s DeMeco Ryans.”
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Talking #Texans vs. #Chiefs with @ProFootballHOF coach @SNFonNBC Tony Dungy @TonyDungy and his thoughts on Will Anderson Jr., and Danielle Hunter and C.J. Stroud and a big game at Arrowhead Stadium @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/T1nBepRQuL
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) December 7, 2025
The Texans are in the thick of the crowded AFC playoff hunt. They’re currently ranked seventh in the playoff standings after five consecutive wins following an 0-3 start. A strong finish will cement their playoff spot. They won the past two AFC South titles under Ryans’ direction and won a wild-card playoff game each season before losing in the divisional round where the Texans are 0-6 all-time as a franchise.
As legendary coach Bill Parcells frequently said, once a team is in the tournament of the postseason, anything can happen.
Pack a defense and a mistake-free team in January, and a lot of good things can happen.
“I absolutely think so,” Dungy said when asked if he feels like the Texans are built to make a long playoff run. “There’s not a dominant team in the AFC. When you have the best defense and every game is tight and you’re in it, you’ve got a chance to win it all. I think whoever wins this game is gonna be a team you don’t want to face in the playoffs.”
The Texans avenged a divisional round playoff loss to the Chiefs, who had beaten them five consecutive times going back to a 2019 win by Houston in Kansas City during the regular season.
“It was our next game,” Ryans said. “We needed to come out and execute. Play good football. And we did.”
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, a former Pro Bowl selection and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, passed for 203 yards and one touchdown pass.
Wide receiver Nico Collins had four catches for 121 yards.
Reserve running back Dare Ogunbowale scored the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“We did what we came to do,” Ryans said. “It was just about accomplishing your mission. It wasn’t anything extra on top for winning this game. We just knew we had to get the win no matter what it took.”
Mahomes went 14 of 33 for 160 yards with zero touchdowns. He was picked off by cornerback Kamari Lassiter, nickel Jalen Pitre and middle linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair.
“I thought our defense did a great job sticking in coverage, and relentlessly rushing,” Stroud said. “An amazing job.”
The Texans are now poised to do what the 2018 squad coached by Bill O’Brien accomplished: overcome an 0-3 start to qualify for the playoffs.
The Texans’ defense is headlined by an outstanding secondary led by All-Pro cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and bookend pass rushers Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter.
“They enjoy feeding off each other, and they’ve got a great secondary,” Dungy said. “You can have a great pass rush, but, if your secondary can’t make the quarterback hold the ball sometimes it doesn’t help you. But they have the balance. They’ve got guys who can bring it up front and guys who can cover. They’re playing great defense right now.”
Stroud had an up-and-down performance. After a strong first half, he struggled in the third quarter when Chiefs crafty defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo made some sound adjustments to create more pressure with Chris Jones.
Stroud sought out Dungy last year when he was in Houston to interview Ryans.
He wanted Dungy’s advice about leadership.
It was an extremely memorable conversation for both Dungy and Stroud.
“C.J. came to me after practice and said, ‘I’d like to talk to you about leading this team better,’” Dungy said. “Not stuff on the field. ‘How can I be a better leader?’ And I thought, from a young man, that is really incredible.
“So, we talked about things, and how Peyton Manning did things, some of the guys that I’ve been around. And he wants to be a leader. He wants to do things right. And I think the future is really, really bright for the Texans.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com