Chiefs Nee Texans/Texans Wins And Notes

Once, long ago, 61 years and 3 weeks (those #’s evoke Roger (Maris) and “The Babe” (Ruth) before yesterday, when both the Kansas City Chiefs nee Dallas Texans and the 2003 NFL expansion team, Houston Texans scored wild card round, home victories vs the Miami Dolphins and 1999 NFL expansion team, Cleveland Browns, the then Dallas Texans won the AFL crown, riding a Tom Brooker second overtime field goal, to a victory at Houston’s Jeppesen Stadium (for the record a high school venue) vs the Oilers, who had copped the first two AFL titles in 1960 and 1961.

The current Texans, now (5-2) in wild card round tilts, all, somewhat incredibly, but not all that much, if you think about it, in the earlier Saturday wild card round slot and more incredibly all at home defeated the Browns (45-14), dropping that franchise’s (the NFL allots them the old and once glorious Cleveland Browns’ records/statistics) road ‘offs record to (3-16), the reverse and negative of Ron Perranoski’s 1963 pitching mark, –even the great Otto Graham’s teams were only (1-2) in such, Jim Brown’s (0-3) (the current Browns proudly and prominently displayed Jim’s #32 and had a fine “reg,” but apparently sans “anything” commemorating Dr. Frank Ryan, were trounced in the ‘offs, evoking past “scoring 14 points in an ‘offs tilt,” in which they were routed.

Two of those Browns’ rout losses were even more “points decisive” than yesterday’s. The first was in Jim Brown’s first season (1957), at Detroit vs the Lions (59-14), the other 10 years later, at the famed Cotton Bowl in Dallas, a (52-14) trouncing at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys.

In 10 AFL seasons the Chiefs, who eased (26-7) at frigid Arrowhead Stadium in K.C. , vs the Miami Dolphins yesterday, played all 7 of their ‘offs tilts, either on the road (5) or at neutral Super Bowl venues.

The Chiefs’ AFL title tilts: the aforementioned ’62 AFL title tilt at Houston, the ’66 with a berth in what became the first Supe on the line, AFL title clash at Buffalo, where the Chiefs would go if the double digit favorite Bills prevail in the moved to Monday’s 95th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s berth game vs the Pittsburgh Steelers, the ’69 last AFL game/title game at Oakland vs the Raiders.

That list of 7 includes 2 Supes, a loss vs Green Bay in ’66 and an historic win vs the Minnesota Vikings in 1969.

In ’69 the Chiefs defeated the defending champion New York Jets, who had pulled off an even greater and more historic Supe win and upset, the year before, in a “cross-over” division round game in the lone and last year the AFL had such or existed.

Finally in their lone “within the AFL” ‘offs setback, the Raiders routed the Chiefs in an unscheduled playoff for the AFL west crown in 1968.

The Chiefs, who now have played 14 straight home ‘offs tilts, (also 3 Supes–oddly in one their opponent Tampa Bay (Buccaneers) with Mr. Brady (Robert Reed got a “Mannix gig” after being Mr. Brady on “The Bunch”) played at home), were (1-7, (0-5) at home in slots/”div” round games before winning such games the last 5 seasons, all at home.

Miami (Dolphins), which last won the Supe 50 years ago with not so arguably a greater team albeit with 2 reg losses, than the undefeated title team of same calendar 1972 into 1973, has now lost 6 straight ‘offs games, not having won one since 2000.

They have lost 12 of their last 13 road playoff games, the lone win at Seattle (Seahawks), then in the AFC, in a wild card round game in 1999.

Patrick Mahomes, the brilliant Chiefs “Q.B.” pictured above, has played at home in all 12 of his post-season games (2 wild card round games, both wins, 5 slots/”div” round games, going (5-0) and 5 AFC title tilts/NFL “semis” with a (3-2) mark).