Inactive, predictions, how to see

On By Littum

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The Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texas meet in a potential NFL playoff preview Saturday afternoon.

The chiefs almost hit DEFCON 1 on the damage report this week. Patrick Mahomes was wounded at Kansas City Week 15 game against the Cleveland Brownssuffering from an ankle sprain that seemed a little more serious at the moment. But in the days that followed, Mahomes was a full participant in practice, defying any hope that fans would see Carson Wentz under center comes Saturday afternoon.

Mahomes and Co. does not face an easy opponent in Texans. While CJ Stroud and the Texans offense has yet to reach the heights of the 2023 season, the defense presents a particular challenge for Mahomes and the Chiefs.

Houston enters Week 16 ranked fourth in the NFL in yards allowed and ninth in the NFL in points allowed. While the Chiefs offense isn’t exactly reminiscent of Andy Reid-coached units of yesteryear, they’re still dealing with a Patrick Mahomes, so a shootout is always in the cards.

USA TODAY Sports will provide live updates, highlights and more from Saturday’s Chiefs-Texans game below.

  • Start time: 1 p.m. ET (noon CT)

The Chiefs and Texans are scheduled to kick off on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, noon CT.

Chiefs vs. Texans TV channel

NBC will broadcast the Chiefs-Texans game in Week 16. Noah Eagle will be on the play-by-play, and he will be flanked by Todd Blackledge (color commentary).

It looks like Swift will be in attendance for the Chiefs’ Saturday game with the Texans. She was seen getting on a golf cart at Arrowhead Stadium and is presumably being transported to her suite to watch her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, in action.

The Chiefs wide receiver, who has not played at all in 2024, will make his season debut on Saturday. Brown suffered a shoulder injury during the preseason and will be a big boost to the Chiefs wide receiver corps.

Carson Wentz is the Chiefs’ backup quarterback for the 2024 NFL season. The former Philadelphia Eagles star signed a one-year deal with the Chiefs during the offseason to take on that role after playing at tailback Matthew Stafford with Los Angeles Rams in the second half of the 2023 NFL season.

On Thursday, head coach Andy Reid told reporters he expected his quarterback to start. That turned out to be true as Mahomes will start vs. Houston.

Patrick Mahomes and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown will both play against the Texans today. Mahomes avoids missing a game due to injury while Brown makes his season debut.

The Texans will be without starting guard Juice Scruggs and a handful of veteran role players for Sunday’s game against the Chiefs. Below are the team’s seven inactives for the contest:

  • WR John Metchie
  • LB Devin White
  • DE Jerry Hughes
  • G Nick Broeker
  • G/C Juice Scruggs
  • TE Cade Stover
  • DL Folorunso Fatukasi

Chiefs vs. Texans predictions, picks

Here’s how the USA TODAY Sports staff feels the Chiefs vs. Texans will progress:

  • Tyler Dragon: Chiefs 24, Texans 21
  • Jordan Mendoza: Texans 23, Chiefs 20
  • Live stream: Fubo | Peacock

For cord cutters looking for a matchup live stream, look no furtherFubo. Fubo carries NBC, as well as CBS, FOX, NFL Network and the ESPN family of networks, meaning you can catch NFL action throughout the rest of the season.

Peacock, the proprietary streaming service of NBC, will also carry the game.

The Chiefs are favorites to defeat the Texans, according to BetMGM NFL odds. Not interested in this game? Check out expert picks and best bets for every NFL game this week.

  • Spread: Chiefs (-3.5)
  • Moneyline: Chiefs (-190); Texas (+155)
  • Over/under: 42

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The NFL’s top 18 players in average annual salary are all quarterbacks, according to OverTheCap.com . Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott became the league’s highest-paid player before the 2024 season, agreeing to a four-year, $240 million deal. Minnesota Vikingswide receiver Justin Jeffersonis the first non-quarterback on the highest-paid list after earning a four-year, $140 million contract extension this offseason.

Who are the highest paid NFL players at each position?

We have a complete list for each position:

Mother Nature will not be involved in Saturday’s matchup outside of just making the temperature a bit colder than normal. The temperature for kickoff is expected to be just above freezing and will rise to 36 degrees throughout the game.

The Texans travel to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Chiefs.

The Chiefs have the AFC West locked up. Next step: no. 1 seed in the AFC. This is how the breakdown looks:

  1. Chiefs (13-1)
  2. Chargers (9-6)
  3. Broncos (9-6)
  4. Raiders (2-12)