By Keegan Ohta

All right, Houston fans, pop quiz time: How many points did the Texans score in their 2016 AFC Wild Card Game against the Kansas City Chiefs?

Yes, that’s right, the answer is zero. That also happens to be the number of times a team has won the Super Bowl while having a player featured on a Madden NFL cover

Kansas City fans, now I’m looking at you. Remember you have two things to worry about: Patrick Mahomes on the Madden NFL 20 cover and Andy Reid never winning a Super Bowl as a head coach.

This is a game of curses. There’s still good football to talk about here, though.

There isn’t too much history between these two teams as they have only met a total of 11 times, with Kansas City leading the series, 6-5.

But these two teams are a combination that have lately produced good games. Besides the blowout Wild Card game, the other six games in the last seven years have all been one-possession affairs.

The biggest question in this game focuses on the offense. Which team’s offense will shine brightest?

In the battle of quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson are almost equal this season. Watson only has 11 more passing attempts than Mahomes, and both produced 26 touchdowns.

It seems equal, but there areother statistics you have to look at.

Watson has thrown seven more interceptions that Mahomes, but Watson also has 39 more rushing attempts, 195 more rushing yards and five more rushing touchdowns.

Now to the running back position. Carlos Hyde was one of 16 rushers to go over 1,000 yards rushing in the season. It would be good if he didn’t only get six rushing touchdowns, which is tied for third fewest among the 1,000+ yard rushers.

But Carlos Hyde would have one of his better days. When he last played the Chiefs, Hyde more than doubled the combinedrushing yards of the entire Kansas City team. But when Kansas City gives up the seventh most rushing yardage in the league, it’s easy to see why Carlos Hyde did well.

What is not very clear is why Kansas City struggled against a Houston team that gives up the eighth most rushing yards in the league. They only managed 53 yards of rushing total against the Texans, which might explain Houston’s win over Kansas City in Week 6.

There is one light that, if tapped into by Kansas City, will surely mean a win for the Chiefs.

The light that shines for Kansas City is their passing game. The Chiefs are one of only seven teams to pass for 4,000 passing yards and one of only two teams to make the playoffs that passed that mark. However, the Saints are out, so that just leaves the Chiefs.

If Mahomes can fly the ball over the defense that gave up the fourth most passing yards, Houston will have trouble containing the 2018 MVP.

On the other shoe, if Houston plays exactly like the way they played in week six against the Chiefs, the Texans might be looking at their first AFC Championship game in franchise history.

Now if you believe in superstition, consider this question: Which curse will shine in infamy: The Houston Zero or the Andy Reid and Madden NFL Cover?

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