Patrick Mahomes plays through injury, lifts Chiefs past Texans - ESPN

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Andy Reid had a good idea early in the week that Patrick Mahomes would be available to play for the Kansas City Chiefs in Saturday's game against the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium. He got that sense from eight seasons of coaching Mahomes.

«He spoils the dog out of us,» Reid said after the Chiefs beat the Texans 27-19 to move to 14-1; they would clinch the AFC's No. 1 playoff seed by beating the Steelers on Christmas Day in Pittsburgh.

«So tough mentally and physically, so you just get used to it. Most guys don't come back from that like he did, but he set his mind to it and then he jumped in that training room and stayed in there.»

What Reid didn't know is that Mahomes, who was knocked out of last week's game against the Cleveland Browns with a high-ankle sprain, would be as effective as he was. Mahomes scored the game's first touchdown on a 15-yard run and also scrambled for 12 yards earlier in that drive.

He was also 28-of-41 for 260 yards and a touchdown.

«I didn't think he'd be able to get out and run like that or would run like that, but he did a great job with all that,» Reid said.

Mahomes said he determined early in the practice week on Wednesday that he would be able to play. He could plant to make a throw, maneuver well enough in the pocket to protect himself and even run if the situation called for it.

«It's just the stopping that was going to be hard,'' Mahomes said.

On his touchdown run, Mahomes was hit hard by two Houston defenders as he crossed into the end zone.

»Once I got running I saw the end zone and just tried to get up in the air and get in the end zone," he said. «It wasn't like setting a tone or anything like that. I just tried to play football at the end of the day.»

Mahom