KANSAS CITY, Mo. — These are strange times here in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs to be a fan of the Texans or Chiefs. Without the nefarious specter of the New England Patriots, there is no overarching force for both teams to complain about or look ahead to. With both teams being piloted by healthy, ascending superstar quarterbacks, there is not much to tease the opponent about. With each club coming here on the heels of a division title, there isn’t some missed opportunity over which to stew.
On fan Reddit—which one should always wear protective gear before wading into—it makes sense that both groups have reverted to something beautiful and provincial; the kind of innocent things we used to fight about before the rise of partisan politics and Defense-adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA).