Chiefs make a very surprising depth decision on inactive players for the AFC divisional round tilt vs. the Texans

The Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans have released their inactive players lists for the AFC divisional round game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 18. The Chiefs are about as healthy as you could possibly ask for heading into the playoffs, with several players coming off of 23 days of rest. They got […]

Charles Goldman — NFL Managing Editor
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Jul 22, 2024; St. Joseph, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs offensive tackle Kingsley Suamataia (76) walks down the hill from the locker room to the fields prior to training camp at Missouri Western State University.
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The Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans have released their inactive players lists for the AFC divisional round game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 18. 

The Chiefs are about as healthy as you could possibly ask for heading into the playoffs, with several players coming off of 23 days of rest. They got CB Jaylen Watson back from injured reserve, and players like Patrick Mahomes, Chris Jones, Isiah Pacheco, and Jawaan Taylor all got the requisite rest to be fresh for the playoffs. 

The Texans had several key players questionable heading into this game, including starting RB Joe Mixon and starting LB Azeez Al-Shaair. Both of those players are ACTIVE and expected to play in Saturday's game, even if they might not be 100%. Mixon is dealing with an ankle injury, and Al-Shaair has a knee injury. 

Given what's at stake, both teams will put everything on the line for this week's game. Below is the full list of inactive players for each team. . .

Chiefs inactive players

  • OL C.J. Hanson
  • OL Ethan Driskell
  • OL Wanya Morris
  • CB Keith Taylor
  • S Deon Bush
  • DE Joshua Uche
  • DE Malik Herring

Texans inactive players

  • DE Jerry Hughes
  • DT Kurt Hinish
  • LB Devin White
  • OL Nick Broeker
  • C/G Kendrick Green
  • RB J.J. Taylor

Observations

A massively surprising depth decision for Kansas City – going with rookie OT Kinglsey Suamataia over second-year Wanya Morris. This tells me that the team liked how Suamataia played at left guard in Week 18 and trusted him as interior depth. D.J. Humphries will take over as swing tackle for Morris. Another thing to consider is that the Chiefs often like to play around with tackle-eligible plays, which could mean that Suamataia was the better pass-catcher in practice this week. Morris, of course, caught a touchdown earlier this season. 

Chiefs CB Jaylen Watson, the lone player questionable on Kansas City's injury report, is officially ACTIVE. 

Chiefs WR Mecole Hardman was ruled out on Saturday when he was not activated off injured reserve.

One of the Chiefs' practice squad elevations, LB Swayze Bozeman is ACTIVE. S Deon Bush, however, is INACTIVE.

Conversely, Texans practice squad FB/TE Andrew Beck is ACTIVE, but RB J.J. Taylor is INACTIVE.

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