The two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs begin what they hope is a third-straight championship playoff run when they host the Texans for an AFC divisional-round bout Saturday afternoon at Arrowhead.

With a win Kansas City would make the AFC championship game for the seventh straight season; the Chiefs are 4-2 over the previous six.

Meanwhile Houston, a wild-card winner last weekend, is trying to reach the AFC championship game for the first time in franchise history.

These teams just met last month, a 27-19 Kansas City victory. The line on Saturday's game is almost exactly the margin of victory of that Week 16 meeting.

NFL Playoff Betting Odds

The NFL playoffs betting market opened Kansas City at -7.5 for Saturday, with an over/under of right around 42. Early betting action bumped the Chiefs to -8.5.

Heading into this divisional round KC is the second choice on most Super Bowl LIX betting boards at a price of around +300.

Houston is the longest shot on the board at +3500.

Texans Betting Preview

Houston reached the divisional round of these playoffs by disposing of the Chargers in a wild card game last Saturday 32-12. The Texans, catching two points as home dogs, spotted Los Angeles the first six points of the game. But Houston scored twice in the last minute of the first half to take the lead, then scored the first 13 points of the second half to pull away.

The Texans out-gained the Chargers 429-261, out-rushed Los Angeles 168-50 and won time of possession by a 34:26 split.

So Houston is back in the divisional round for the second straight season; last year the Texans beat Cleveland in a wild-card game, then lost at Baltimore 34-10.

Houston started 5-1 this season, with a win over Buffalo. But the Texans only played 5-6 from there, with losses to Green Bay, Detroit, this Kansas City team and the Ravens. In fact, Houston got out-gained by five of its last six opponents.

We “officially” bet seven Texans games this season, with mixed results. We backed Houston at Minnesota back in Week 3 and they let us down big-time. We then faded the Texans against Jacksonville, Buffalo, New England, Green Bay and Tennessee, only to watch Houston cover three of those games. But we then cashed in on the Texans in Week 15 against Miami and last weekend in the wild-card game against the Chargers.

Generally speaking we liked Houston when RB Mixon was healthy and being fed. Which panned out, to a degree, considering the Texans are 5-3 SU, 4-3-1 ATS this season when Mixon gets 20 touches.

Chiefs Betting Preview

Meanwhile the Chiefs reached this divisional round by playing 15-2 during the regular season, claiming the top seed for these AFC playoffs and the wild-card bye that comes with it.

Kansas City started 9-0 this season, with wins over Baltimore, Cincinnati, Tampa Bay and Denver. But there were a bunch of close calls along the way - seven wins by seven points or less, two by two or less, another in overtime. The Chiefs also won this season's NFL “last to lose” pool at a price of +800.

Kansas City took its first loss back in Week 11 when it got out-played up at Buffalo and lost 30-21. But the Chiefs then won their next six in a row, including W's over the Chargers, this Houston team and Pittsburgh, to clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Kansas City then sat starters for the meaningless season finale two weeks ago at Denver and lost 38-0.

Not too long ago we were concerned about the Chiefs. They were winning games but they weren't blowing teams out. KC struggled to beat Carolina and Las Vegas, two teams that combined to win nine games this season. Also, QB Mahomes seemed banged up. But then the Chiefs won three games in 11 days, including back-to-back over the Texans and Steelers, and looked darn good doing so.

Now, heading into Saturday KC's basically coming off a two-week bye.

At the moment we're higher on Kansas City than we have been all season.

These teams just met back in Week 16 also at Arrowhead, a 27-19 Chiefs win. KC took the lead for good in the second quarter, out-played Houston on the field and the stat sheet, never quite put the Texans away but covered at -3.5.

Also, that game played over a total of 42.5, as the teams combined for almost 700 yards of total offense.

On the injury front Houston, already down its top two wide receivers, lists three other offensive starters as questionable for Saturday.

By the Numbers

Houston averaged 320 ypg on offense this season, 112 ypg rushing. Defensively the Texans held opponents to 315 ypg, 114 rushing. This while playing what Sagarin (sagarin.com) ranked as the 19th-toughest schedule in the League.

Kansas City averaged 328 ypg on offense, 105 on the ground, while allowing 321 ypg, 102 on the ground. This while playing Sagarin's No. 23 schedule.

Common Opponents

These teams played three common opponents this season, the Chargers, Bills and Ravens. KC played those foes to 3-1 SU, 2-2 ATS and +2 points per game, Houston to 2-1 both SU and ATS and -2 ppg.

NFL Betting Trends

Including last week's wild-card win Houston is 2-5 SU, 4-3 ATS this season against teams that made the playoffs.

Kansas City, omitting Week 18's meaningless game against Denver, is 7-1 SU, 4-4 ATS vs. playoff teams.

Totals Report

The unders played 10-6 in Texans games this season, which averaged 44 total points. And last week's wild-card game, totaled at 42, looked like an under, too, until the teams combined to score 18 points in the fourth quarter.

The unders played 10-7 in Chiefs games, which averaged 42 points.

The unders played 5-1 during last week's wild-card round.