The Texans attempted to match their 11–5 record from 2018 despite trading defensive end Jadeveon Clowney to the Seattle Seahawks for a 3rd round pick and two players.

With a Week 16 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Texans clinched the AFC South for the fourth time in five seasons and their sixth overall division title.

However, they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional round 51–31, despite taking an early 24–0 lead prior to trailing 28–24 at halftime.

Keke Coutee fumbled the ball on a muffed punt that was recovered in the end zone by Equanimeous St. Brown for a Packers' touchdown.

The Texans received the opening kickoff, with their first team offense marching down the field with the drive ending with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Deshaun Watson to DeAndre Hopkins.

On the Saints' second drive, Drew Brees was intercepted in the red zone by Whitney Mercilus at the Houston 4-yard line, returning it for 2 yards.

With the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the Los Angeles Chargers earlier in the afternoon, the Texans were locked in at the 4th seed for the playoffs.

In the second quarter, Devin Singletary rushed for an 18-yard gain and Allen completed a 28-yard pass to Brown as the team drove 69 yards in 11 plays to go up 10–0 on Stephen Hauschka's 40-yard field goal.

Then after a punt, Buffalo drove 74 yards in 15 plays to score on a second 40-yard field goal from Hauschka, giving them a 13–0 lead at half-time.

Buffalo then drove to the 12-yard line, but ended up settling for Hauschka's third field goal after Allen was sacked on third down by J. J. Watt, giving them a 16–0 lead.

On the Bills' ensuing drive, linebacker Whitney Mercilus forced a fumble while sacking Allen,[6] which Jacob Martin recovered for the Texans at midfield with 14:18 remaining.

After an incompletion, Frank Gore was dropped by Mike Adams for a 3-yard loss and then Allen was flagged for intentional grounding, pushing the team all the way back to the 42-yard line.

After falling behind 24–0, Kansas City suddenly buried the Texans with an NFL playoff record 7 consecutive touchdowns and a field goal over their next eight drives, starting with a shocking 28-point second quarter.

On the opening possession, Houston mounted a six-play, 75-yard drive that culminated in Deshaun Watson’s 54-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Stills on 3rd-and-1, giving the Texans an early 7–0 lead.

Dustin Colquitt’s ensuing punt was blocked by Barkevious Mingo and recovered by Lonnie Johnson Jr., who returned it 10 yards for a touchdown that put the Texans up 14–0 less than five minutes into the game.

After both teams punted on their next drives, Chiefs returner Tyreek Hill muffed the ball inside his own 10-yard line which was recovered by Keion Crossen for Houston.

Patrick Mahomes then threw a 25-yard pass to Kelce to get in the red zone before hitting running back Damien Williams for a 17-yard touchdown.

After Houston went three-and-out on their next drive, they attempted a fake punt on 4th and 4 with a direct snap to Justin Reid who was tackled by Daniel Sorensen two yards short, giving Kansas City the ball at the Texans 33.

Johnson was then called for pass interference to put the ball at the five before Mahomes hit Kelce in the end zone to cut the deficit to 10.

On the ensuing kickoff, DeAndre Carter fumbled the ball due to a hit by Sorenson, and it went right into the arms of Kansas City's Darwin Thompson, who returned it to the Houston 6.

Finally, with 44 seconds left in the half, Mahomes threw another five-yard touchdown to Kelce to give the Chiefs their first lead of the game, 28–24.

Mahomes’ four touchdown passes in the second quarter tied an NFL postseason record set by Doug Williams in Super Bowl XXII.

After forcing another Texans punt, the Chiefs took advantage of another pass interference penalty against Houston and a 28-yard completion from Mahomes to Kelce, scoring on their sixth straight possession with another Williams touchdown run to give them a 41–24 lead with 4:39 left in the quarter.

Kansas City would make it seven touchdowns in a row, setting a new postseason record, on a drive that included a 23-yard pass to Kelce and a 28-yard completion to Watkins, putting the ball at the Houston 8.

A pair runs by Williams for gains of 11 and 26 yard to set up Butker's 24-yard field goal with 8:06 left to put Kansas City up by 20.

Houston then turned the ball over on downs on their final two possessions, the last coming when Frank Clark sacked Watson for a 17-yard loss on 4th-and-8 from the Kansas City 8-yard line.