Texans stifle Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs in 20-10 victory to keep pace in AFC South race

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Houston Texans never made their trip to Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday night into anything more than their next game.

Didn't matter that the Kansas City Chiefs had been the AFC's bully for the better part of a decade. Or the Chiefs had knocked Houston out of the playoffs last year. Or that the Texans needed to win to keep pace with Jacksonville in the AFC South.

“It was our next game,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “We needed to come out and execute. Play good football. And we did.”

Did enough, anyway.

C.J Stroud threw for 203 yards and a touchdown, the Texans leaned on the NFL's top-ranked defense to shut down Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, and Houston walked out with a 20-10 victory that gave a big boost to their postseason hopes.

Nico Collins contributed four catches for 121 yards, and Dare Ogunbowale added a go-ahead touchdown run in the fourth quarter, as the Texans (8-5) won their fifth straight overall and remained a game back of the Jaguars in a tight division race.

“We did what we came to do,” Ryans said. “It was just about accomplishing your mission. It wasn't anything extra on top for winning this game. We just knew we had to get the win no matter what it took.”

Mahomes, operating behind an ailing offensive line, was 14 of 33 for 160 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions. The last of the picks came late in the fourth quarter, when Kansas City was trailing by a touchdown and trying to get the game to overtime.

“I thought our defense did a great job sticking in coverage, and relentlessly rushing," Stroud said. "An amazing job.”

While the win gave a big boost to Houston's playoff chances, whether it be a division title or wild-card spot, it dealt a crippling blow to the defending AFC champs. Kansas City dropped to 6-7, its worst record through 13 games since a 2-11 start to the 2012 season.

“You're getting late in the season. You're not going to get these opportunities back,” Mahomes said. “That's a good football team, but we had chances and we didn't execute at the right time to win it.”

The Chiefs had won five straight against the Texans, including that divisional playoff matchup last January on their way to another Super Bowl appearance. But they were two different teams entirely when they returned for the rematch Sunday night.

The streaking Texans were trying to keep their momentum going, and perhaps join a rare club of teams that includes Houston's 2018 version that started 0-3 and made the playoffs. And the once-dominant Chiefs were simply trying to stay in the postseason fight amid a dismal season marked by injuries, underwhelming performances and too many mistakes across the board.

The first half turned into a microcosm of all of it.

Stroud, who played so well against Indianapolis last week in his return from a concussion, connected with Collins for a 46-yard gain that set up Ka'imi Fairbairn's field goal and a 53-yard catch that led to a short touchdown toss to Woody Marks.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs sustained two more significant injuries, this time to left tackle Wanya Morris and cornerback Trent McDuffie, leaving them without their best defensive back and Mahomes working with an offensive line consisting of three backups.

“Listen, they battled,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said afterward. “Some of the guys in there hadn't practiced much.”

Still, the Chiefs wound up with just 98 first-half yards, and they trailed 10-0 at the break. It was only the fourth time with Mahomes at quarterback and the second time in the regular season that the Chiefs had been shut out in the first half.

The Chiefs' defense held its own, though, forcing Stroud into eight consecutive incompletions to start the second half. It allowed Mahomes and the offense to pick away at their deficit, first on Kareem Hunt's TD run and then on Harrison Butker's tying field goal.

Ultimately, the game hinged on two fourth-down decisions in the fourth quarter.

With the score still 10-10, the Texans had fourth-and-1 at their own 35 and punted. The Chiefs were then held to fourth-and-1 at their own 31, chose to go for it, and watched Mahomes throw incomplete with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Six plays later, Ogunbowale plowed into the end zone from 5 yards out to give Houston the lead again.

The Chiefs failed on fourth down again moments later, when Rashee Rice dropped a wide-open pass that would have produced a first down. And after Kansas City got the ball back one last time, Mahomes was picked off to end any hope of a comeback.

“We've still got an opportunity. Even though it's a slim opportunity, we have an opportunity,” Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones said. “For us, the door is still open. It might be a 10 percent chance. It might be a 5 percent chance. But as long as we have an opportunity and a chance, we can control that, and let the cards fall where they fall.”

Texans: RB Nick Chubb (ribs) left in the first half and did not return.

Chiefs: RG Trey Smith (ankle) and RT Jawaan Taylor (triceps) were inactive. Morris (knee) and CB McDuffie (knee) got hurt in the first half, leaving Kansas City with a patchwork offensive line and without its best defensive back.

Houston plays the Cardinals next Sunday.

Kansas City plays the Chargers the same day.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) throws a touchdown pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) scrambles as Houston Texans defensive end Denico Autry, left, defends during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Houston Texans cornerback Ameer Speed (37) reacts to Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker (7) missing a field goal attempt during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Houston Texans cornerback Kamari Lassiter (4) is congratulated by teammate Jalen Pitre, left, after intercepting a pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Houston Texans running back Dare Ogunbowale, right, scores past Kansas City Chiefs defensive back Chamarri Conner during the second half of an NFL football game Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

VIENNA (AP) — The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said Tuesday Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment site sustained “some recent damage” amid a U.S.-Israeli airstrike campaign, though there was “no radiological consequence expected” from it.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said the damage was focused on “entrance buildings” to the underground portion of the atomic site.

Natanz earlier came under attack by the U.S. in the 12-day Iran-Israel war in June.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran struck the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia’s capital with a drone early Tuesday as it kept hitting targets around the region, while the United States and Israel pounded Iran with airstrikes in what U.S. President Donald Trump suggested was just the start of a relentless campaign that could last more than a month.

The attack from two drones on the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh caused a “limited fire” and minor damage, according to Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry, and the embassy urged Americans to avoid the compound. It followed an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait, which announced Tuesday it had been closed until further notice. The U.S. State Department also ordered the evacuation of non-emergency personnel and family in Kuwait, as well as Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates as a precaution.

Across Iran’s capital, explosions rang out throughout the night into the early morning, with witnesses describing hearing aircraft overhead. It was not immediately clear what had been hit. And in Lebanon, Israel launched more strikes on Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia group. Explosions could be heard and smoke seen in a southern suburb of Beirut. Israel also said its soldiers are “operating in southern Lebanon.” Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the Lebanese army was evacuating some of its positions along the border.

The expansion of Iranian retaliation across the Gulf and the intensity of the Israeli and American attacks, the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the lack of any apparent exit plan portend a possibly prolonged conflict with far-reaching consequences.

Iran has hit many countries deemed safe havens in the Mideast in retaliation for the U.S. and Israeli strikes. Recent targets include two Amazon data centers in the UAE and a drone impact near another in Bahrain that caused damage, the company said Tuesday. Iran has also hit energy facilities in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and attacked several ships Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes, sending global oil and natural gas prices soaring.

“The Strait of Hormuz is closed," declared Iranian Brig. Gen. Ebrahim Jabbari, an adviser to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, threatening to set fire to any ships attempting to transit. “Don’t come to this region.”

The U.S. State Department urged U.S. citizens to leave more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries due to safety risks, as have many other countries, though with much of the airspace closed many remain stranded.

Trump said operations are likely to last four to five weeks but that he was prepared “to go far longer than that.” He later added that the U.S. had a “virtually unlimited supply” of munitions and pre-positioned “high grade weaponry.”

“Wars can be fought ‘forever,’ and very successfully, using just these supplies,” he wrote on social media.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society said the U.S.-Israeli operation has killed at least 787 people. In Israel, where several locations were hit by Iranian missiles, 11 people were killed. The semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported airstrikes killed 13 Iranian troops in Kerman, 800 kilometers (500 miles) southeast of Iran’s capital, Tehran.

Israel’s retaliatory strikes against Hezbollah killed 52 people in Lebanon.

“Military escalation would force more families from their homes and hit civilians hard,” said Amy Pope, director general of the International Organization on Migration, calling for the international community to press for de-escalation. “Millions are already displaced in the region.”

The U.S. military has confirmed six deaths of American service members. All six were Army soldiers in a logistics unit in Kuwait, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Three people were killed in the United Arab Emirates, and one each in Kuwait and Bahrain.

The chaos of the conflict became apparent when the U.S. military said Kuwait had “mistakenly shot down” three American fighter jets while Iran was attacking it with aircraft, ballistic missiles and drones. U.S. Central Command said all six pilots ejected safely.

Iranian state TV said strikes caused two explosions early Tuesday at a broadcasting facility in Tehran, but said no one was injured.

Reza Najafi, Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters that airstrikes targeted the Natanz nuclear enrichment site on Sunday.

“Their justification that Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons is simply a big lie,” he said.

Israel and the U.S. have not acknowledged strikes at the site, which the U.S. bombed in the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June. Israel has said it is targeting the “leadership and nuclear infrastructure.”

Trump said the military campaign’s objectives are to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities, wipe out its navy, prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon and ensure that it cannot continue to support allied groups like Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which fired missiles at Israel on Monday.

Iran has said it has not enriched uranium since June, though it has maintained its right to do so and says its nuclear program is peaceful.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintained, however, that Iran was rebuilding “new sites, new places” underground for making atomic bombs. He offered no evidence to support his claim.

“We had to take the action now and we did,” Netanyahu told Fox News Channel’s Hannity.

Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed limited activity at two nuclear sites in Iran before the war. Analysts said Tehran was likely assessing damage from the 2025 U.S. strikes and possibly salvaging what remained.

The conflict has also spread to Lebanon, where the Iranian-supported militant group Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel on Monday, prompting Israel to retaliate.

At least 52 people have been killed and 154 wounded, Lebanese authorities said.

Israel hit Beirut with more airstrikes early Tuesday, saying it was targeting “Hezbollah command centers and weapons storage facilities.”

Hezbollah also said it launched drones targeting an Israeli air base. The Israeli military said it downed two drones.

An Iranian-linked militant in Iraq has also claimed strikes on U.S. military facilities there. The Israeli military said its troops operating in southern Lebanon were positioned at several points near the border in what it described as a “forward defense posture.”

It said the deployment is part of a broader effort to increase security for residents in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon. It has also beefed up troops and air defenses in the area.

The army said there are no plans to evacuate Israeli residents of border areas.

David Rising in Bangkok, Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, Hallie Golden in Seattle, and Giovanna Dell'Orto in Miami contributed to this report. Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece, and Magdy reported from Cairo.

Jewish men covered in prayer shawls pray in an underground parking garage as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A group of men inspects the ruins of a police station struck Monday amid the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, early Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

This image provided by U.S. Central Command shows a F-35C Lightning II preparing for launch on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in support of Operation Epic Fury on Monday, March 2, 2026. (U.S. Navy via AP)

Mourners take cover while air-raid sirens warn of incoming missiles launched by Iran toward Israel during the funeral of Sarah Elimelech and her daughter Ronit who were killed in an Iranian missile attack, in Beit Shemesh, Israel, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A worker instals a billboard on an overpass containing a portrait of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the ongoing joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Smoke engulfs a street after a strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohsen Ganji)