The Kansas City Chiefs put in a commanding first-half display to lead the Houston Texans 27-9 at the halfway stage of their season opener this evening.
The Texans began the match poorly, with quarterback Brian Hoyer throwing an interception early on to gift possession straight to the Chiefs.
The visitors took full advantage too as Alex Smith fired a 10-yard pass to Travis Kelce in the endzone for their opening score of the new season.
The same pair combined later in the quarter for a 42-yard score, as a wide-open Kelce became the first Chiefs player to record two receiving touchdowns in a season opener for 20 years.
Houston responded in the closing stages of the first, however, with Hoyer overcoming his earlier interception to engineer a good drive downfield that ended with him floating a pass out to DeAndre Hopkins in the endzone.
Randy Bullock's attempted extra point was unsuccessful, though, and Kansas City were able to restore their 14-point lead in the second quarter courtesy of a pair of field goals from Cairo Santos.
That lead grew to 21 with five minutes remaining in the half when Smith threw his third touchdown pass of the game, finding Jamaal Charles, who scurried into the corner of the endzone.
The Texans fans began to boo their offense as they continued to struggle, but they did get the last score of the half when Bullock struck a 34-yard field goal with just 13 seconds remaining.
Barney Corkhill
