Will Anderson Jr. after Texans’ playoff loss: ‘We knew it was going to be us versus the refs’

“We knew it was going to be us versus the refs going into this game,” Anderson said. “I talked to you guys earlier this week, and I was just telling them we got to go out there and do what’s better. In some instances, we didn’t do that. In some instances, we did.”

Anderson got flagged for roughing the passer on an incomplete pass by Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes on a third-and-8 snap at the Chiefs 33-yard line.

“I had forcible contact to the face-mask area,” Martin told Pro Football Writers of America pool reporter Aaron Wilson after the game, “so I went with roughing the passer on that play.”

Kansas City capitalized on the 15 yards and first down by completing the series with a field goal for a 6-3 lead with 3:59 left in the first quarter.

“(Coach DeMeco Ryans) told me, ‘Keep going. Don’t let it slow you down,’” Anderson said. “We was just hunting up front. That was going to be the biggest thing. We had to take control of the game up front, and I thought we did a good job of that. I don’t care what nobody say. I thought we pressured Mahomes. I thought we got him on the ground. I thought we flushed him out the pocket. He had to make some big-boy throws, and he did.”

Anderson had two of Houston’s three sacks in the game, and the Texans registered eight hits on Mahomes. But the KC QB is going to the AFC Championship Game for the seventh season in a row after completing 16-of-25 passes for 177 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.

The touchdown came on an 11-yard throw to tight end Travis Kelce that Mahomes made just before he hit the turf, falling forward with defensive tackle Mario Edwards Jr. wrapped around his legs.

The Chiefs took a 20-12 lead with 11:52 to play on the scoring drive, which was aided by an unnecessary-roughness penalty against To’oTo’o, who was flagged as Mahomes scrambled for a 4-yard gain on a first-and-10 snap at the Kansas City 35-yard line.

“It is what it is,” To’oTo’o said. “They’re going to call it. It’s whatever.”

The penalty gave the Chiefs a first down at the Houston 46.

“(Mahomes) slid, obviously,” Martin said. “And when he slides, he is considered defenseless. The onus is on the defender. I had forcible contact there to the hairline, to the helmet.”

For the second season in a row – both seasons since Anderson and To’oTo’o joined the Texans in the 2023 NFL Draft – Houston’s season ended in the second round of the AFC playoffs.

“It was nothing they did,” Anderson said. “It was all us, like bust alignments, out of place. We can’t have that if we want to beat teams like this. Now granted, they are a good team. Don’t get me wrong. But I feel like we were the better team, but we shot ourselves in the foot again. We have to find some way to get over this hump of making the same mistakes over and over and over.”