The Houston Texans were able to secure the AFC South for the second time in as many years last week after knocking off the Miami Dolphins and will now get a great test against the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Chiefs haven’t been the Chiefs that we have become accustomed to this season but they still currently sit at 13-1 and are one of the best teams in the entire league. The Chiefs are expected to get Marquise “Hollywood” Brown back for his debut with the franchise but star quarterback Patrick Mahomes likely won’t be at 100% after injuring his ankle in their Week 15 win over the Cleveland Browns.

Meanwhile, the Texans have also dealt with absences of their own including in their tight end room which has opened up the door for veteran tight end Irv Smith Jr. to come in for meaningful playing time. With the injuries to a number of their tight ends, the Texans have signed Irv Smith Jr. to their 53-man roster ahead of their matchup against the Chiefs.

READ MORE: Chiefs Star WR Will Make Season Debut Against Texans

To begin the season, the Texans had a deep rotation of tight ends but after an ACL injury to Brevin Jordan, a knee injury to Teagan Quitoriano, and a recent unexpected appendectomy for Cade Stover, the Texans were left with just starter Dalton Schultz paving the way for Smith Jr. to earn more snaps.

While Irv Smith hasn’t been that involved in the passing game, he did display some great blocking in the team’s 20-12 win over the Miami Dolphins in Week 16. Smith Jr. will look to keep up his strong play this week as he will have a much tougher opponent on the opposite side as the Chiefs’ defense and trenches on that side present a ton of problems for opposing offenses.

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