The Kansas City Chiefs are set to return to action and square off against the Houston Texans in their divisional round matchup on Saturday afternoon. There have been some big injury storylines worth monitoring throughout the week, and it looks like Houston is set to get a pair of big boosts for this game.

After locking up the No. 1 seed in the AFC, the Chiefs rested their starters in Week 18 of the regular season, and then got to enjoy their bye week during the wild card round. The Texans, meanwhile, rolled past the Los Angeles Chargers in their wild card battle to set up a date with Kansas City.

At this point, everybody in the NFL is banged up, but a pair of key Texans, running back Joe Mixon and linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, saw their status for this game be clouded in doubt thanks to injuries. However, both guys are set to tough it out and play, which will make KC’s job harder as they look to send Houston home for the offseason.

“Texans Pro Bowl RB Joe Mixon, limited this week with an ankle injury, will play today, sources say. LB Azeez Al-Shaair, limited with a knee, also will play against the Chiefs,” Ian Rapoport reported in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Having Mixon and Al-Shaair on the field will be huge for the Texans. In his first season with Houston, Mixon earned the second Pro Bowl honor of his career, racking up 1,325 total yards and 12 touchdowns. Al-Shaair, meanwhile, is arguably the Texans best tackler, although he’s more well-known for his dirty hits than his play on the field.

Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon

© Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Kansas City will have to worry about both of these guys, and we have seen them have huge impacts for the Texans at different points this year, which is why they are in the divisional round of the playoffs. It will be worth checking Houston’s final inactives to make sure these guys play, but it looks like the Chiefs job just got a bit more difficult.