When the Texans put their defensive game plan together for their rematch of their defensive implosion in the 2019 divisional round, it was clear that things were going to be different. Instead of “challenging” Patrick Mahomes and his dynamic array of receivers with man coverage — a “strategy” that proved historically disastrous — new defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver decided to play more zone defense. Specifically, zone defense with two deep safeties. The idea, as Weaver explained last Sunday, was to keep everything in front of his outmatched secondary.

“I was hoping with all the COVID protocols that maybe they give us an extra player to play with on defense, but we couldn’t talk the league into that,” Weaver joked. “Obviously, they have a tremendous amount of skill players and it all starts with the quarterback. He makes it all go. Then the guys they have to throw the ball to, whether it’s Kelce or Tyreek Hill, Hardman, Sammy Watkins. You can’t have two guys on all of them. So, they present a tremendous challenge and we’re going just do our best to try to keep them in front of us and limit the explosive plays that they feed off of and try to get every time they touch the ball.”

Well, it worked — to a degree. In the first half, Mahomes completed 20 of 25 passes, but managed just 173 yards. He did throw two touchdown passes, but Weaver was able to limit what Mahomes usually likes to do.

In the first half, with less than 2.5 seconds to throw, Mahomes completed 10 of 11 passes for 78 yards and both touchdowns and a 135.8 passer rating, per Next Gen Stats. He wasn’t able to get anything deep going, and while that may have been a relative problem for Andy Reid’s offense in 2019, it isn’t now. The primary reasons for that? The acquisition of two players: First-round running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire out of LSU, and free-agent offensive guard Kelechi Osemele, signed by the team in July. Edwards-Helaire adds a combination of rushing power and pass-catching flexibility, and Osemele brings an ability to take the defensive lineman in front of him, and pancake the guy right out of the picture.

As a result, a Chiefs offense that was all about flash-and-dash in 2019 brought a series of haymakers to Houston’s defense.

Mahomes’ first touchdown pass was a quick one to tight end Travis Kelce…

…and his second, to receiver Sammy Watkins, was basically a power pitch to the right side.

Meanwhile, Edwards-Helaire was blowing up Houston’s defense in the first half, and doubled down with 11:01 left in the third quarter. This gave the rookie 102 rushing yards in his first NFL game, with more potentially to come. Not bad for a guy who didn’t have a preseason.

As it turned out, Houston’s adjustment to the possibility of the pass gave Edwards-Helaire his star moment.

The aggro continued through the second half, as the Chiefs built up a 31-7 lead in the fourth quarter, before Houston scored a couple of carnage-time touchdowns to make the final score of 34-20 far closer than the game showed. Back in that 2019 playoff nightmare, the Texans allowed five Mahomes touchdown passes, and touchdowns overall on seven straight drives after putting up that 24-0 lead. This time around, it was about time of possession — Kansas City had the ball for 34:47, and a 9:04 drive in the first half.

Edwards-Helaire did get stopped multiple times in the red zone, which is about the only ding on a remarkable performance. He wound up with 138 rushing yards on 25 carries, and even when he did get bottled up close to the goal line, there was Mahomes to be the kid’s closer with one of his patented (and patently) ridiculous throws.

“The guy’s a star,” Mahomes told NBC Sports’ Michele Tafoya about his rookie back after the game. “He works hard, he works his tail off. His vision is incredible, and I thought the offensive line did a great job of getting him those holes ready to run through. So, we’re going to keep getting better — we have a lot of stuff to learn from in this game, and the best thing about this team is that you never know who it’s going to be.”

Scary thoughts, all, for NFL defenses who were already twitchy about the prospects of facing the Chiefs this season.

In winning this game going away (or running away), the Chiefs have \made a clear statement to the rest of the NFL: You may have a way to at least slow down our point-per-minute passing game, but now, if you do, we’ll just bleed the clock, wear down your defense, and run the ball right down your throat. And if Weaver decides to pull his safeties down to deal with the ground game? Well, it’s bombs away from there.

Try and stop them now. As for the Texans? No worries: They have 10 days to get ready for Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens. Might want to work out a few defensive kinks before the NFL’s most ridiculous rushing attack comes to NRG Stadium.