Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

Sunday's performance from the Houston Texans defense was nothing to be proud of, but it apparently will not cost defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel his job.

"I do anticipate him being back," Texans head coach Bill O'Brien said of the defensive coordinator following his team's 51-31 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday's playoff game, per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.

Garafolo noted O'Brien specified that he will meet with the members of his staff individually before making any final calls.

Crennel, who was also the head coach of the Cleveland Browns and Chiefs in the past, has been with Houston since the 2014 season. The team has made the playoffs in four of his six years on the staff, although it has yet to advance past the second round.

It looked like it would Sunday when it jumped out to a commanding 24-0 lead against the Chiefs.

That's when Patrick Mahomes happened. Last year's league MVP threw for 321 yards, five touchdowns and zero interceptions, helping his offense score 41 unanswered points in a dominant performance after it fell behind by 24.

Houston's inability to slow arguably the best quarterback in the league isn't particularly surprising considering it was a middling 19th in the league in points allowed per game and 28th in yards allowed per game during the regular season. It was far from a dominant unit and was unable to deliver on the biggest stage of its campaign.

Fortunately for Crennel, O'Brien sounded like someone ready to give his defensive coordinator another opportunity in 2020.