KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Frank Clark set a Kansas City Chiefs playoff record with three sacks in his team's 51-31 divisional round victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.
That's a long way from growing up spending time in homeless shelters with his mom as a kid.
"It comes from coming from the bottom," Clark said. "Where I come from, there's not a lot of opportunities to do things like this, to go out here and have fun with my teammates and play football in front of these great fans.
"I stayed in shelters, I stayed in people's homes, I stayed in bus stops across the world, me and my mom. So at the end of the day I'm just thankful for the opportunity ... and just loving every opportunity."
Clark didn't just have quantity when it came to sacks on Sunday, he also had quality.
He sacked Deshaun Watson for a 17-yard loss on Houston's final play. He also had a sack in the third quarter on which Clark simply wouldn't quit. On that play, he took a couple of passes at Watson but failed to get him and even fell to the ground at one point. But he got up and finally made the tackle because, as Clark himself said, he had no choice.
The Chiefs needed a big game from Clark since they played without Chris Jones, their leader in sacks in each of the past two seasons. Jones missed the game with a sore calf. The Texans had beaten the Chiefs in October without Jones -- one of two games this season in which the Chiefs failed to register a sack. This time, led by Clark's effort, the Chiefs had five sacks.
Clark wasn't at his best in the Week 6 game against the Texans because of a pinched nerve in his neck that was bothering him. He took that loss, and a big game from Texans running back Carlos Hyde, personally. He jawed with Hyde throughout the rematch Sunday and seemed to take pride in leading the defensive effort in the game that ended the Texans' season.
"The last time they were here they beat us, just smacked us in the face," Clark said. "That's the one thing I remember. At the end of the day, they're talking to the wrong guy, talking to the wrong team. They come in here talking all that stuff and they come out here and we embarrass them. We sent them home early. ... I hope they enjoy their offseason."
The Chiefs fell behind 24-0 in the second quarter and looked like a team that might soon be finished for the season. Clark insisted he wasn't worried.
"It's the playoffs," he said. "It's what you expect. Every team is going to give you their all. Houston, they came out with the first 15 [plays]. Everything is scripted. They had a [great] push.
"Thank god we've got Pat Mahomes. We've got an MVP quarterback back there so there's not too much pressure on you."
The Chiefs will face the Tennessee Titans in next Sunday's AFC Championship Game, also at Arrowhead Stadium. The Titans beat the Chiefs in Week 10 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Clark didn't seem to have the same animosity for the Titans as he did for the Texans. But he did remember the first game's result.
"We owe them one," he said.