INGLEWOOD, Calif. – There is more clarity now on what’s next for the playoff-bound Texans.
There’s a scenario where they could repeat as AFC South division champions for the third year in a row. However, the Jacksonville Jaguars, which defeated the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, would need to lose next week to the three-win Tennessee Titans combined with a Texans win over Indianapolis.
Recommended Videos
If the Texans win the division, they would be the third seed and host a playoff game at NRG Stadium.
So, the final week of the regular season does have stakes. The Texans may have to gauge resting some injured and/or key players while still doing enough to ensure they beat the Titans.
Because the Buffalo Bills lost to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday and the Texans own a head-to-head tiebreaker over the AFC East franchise, Houston moved into the fifth playoff seed. The Texans started the weekend seventh in the AFC playoff standings. They leapfrogged the Los Angeles Chargers with a 20-16 win and now own the head-to-head tiebreaker over them.
If the Jaguars win the division and the Texans beat the Titans, they would be locked into the fifth seed. The Texans would own the intradivisional tiebreaker over the Jaguars.
Under this scenario, the Texans would face the fourth seed in a road AFC wild-card round playoff game. That will mean they would play the AFC North champions. The winner of next weekend’s game between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers will win the AFC North division and earn the fourth seed in the AFC.
The Texans blew out the Ravens in Baltimore earlier this season. They did so without star quarterback Lamar Jackson and were overmatched by the Texans on both sides of the football.
However it all turns out, the Texans are heading to the postseason for the third year in a row under coach DeMeco Ryans’ leadership.
“Just really proud of every person on this team and organization for putting us in a spot to go play in the playoffs,” Ryans said. “It’s what you play for. It’s what you work hard for throughout training camp. It’s what you fight in the season for, for an opportunity to be in the playoffs and go win it all.
“So, we’ve earned that and it wasn’t given to us. Our guys went out and earned it. We’re extremely proud of everybody for that.”
The Texans are on an NFL-leading eight-game winning streak. They have rebounded from an 0-3 start to engineer a strong turnaround largely behind the NFL’s top-ranked defense.
“Yeah, it’s a testament to the hard work, to how we were built from top to bottom from our ownership to Nick Caserio, to DeMeco, to me, Danielle [Hunter], Will [Anderson Jr.], just how our team is built. We’re built tough. We’re not perfect, we just try to find a way to win each week.
“I was never kind of worried because we weren’t getting blown out by anybody, we just weren’t finishing games. I think things are going to happen some days. We’re going to give up points, we’re going to turn over the ball. It’s just how you respond. I think our response from that time when we were 3-5 and on, we’ve responded to those situations better.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com