The Houston Texans have gained a little more of a foothold in the top-10 of USA TODAY’s NFL power rankings thanks to their 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 16.
According to Nate Davis, the Texans, who won the AFC South with the win, crept up two spots to No. 6 overall, and Davis made a keen observation from the win in Tampa.
6. Texans (8): Justin Reid has developed into one of league’s better safeties, taking ball away twice in AFC South-clinching win at Tampa on Saturday.
Reid has blossomed into one of the NFL’s better safeties, and he is only in his second season. It is that infusion of youth with playmaking ability that has the 10-5 Texans as one of the more promising teams on the AFC side of the bracket.
Houston concludes the regular season with a Week 17 showdown with the Tennessee Titans at NRG Stadium. If the Kansas City Chiefs lose to the Los Angeles Chargers in the noontime matchup earlier that Sunday, then the Texans, who kickoff at 3:25 p.m. against the Titans, have a shot to move up to the No. 3 seed. However, win or lose, the Texans are locked into wild-card weekend (Jan. 4-5) and cannot earn a first-round bye. The only gain would be that they could avoid a hot wild-card in the Buffalo Bills, slated to be the No. 5 seed, and take on a more vulnerable adversary such as the Titans, Pittsburgh Steelers, or even Oakland Raiders.
