The Houston Texans, after dropping a game to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 7, are heading into their bye week with back-to-back wins in the books. In doing so, the Deshaun Watson-led team is moving up in playoff seeding with a slim lead in the AFC South.
If the playoffs were to start tomorrow, Houston would be in it. Here is what the AFC seeding would look like:
In the playoffs
No. 1 seed — New England Patriots (8-1)
No. 2 seed — Baltimore Ravens (6-2)
No. 3 seed — Houston Texans (6-3)
No. 4 seed — Kansas City Chiefs (6-3)
Wild-cards
No. 5 seed — Buffalo Bills (6-2)
No. 6 seed — Indianapolis Colts (5-3)
in the hunt
- Pittsburgh Steelers (4-4)
- Oakland Raiders (4-4)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (4-5)
- Tennessee Titans (4-5)
- Los Angeles Chargers (4-5)
the schedule ahead
The Texans’ first half wasn’t easy. The second half may be tougher. Houston will be put through the wringer after their Week 10 bye, facing the Ravens, Colts (on Thursday) and Patriots in consecutive weeks, with two of those games on prime time. All three are playoff teams.
Houston’s tough road ahead of them will define their 2019 season. If they can escape scot-free, their road to the playoffs, and, subsequently, Miami, looks a lot easier. Luckily, health may be on their side after the bye; safety Tashaun Gipson, cornerback Bradley Roby and Laremy Tunsil are all expected to return for Week 11.
remaining opponents
Week 11 — at Baltimore Ravens (6-2)
Week 12 — vs. Indianapolis Colts (5-3)
Week 13 — vs. New England Patriots (8-1)
Week 14 — vs. Denver Broncos (3-6)
Week 15 — at Tennessee Titans (4-5)
Week 16 — at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-6)
Week 17 — vs. Tennessee Titans (4-5)
What bodes well for the Texans is they only have one loss in the division, which means they are still in the running the win the AFC South. Their conference record of 5-1 is also a strength that can help them in the tiebreaker process, presuming they post another 5-1 conference record to close out their 2019 slate.
