Bleacher Report - Houston Texans

Luv Ya Blue Is Something You Should Do

JW Nix — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:01:20 -0500

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs come into this game missing two players that they expected to be their top offensive players this season in running back Larry Johnson and wide receiver Dwayne Bowe. Johnson is now a member of the Cincinnati Bengals and Bowe is serving a four game suspension imposed by the NFL. Facing a team as defensively proficient as the Steelers, it will interesting to see where the Chiefs look for production. Do not expect much of it this week.

Steelers 38 Chiefs 13

Seattle Seahawks @ Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings just extended the contract of head coach Brad Childress. This is a move of good timing, because it establishes a bond and perceived future in their locker room. Seattle remains a mystery on defense, as well as inconsistent on offense. The Vikings are expected to dominate the trenches on both sides of the ball this game.

Vikings 27 Seahawks 16

Washington Redskins @ Dallas Cowboys

Though perhaps the best rivalry in NFL history appears to not have as much glamour surrounding it this season, this game still has tremendous importance to both teams. Dallas needs this win to stay ahead in the NFC East, while a Redskins win would practically bring them back into the race for the divisional crown. Washington would like to start their era with a win in the Cowboys new stadium like they did with the old one.

If you would like a bit more of a look at this rivalry, look at http://bleacherreport.com/articles/294540-renewing-a-rivalries-importance

Cowboys 26 Redskins 24

Cleveland Browns @ Detroit Lions

Watching this game might be akin to watching two 97 lbs. weaklings missing all of their limbs in a tug-of-war battle. This is also a game where both teams may be looking for their last win of the season. However, it could be a close game that is decided on the final play.

Lions 23 Browns 14

New Orleans Saints @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Saints are flying high right now, and their fans are experiencing a joy that has never been felt before in the franchises history. The Buccaneers are not playing well, and appear years away from rebuilding a competitive team. This could be a blow out.

Saints 45 Buccaneers 17

Atlanta Falcons @ New York Giants

This is a battle of two struggling teams trying to get back on course. The Falcons lost their best player last week in running back Michael Turner, so the passing game will be very important. The return of cornerback Aaron Ross could not have come at a better time for the Giants. New York needs to run the ball to win, and the bye week was a time to rest their hobbling backfield. This game will be a good indicator to show how for real the Giants are this season.

Giants 31 Falcons 23

Indianapolis Colts @ Baltimore Ravens

The Colts are resilient. They keep winning and are undefeated, which is exactly what one wants if they have championship aspirations. The Ravens have been struggling lately, and this was showed last week when the Cleveland Browns matched them stride for stride over 30 minutes. Now star defensive end Terrell Suggs is out, missing the first game in his career. A big blow, considering Baltimore needs all the pass rushers they can get against an explosive Colts offense.

Colts 27 Ravens 21

San Francisco 49ers @ Green Bay Packers

The Packers are coming off an impressive game where they defeated the favored Dallas Cowboys at home. The 49ers are coming off a less than impressive victory over the struggling Chicago Bears. The Packers stayed at home this week and should be ready to win a game they need to stay within shouting distance of the division leading Vikings.

Packers 34    49ers 24

Buffalo Bills @ Jacksonville Jaguars

Buffalo comes into this game a few days removed from firing their head coach of over three years. Jacksonville has had the same head coach for over six years. Sometimes a coaching change can inspire an underachieving team to a few victories, but Jacksonville has been showing steady improvement the past couple of weeks.

Jaguars 26   Bills 10

Arizona Cardinals @ Saint Louis Rams

Arizona has been playing much better recently, and they are undefeated on the road this year so far. The Rams best weapon is running back Steven Jackson. It may not be enough to keep pace with the Cardinals high octane offense.

Cardinals 41   Rams 17

New York Jets @ New England Patriots

The Jets have been crying the blues recently. Their season has not met their lofty expectations, but they really shouldn't be stunned because they are starting a rookie quarterback with little playing experience even on the college level. New England will be fired up for this game after all the media bashing they took this week for last weeks loss.

Patriots 34   Jets 17

Cincinnati Bengals @ Oakland Raiders

The Bengals are one of the hottest teams in the league right now, and are coming off a game they spanked the defending champion Steelers. The Raiders offense has been so bad, they switched quarterbacks. Facing a defense like Cincinnati's is a tough test for any quarterback, let alone a new one.

Bengals 38   Raiders 14

San Diego Chargers @ Denver Broncos

Game Of The Week

This is a very important matchup in the AFC West this week, and could have repercussions for the rest of the season. The Chargers have begun winning again after a slow start, while the Broncos have started to lose after a hot start. The Broncos also might have to resort to using a backup quarterback who was very ineffective during their upset loss to the Redskins last week. Denver's defense needs to win this one.

Chargers 24   Broncos 17

Philadelphia Eagles @ Chicago Bears

The Eagles are teetering on dire straits right now. Their inconsistent play has them on the verge of pushing themselves out of the playoff race. Not having a running game is the worst part of their game, so Donovan McNabb needs to step up now and play the best football of his career for them to have a chance. The Bears are a mess right now. Their trench play has been poor, and their injuries have been key. The big trade for quarterback Jay Cutler has not looked good thus far either.

Eagles 27 Bears 24

Tennessee Titans @ Houston Texans

This is a Monday night game worth watching. Though the fans of Houston will heartily be rooting for the Texans, they have not forgotten how the Titans left them in 1996. The Titans were called the Oilers then, and were the champions of the American Football League for the first two years of their existence. Expect the Houston fans to have a quandary when the Titans walk on the field. Will they cheer them in appreciation or boo them for leaving? Will Titans owner Bud Adams have to tape his middle fingers to his ring fingers? There are a few side stories in this one, and let us hope ESPN does not drop the ball too much on the historical significance of this game. They typically do, but this is the year the inception of the AFL is being remembered. The Oilers were a huge part of that year, as they still are in the lore of the city of Houston.

Texans 34 Titans 30

NFL Power Rankings

1. New Orleans Saints

2. Indianapolis Colts

3. Minnesota Vikings

4. Cincinnati Bengals

5. New England Patriots

6. Pittsburgh Steelers

7. San Diego Chargers

8. Dallas Cowboys

9. Baltimore Ravens

10. Houston Texans

11. Philadelphia Eagles

12. Atlanta Falcons

13. Denver Broncos

14. New York Giants

15. Green Bay Packers

16. Arizona Cardinals

17. New York Jets

18. Miami Dolphins

19. San Francisco 49ers

20. Jacksonville Jaguars

21. Seattle Seahawks

22. Tennessee Titans

23. Chicago Bears

24. Washington Redskins

25. Carolina Panthers

26. Oakland Raiders

27. Buffalo Bills

28. Detroit Lions

29. Kansas City Chiefs

30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

31. Saint Louis Rams

32. Cleveland Browns

Last week I took a bath and went 7-7 . I am now 87-41 , since I did not pick on the Thursday game.

Let us keep the focus on the Houston Oilers .

Bud Adams started the franchise in 1960 with the fledgling American Football League. Adams put together an excellent team quickly, some with hard work and some with good luck.

His big move in 1960 was signing Billy Cannon away from the clutches of the NFL.

Cannon was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams with the first pick of the draft, and he was the first pick of the AFL as well.

Adams signed the LSU legend and 1959 Heisman Trophy winner on the field after LSU won the Sugar Bowl.

Future NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle was the general manager of the Rams at that time, and he tried to force Cannon to sign with his team. Adams took the NFL to court and won.

Another of the many key signings that season was of future Hall of Famer George Blanda . Blanda had washed out of the NFL and did not even play football in 1959.

He joined the Oilers and immediately became the team's leader, helping them win the first AFL Championship when he hit Cannon for an 88-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter vs. the Los Angeles Chargers.

Blanda led the Oilers to a second consecutive championship in 1961 and was named the AFL Player of the Year.

He tied the record of seven touchdown passes in a game the next season, as the Oilers reached a third championship before losing to the Dallas Texans in the longest championship game in professional football history.

Blanda also set a record of 42 interceptions thrown in that 1962 season.

Though the Oilers would reach the AFL Championship in 1967, losing to an Oakland Raiders team that now had Blanda on their roster, the team has never won a championship game again.

Many great players played for the Oilers, and several are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Players like Blanda, Earl Campbell, Ken Houston, Elvin Bethea, Mike Munchak, Warren Moon , and Bruce Matthews are just a few players that played for the Oilers and are now enshrined in Canton.

I have also included many Oilers in my Crazy Canton Cuts series. Robert "Dr Doom" Brazile, Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, Curley Culp, Jim Norton , and Bob Talamin i are Oilers whose profiles can be found on crazycantoncuts.blogspot.com . Charley Hennigan is a player I will be profiling in the future.

Despite their legacy, as well as being the first professional sports team to win a championship in Houston, the team relocated to Nashville, Tenn., before the 1997 season.

They changed their name from the Oilers to the Titans just before the 1999 season.

The timing of the name change worked out well for Adams, as his team went on to Super Bowl XXXIV but lose to the St. Louis Rams. It is the only season that the franchise has won the AFC Championship.

To learn more about the Houston Oilers, I encourage you to visit this site : http://www.remembertheafl.com/

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Why Do Some Houstonians Continue To Root For The Tennessee Titans?

Vik Vij — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:41:50 -0500

In a nutshell, I have no idea why some fans in the Houston area cheer for the Tennessee Titans. It makes no sense to me and it even kind of annoys me. But, if we left it at that, this would be a really short and worthless article.

(Photo caption: Bud Adams, Titans owner and Public Enemy Number One in Houston even ahead of Albert Pujols.)

Let's jump right into a little history, shall we? Bud Adams founded and owned the Houston Oilers. The Oilers played in the Houston Astrodome. There were some good years and some bad years for the Oilers in Houston. Some winning seasons and some AFL championships in the 1960s.

In the 1990s, the Oilers were a good team that couldn't quite get over the hump. There were some good times and bad times; the Run and Shoot, Warren Moon, Buddy Ryan slugging Kein Gilbride on the sideline. I don't want to bring up the Buffalo Bills epic comeback for those of you who were Oilers fans back then.

But, in 1995, Adams announced he wanted a new stadium in Houston and threatened to leave if he didn't get a publicly funded facility. Well, the city of Houston refused to be held hostage and didn't build ole Bud a stadium. So, Adams, making good on his ransom ultimatum, announced he was leaving for Tennessee after the 1996 season.

The 1996 season saw the Oilers play well and finish 8-8. But, after announcing the team was leaving Texas, Houstonians stopped caring. The cavernous Astrodome was mostly empty as fans did not support the lame duck team.

Can you blame those fans? Would you go watch a team that just announced it was leaving for Memphis of all places?

We all know the history of the team now known as the Titans, they left Houston for Tennessee.

It's like a girlfriend breaking up with a lawyer and immediately starting to date a guy who is on the watch list for buying too many bottles of cough syrup at the drug store.

Leaving Houston to end up in Tennessee?

This isn't meant to be a slight to Tennessee (well, maybe a little), but let's be honest here; Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States. Adams' move was a straight money grab and he showed no loyalty to the city. This move continues to baffle my mind.

But, that does not baffle me quite as much as the Houstonians who still support the Titans. I won't name any names, but a few years ago, I was lucky enough to watch a Titans game from a suite at Reliant Stadium with some friends. One of my best friends was openly rooting for the Titans. It still to this day makes no sense and this was many seasons ago.

Hello, Houstonians, the Titans left Houston for another city. Why are you still supporting them? Do you hope free agents who defect to another team play well? Do you hope the girlfriend who dumped you for some loser wins the lottery? Where is your sense of civic pride? I just don't get it.

Well, a lot of Longhorns play for the Titans. Yeah, I've heard some of you say that. Vince Young, Bo Scaife, Mike Griffin, and Ahmard Hall play for the Titans. The fact that those are former Texas standouts may be reason to continue cheering for them on an individual basis, but not for their team especially when that team betrayed Houston.

Where was this UT pride when Corey Redding and Shawn Rogers played for the Lions? Or when Derek Johnson and Priest Holmes played for the Chiefs? There are 43 Longhorns currently in the NFL, where is the love for those teams? You can't have it both ways.

Let's explore some of this Vince Young phenomenon.

Disclaimer: I'm a huge Texas fan and my memory of Vince Young scampering for the winning score against USC is one of my best sports memories of all time. The best sporting event I ever attended was the 2005 Rose Bowl when VY ran all over USC. I still watch my Rose Bowl DVD and youtube highlights. In short, I think Vince Young is the best college player I've ever seen.

When he wasn't drafted by the Texans back in 2006, many Texans' fans and Houstonians in general were shocked. The team didn't take Reggie Bush or Vince Young and took a young defensive end from NC State. Well, in the end, it's clear Houston made the right pick and we don't need to debate this.

But, some of you are still convinced Vince Young is the second coming of Joe Montana combined with hyper-athletism.

Let's face reality, however. Young's career passer rating is 70.1 Sure, he's won some games and has even been to the playoffs, but don't you think the Titans defense then and Chris Johnson now are the reason the Titans were good? I sure do and I know I'm not alone.

I understand it would have been a great story for Young to star in his hometown after leading UT to a BCS Championship, but he's not on the Texans nor is he a great quarterback. He's Trent Dilfer with legs and let's face reality; Young is a Titan (for now) and not a Texan.

Well, some of you say, the Texans never gave us anything to cheer for before the past few seasons. David Carr is a bum and the defense couldn't stop a high school team. So many draft picks were wasted,but those aren't reasons to give up on your hometown team. (Granted, that glove wearing ninny David Carr truly is a bum.)

But, where is the fun in rooting for only the best teams? Is that what fandom is all about? I don't think so. You pick a team and you stick with them. Look how happy Saints fans have been recently. They've had one of the worst histories in pro sports, but they're on top of the world now. That's real fandom.

Look, this is America and we're lucky enough to be able to live wherever we want and to do whatever we want. If you want to live in Houston and root for the Titans, go ahead. But don't do it twice a year. Don't root for the Titans only when they play the Texans. For those of you in the vocal minority who root for the Titans twice a year: pick a team and stick with them because your lack of loyalty is making us real fans sick.

Read more Houston Texans news on BleacherReport.com

Most Important Game of the Season: Houston Texans Host Tennessee Titans

Vik Vij — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:21:23 -0500

Granted, similar claims could be made nearly every week in 2009, but this is the most important game of the season for the Houston Texans. Coming off of a heartbreaking loss, the Texans are hosting the hated Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football.

We don't need to go into all the nitty gritty details, but, it's safe to say these teams have history and don't like each other.

Highlighted by Titan's owner Bud Adams yanking the Oilers out of Houston to head to, well, let's just call them "other pastures" in Tennessee, and the drafting of Vince Young, these two teams have developed into bitter rivals.

When you throw in the borderline dirty play of Titan standouts in recent years, such as Albert Haynesworth and Courtland Finnegan, the word "hate" almost seems too nice.

Houston plays host to Monday Night Football for the second time in franchise history, but none is bigger than this game. The Texans must defeat the Titans. This is a must win game. It cannot be clearer.

After losing to the Colts in what could have been a winnable game, the Texans must return to their winning ways in their march towards the playoffs. A record of 6-4 would help the Texans stick around in the race, but 5-5 would all but doom the team.

We know that the Texans must win the game, but how can they go about winning the game? Second, can the Texans win this game?

To answer the second question first, yes, the Texans can win this game. The Texans should win this game. Now, let's explore the how.

The insertion of Vince Young into the Titan's lineup has re-energized the team. Young has peeled off three straight wins. His return to Houston makes for a great story line, but this might make victory easier. It will surely make victory that much sweeter.

With Young's return, the Titans have become more of a run oriented team. With the electric Chris Johnson in the backfield, this would seem like a no-brainer. But, the Texans have become one of the best defenses at stopping the run since these two teams last tussled in Tennessee.

Let's face it. Young is still not a game changing quarterback with his arm. He is still uniquely skilled at making plays with his legs and keeping plays alive. However, most of Young's completions are safe passes that don't challenge the defense. The Texans can take away the passing game and force the Titans to be one dimensional.

Here's how Young's insertion helps the Texans. Against a mobile QB, the Texans will play more zone and will use a spy. There was no reason to play this way against Kerry Collins. With the zone and spy techniques, there will be more eyes on Young and the backfield.

This brings us back to Chris Johnson. It's arguable he's the best running back in the league. If I can quote Bum Phillips, Johnson might not be the head of the class, but it sure doesn't take that long to call role.

With more eyes on Young, there will be more eyes on Johnson. Johnson is less likely to dominate the game against a zone. Granted, not many players in the league can keep up with him, but with 11 guys flowing to the ball and none looking away from the backfield, I like the Texans' chancec.

Even with Johnson's amazing skills and his recent history of dominance against the Texans, the Texans can win this matchup. Bernard Pollard and Brian Cushing are largely responsible for the better defensive play since earlier in the season. Both their physical strength and style have made this a better defense.

Coordinator Frank Bush has shortened his learning curve and is now calling a great game plan from week to week. The Texans have the players to stop the run. The entire game goes down to that old adage: stop the run, win the game.

Further, good defenses can take away the opposition's strength and force them to do what they don't want to do. Clearly, Johnson is the team's strength and forcing Young to pass to win is what the Titans don't want to do.

The path to victory and the playoffs is easy to follow. The Texans must continue to make one step after another. The next step that must be taken is beating the resurgent Titans. It's the biggest game of the season. Till next week.

Read more Houston Texans news on BleacherReport.com

Houston Texans' TE James Casey: Bookmark Him Now

Chris Farmer — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:14:34 -0500

Who the heck is James Casey? He is a 6'3", 240-lb. rookie TE that was drafted in the fifth round out of Rice University.

He is also that rare fantasy gem is that is a virtual unknown, that could be thrust into national prominence as early as this week's game. Here is why.

The Houston Texans love to utilize their TEs in the passing game. For proof, just look at rising star Owen Daniels' career stats to date. As a rookie he caught 34 passes, upped that to 63 the next season and 70 last year.

This year he was on pace to shatter his personal bests across the board and had been anointed the best TE in the game by several well known pundits, before suffering a torn ACL in Week 8 against Buffalo.

In that same game, James Casey caught the only two passes of his NFL career before he too hurt his knee, albeit a less significant injury. Still, it required surgery and he missed the Week 9 game against Indianapolis, leaving veteran Joel Dreessen as the only viable threat in Daniels' stead for that game.

Dreessen responded with two catches for 15 yards, not impressive fantasy stats, but remember this guy is their primary long snapper and has 27 career receptions in four years of action. Not only is he not suited to be an every down player, but in the NFL you simply don't risk the health of players at key positions.

Dreessen was clearly a stop gap for one game, even if he is still listed as the No.1 TE on the depth chart as I write.

James Casey on the other hand brings a whole lot more to the table. He is a 25-year old rookie for a reason—he spent three years in the White Sox farm system before retiring from baseball to enroll at Rice to play football.

This guy is a gifted athlete, as evidenced by the fact that he played seven different positions for the Owls in 2007 on his way to earning Conference USA consensus all-freshman honors.

In 2008 Casey lined up mostly as a WR and finished second in the nation with 111 receptions before entering the NFL draft after only two seasons of college ball. Yeah, I think I would turn pro at that point too.

So here we are entering Week 11 of the NFL season. The Texans need a TE to take a pro bowler's spot in the lineup. Daniels' best asset is his athleticism, and Casey fits the mold.

If you need a TE, I wouldn't hesitate to pick him up and insert him into your lineup right away.

There is no need to take my word for it, just read what coach Gary Kubiak had to say : "He'll become a big part of what we're doing here over the course of the next seven weeks."

Although it is a calculated risk to stick someone sight-unseen into your starting lineup, if rolling the dice is part of your DNA then this is about as plug-n-play as it gets.

This article also appears on Undrafteds.com

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Houston Texans' Playoff Scenario Changes During Bye Week

Robert Vega — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:16:40 -0500

The Texans didn’t play this past weekend so I decided to take a bye week as well.

The wife and I flew up to New York to visit some friends, do some touristy stuff, and eat and drink to dangerous levels.

I pretty much ignored football for the weekend and when I got back on Sunday and checked out what was going on, I realized that it only took a few days for my playoff scenarios from the previous week to change significantly.

Awesome.

Really, though, the majority of the logic still holds.

I said before that one of the Wild Card teams is almost certainly going to come from the AFC North, and that hasn’t changed. I just got the wrong one. Maybe.

Cincinnati’s victory over Pittsburgh puts them in the driver’s seat to win the AFC North and their upcoming games are @ Oakland, vs. Cleveland, and vs. Detroit.

Then they have two tough ones @ Minnesota and @ San Diego before another cakewalk at home against KC. That puts them at worst at 11-4 going into their last game against the Jets.

Pittsburgh has only a slightly tougher road with two games against Baltimore, one vs Green Bay and one at Miami. The other games are @ KC, vs Oakland, and @ Cleveland.

Currently sitting at 6-3, I can’t see them going any worse than 11-5 and more likely than not, they’ll be better than that.

None of that matters though because one of them will win the division and one will get the Wild Card. The Texans would prefer to be competing with the Bengals for the wild card because they hold the tie breaker, but that won’t matter if Cincinnati has a better record.

With respect to Baltimore, although it wasn't pretty on Monday, the Ravens did win.

It’s easy to look at their recent performance and say that they’re spiraling in the wrong direction—I mean before last night’s ugly win against a pathetic Cleveland squad, they had lost four of five—but that might be a mistake as they’ve had a complete bitch of a schedule so far.

Their only losses have been @ NE, two against Cincinnati, and @ Minnesota, so they may actually be better than their record shows.

Still, they have some tough games on the schedule including Indy at home, two against Pittsburgh, and a December trip to Lambeau. While their schedule may work in our favor, we cannot write them off just yet.

Add all that up, and the AFC North is pretty much a lock for one of the Wild Card spots and a definite threat to steal both.

Shifting gears, it looks more and more like there’s only going to be one postseason representative from the East. The Jets and Dolphins are both 4-5 and playing less than inspired ball right now.

The Jets have lost five of six, with their only win coming at Oakland, and they don’t get the benefit of the schedule doubt like Baltimore does.

Miami, on the other hand, barely squeaked one out at home against a potentially-improving-but-still-bad Tampa Bay team. In fact, Miami’s only wins on the season are two against the aforementioned Jets, the TB game last week, and a drubbing at home against Buffalo.

Add in the fact that they may have lost Ronnie Brown for a while—probably their most important offensive player—and I’m just going to wrap up my AFC East discussion right here.

The AFC West only has two teams worth talking about, and they seem to be going in opposite directions. Last week, I gave the division title to Denver while suggesting that San Diego might be our biggest competition for the Wild Card.

Um… let’s go ahead and swap that.

Denver lost Kyle Orton last week to an ankle injury and it’s unclear when he might be able to come back. That puts a major strain on their playoff chances.

Quick aside: One year ago today, the Broncos were 6-4 and leading the division by two over a Chargers team that had just lost four of six and would lose their next two. Jay Cutler was playing great and they were essentially a lock for the playoffs.

What if I told you then that they would miss the playoffs, trade Cutler, and their 2009 playoff hopes would rest on the health of Kyle Orton’s ankle? Would you try to scam money off of me or just call for an intervention?

Anyway, Denver’s struggling recently and just lost to the Redskins and now sit at 6-3. They’ve got some tough games coming up against the Chargers, Giants, Colts, and Eagles, so the question may not be if they can finish strong and make the playoffs, but rather if their strong start is enough to hold on the a Wild Card spot?

Still, with two against KC and one against the Raiders, a 10-6 finish is still high in the realm of possibilities. Then again, they did just lose to the Redskins.

The Texans and Broncos don’t play this year and the second Wild Card tie breaker is wins within the conference. The Broncos currently lead that category 5-4, so we may need the Broncos to continue their struggles a little more.

That finally brings us to the AFC South. Unlike some other teams who sit on their asses during their bye week and watch the rest of their division lose, all three of our division opponents won.

Let’s work from the bottom up.

The Titans are still pretty much out of the playoff race, but they really scare me right now. It’s not so much that they’ve won recently against Jacksonville, SF, and Buffalo, it’s that they’ve won convincingly, causing Bud Adams give the quarter-million-dollar bird and forget that his team is still 3-6.

Jacksonville, however, is right in the thick of the playoff race.

And while Indy is pretty much uncatchable, their win against NE hurts; not so much because of division play, but because it makes it more likely that the Patriots final game of the season will be important for them.

Still, if we acknowledge that the AFC North is going to get at least one Wild Card spot and we hope to compete with the second place team in the west for the Wild Card, then the race for second within our division is absolutely critical.

We have our three remaining divisional games in the next three weeks, and at that point, we will pretty much either be in the absolute thick of the race or out of it altogether.

Winning this coming Monday against the Titans is a crucial start, and really this entire article is moot unless we win our games.

Last week, I suggested that we must go at least 2-0 against the Seahawks and Rams, 2-1 against the Titans, Jags, and Dolphins, and 1-1 against the Colts and Pats.

Losing this Monday to the Titans wouldn’t necessarily kill our playoff chances, but winning would really strengthen them.

It would put us at 2-2 within the division and 6-4 on the season. It would also give us a little more wiggle room against Indianapolis and New England.

All in all, though, the Texans are pretty much in control of their own destiny although a little help will probably be necessary.

Still, this is all pretty much just a long winded way of saying, we have to win the games on our schedule.

It’s fun to look at all the scenarios and see what needs to happen for us to make the playoffs, but if we don’t win our games, this will be a short-lived recurring article.

Besides, everything will probably just change this weekend anyway.

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