J.J. Watt Throttles Browns, Keeps Texans Relevant in AFC Wild-Card Hunt

After a 2-14 season in 2013, the Houston Texans have turned it around by more than doubling that meager win total. Some of that rebound has come from what we knew before the season: that the Texans had a fairly weak schedule, that they were fairly unlucky last season and that it'd be hard to be as bad at quarterback as they were in 2013.

But some of it has also come from what may be defensive lineman J.J. Watt's finest season yet. 

On Sunday, the Texans were able to best the Cleveland Browns with what has become their winning formula this season: They ran the ball, managed to hit a few deep play-action passes and they let Watt be the difference. 

Perhaps the greatest compliment one can give Watt is that games like this one—where he is the difference-maker in a game where the Texans aren't completely outclassed at quarterback—almost feel ho-hum for him. Yep, just another Sunday where Watt caught a touchdown pass as a split-out tight end, showing the rare body control that apparently neither offensive tackles nor defensive backs can deal with.

Just another Sunday where a Watt strip-sack forced the Browns to settle for a missed field-goal attempt early in the game that flipped the game script. Just another Sunday where Watt had three tackles for loss and helped his teammates into several open rushing lanes by occupying blockers. Just another Sunday where Watt broke several records in the process. 

Every week we get a fresh batch of notices about J.J. Watt's dominance. It's become so common as to be mundane. 

The Texans are now 5-5, on the absolute fringes of the AFC wild-card race because none of the AFC teams is good enough to actually put the race away.

Houston entered Sunday with just a 5 percent chance to make the playoffs, per Football Outsiders. But a road win against the Browns does a lot for the bottom line here: Not only have the Texans taken a game from a team in the race, but they've also got one less rough game on the slate. 

Week	Team	DVOA (Rank)
12	v. CIN	-4.1% (20)
13	v. TEN	-17.1% (27)
14	@ JAX	-26.2% (31)
15	@ IND	13.0% (7)
16	v. BAL	23.0% (2)
17	v. JAX	-26.2% (31)

Houston has three games left against the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars, two of the very worst teams in the NFL. Two of those games and four of their final six are at home.

Andy Dalton and the Cincinnati Bengals are always a threat to self-destruct. The Baltimore Ravens have been one of the most inconsistent teams in the NFL, per Football Outsiders. Houston probably won't threaten the Indianapolis Colts on the road, but winning five of their last six would put them at 10 wins, and that could be enough to talk playoffs. 

At the very least, the Texans have put destiny in their own hands.

But perhaps a better way to say that is that J.J. Watt has given the Texans the ability to control their own destiny. 

Rivers McCown is the AFC South lead writer for Bleacher Report and the co-host of the Three-Cone Drill podcast. His work has also appeared on Football Outsiders and ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter at @riversmccown.