After seeing, hearing, and feeling the atmosphere in Reliant on Sunday, it becomes more apparent than ever that securing home field advantage could be just the thing the Texans need to make a run all the way to the Super Bowl. If the crowd was raucous and noisy when the Texans played an NFC team, imagine the atmosphere when the stands are totally full and the Texans are in the playoffs. I'm excited by that. Are you?

Let's examine last week's results:

Falcons @ Texans - Texans win (+)

Ravens @ Browns - Ravens win (-)

Colts @ Patriots - Patriots win (-)

Bengals @ Steelers - Steelers win (-)

Raiders @ Dolphins - Dolphins win (+)

Jets @ Redskins - Jets (-)

BE-SFs @ Bills - Hillbillies (-)

Slightly better record than last week at 2-5. The leaders of the AFC keep pace with one another, as nobody wants to be the first to drop out of the four-way tie. Here's this week's slate of games.

The Making History

Houston Texans (9-3) @ Cincinnati Bengals (7-5) - Texans

The Texans take on the Bengals as they come off a grueling 4 game stretch against the AFC North. This is the last major test for our team this season as things stand today.

New Orleans Saints (9-3) @ Methopotamia BE-SFs (7-5) - Saints

With a Texans win and a Saints win, the Texans clinch the AFC South and are guaranteed a playoff berth in Week 14. I never thought I would get to type that sentence.

The Race for the #1 Seed

Indianapolis Dolts (0-12) @ Baltimore Ravens (9-3) - Colts

The "team from Indianapolis" take on the Ravens in Baltimore. Baltimore's history of playing down to the competition this season didn't show up last week, so let's hope they saved up some of their suck for this game (the rest being for if they meet the Texans in the postseason).

New England Patriots (9-3) @ Washington Redskins (4-8) - Redskins

The Redskins will have to get it done without Fred Davis and Trent Williams. I doubt they're up to the task but pray I'm wrong.

Cleveland Browns (4-8) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (9-3) - Browns

In a reversal of my wishes for the Ravens, maybe the Browns have been saving most of their not-suck for this game.

The Rest of the AFC (That Matters)

Oakland Raiders (7-5) @ Green Bay Packers (12-0) - Packers

This game is sort of a win-win. Either the Raiders lose and fall further from threatening the Texans in any way, or the Packers lose and this perfect season nonsense can end.

Chicago Bears (7-5) @ Denver Tebows (7-5) - Bears

I'm actually interested to see how Tim Tebow pulls out yet another absurd and overly hyped comeback. But it benefits the Texans if he collapses hilariously at the last minute, so yeah. Out of respect to Mike Clark, I guess it wouldn't be too awful if they were able to win again.

The Texans fell to the #2 seed this week on strength of victory. I can never get the ESPN playoff machine thingy to work on this computer, so I'm uncertain what would happen should all four 9-3 teams in the AFC advance to 10-3. Another exciting week of football awaits, and it's a good time to be a Texans fan.

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