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A wild card berth for the Texans seems like little more than a pipe dream at this point with the Chiefs, Jets, and Steelers all going on a hot streak while sitting ahead of Houston in the standings. That means, of course, that it probably will be "division champs or bust" for the Texans if they want to sneak into the playoffs. Luckily for Bill O’Brien, his squad still sits in a deadlocked tie for the division lead with the Colts just days before playing them in Indianapolis. Here is where the AFC South stands with just three weeks to go in the regular season, as well as who you need to root for in every relevant game to make this playoff dream a reality.
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Team
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Win-Loss
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Division Record
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Conference Record
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|
(1) Indianapolis Colts
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6-7
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3-1
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8-1
|
|
(2) Houston Texans
|
6-7
|
2-1
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6-2
|
|
|
5-8
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2-3
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7-1
|
|
(4) Tennessee Titans
|
3-10
|
1-3
|
1-8
|
Houston at Indianapolis
Who you should root for: Houston.
Why you should root for them: The Texans have never won on the road against the Colts. It’s time for that to change.
New York Jets at Dallas
Who you should root for: New York.
Why you should root for them: The Texans still need the Jets to win as many games as possible in order to gain the edge in any potential tiebreakers later in the season. As strange as it sounds, having the Jets as a wild card team would be a good thing at this point.
Tennessee at New England
Who you should root for: New England.
Why you should root for them: I am not particularly fond of Titans fans. Their suffering amuses me.
Atlanta at Jacksonville
Who you should root for: Jacksonville.
Why you should root for them: Just as the Texans need the Jets to win, they also need the Falcons to lose in order to harm Indianapolis’ strength of victory in the tiebreaking procedures. Jacksonville is still one game back in the division, so a win for them is acceptable for now.
Denver at Pittsburgh
Who you should root for: Pittsburgh.
Why you should root for them: A loss for Denver hurts Indy’s strength of victory, so go Steelers!
Cincinnati at San Francisco
Who you should root for: Cincinnati.
Why you should root for them: It may be harder for the Bengals to pull this one out with AJ McCarron at quarterback, but every win for Cincinnati is a win for Houston’s strength of victory.
Detroit at New Orleans
Who you should root for: New Orleans.
Why you should root for them: Rounding out the teams that can boost the Texans’ strength of victory, a Saints win this weekend would go a long way toward helping Houston take the AFC South.
The AFC South might not be putting out a powerhouse of a division winner this season – that much is obvious – but you never know what can happen once a team gets into the big dance. As long as NRG Stadium gets to hang another banner while hosting a playoff game in January, I will consider this season a success.
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