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With the Texans, Titans, and Colts all deadlocked at 6-6 in the race for the AFC South, Houston is starting to slip behind its divisional rivals in some national power rankings. Losing three straight games is bad enough, but being ranked behind the Titans of all teams? That’s just hurtful. Luckily, Bill O’Brien and crew will have an opportunity to re-take and solidify their hold on the fourth seed in the AFC if they can beat the Colts in Indianapolis in Sunday. I mean, it’s not like that has only happened once before in the history of the franchise, right?
Here is what the media had to say about where the Texans stand relative to the rest of the league as we enter Week 14:
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Website
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Rank
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Last Week
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Comments
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| SB Nation |
25
|
23
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N/A.
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| ESPN |
22
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16
|
After Week 9, the Texans were 5-3 and the Colts and Titans were each 4-5. After Week 13, all three teams are 6-6. The Texans head to Indianapolis this week, so if things weren't interesting enough in the division, they're about to get a whole lot more intriguing.
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| NFL.com |
22
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21
|
The Texans dropped their third straight in Green Bay on Sunday. The real news here is that Houston is now tied atop the AFC South division, which has not been the case all season. Worth noting is that the Texans currently own the head-to-head over both the Titans and Colts. They will travel to Indy next week. The Nashville trip to face the Titans comes on January 1. Anyway, it was neato seeing Texans players throw snowballs during pregame at Lambeau. It would be cooler than snow to see them win another game.
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| Bleacher Report |
17
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14
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Wave goodbye to that cushion in the AFC South. Houston’s division is now up for grabs after a snowy Lambeau loss—the third straight one for Bill O’Brien’s team. Yikes.
Some factors were out of O’Brien’s control. Jadeveon Clowney was a late scratch in Week 13, meaning the Texans defense had to play without both of its pass-rushing cornerstones. Against Aaron Rodgers? In Green Bay? Good luck with that.
Others were so easily avoided. Brock Osweiler wasn’t pretty in his deep-ball delivery, but DeAndre Hopkins missed three catchable balls. Ryan Griffin gave up a drive-killing fumble. His teammates on the O-line surrendered five quarterback hits to a defense that rarely gets them.
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| Fox Sports |
20
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15
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The Texans are slipping, and slipping fast despite Brock Osweiler’s declaration that they’re close to exploding offensively. They simply don’t score enough points to win games despite playing solid defense. With a three-way tie atop the AFC South, the Texans look like the worst team of the bunch. |
| USA Today |
17
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19
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Their 20 touchdowns scored this season are fewest in the AFC. Good thing Houston tends to post most of them against AFC South foes.
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| Yahoo Sports |
20
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21
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For all the problems the Texans have had this season, if they beat the Colts on Sunday they’ll be in a great spot to win the division. Then we’ll get the pleasure of watching them as huge underdogs at home in that Saturday afternoon slot on wild-card weekend.
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| CBS Sports (Prisco) |
16
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16
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The offense just isn't good enough right now. It has to be frustrating after paying all that money to Brock Osweiler.
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AVERAGE
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19.9
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18.1
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N/A
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Texans vs Colts coverage