The Texans versus Bills game on Sunday is huge. If the Texans win that would give them a 7-5 record and 5-3 conference record. The importance of the conference record comes into play if three or four teams end up tied for the final two wild-card spots.

For example, if the Steelers lose right now. The Chiefs, Jets, Texans and Steelers would all be 6-5.
But the Chiefs and Jets would currently have the last two wild-card spots with a 5-2 and 5-4 conference record.

Texans (4-3) and Steelers (3-4) would be out of the playoffs with their conference record.
Actually, I think the Texans 4-3 conference record would trump the Jets 5-4 based on percentage points (.571 to .556).

So unless I'm mistaken the Texans would technically own the final wild-card spot in the AFC right now.

The Texans are also tied with the Colts for 1st place in the AFC South, but don't own the division tiebreaker.
That can change if the Texans beat the Colts at Indianapolis on December 20. But for now beating the Bills is a top priority.

But pretty much if the Steelers lose to the Seahawks right now, Seahawks up two scores late, the Texans are the 6th seed and final wild-card team in the AFC. With five games left the Texans just have to keep winning. Beating the Bills on Sunday would go a long way towards them making the playoffs.

CBS just updated the Steelers record during the Seahawks and Steelers game.
Yep, I was right. Chiefs and Texans are the final two wild-card spots in the AFC right now based on conference record.

The Houston Texans are in the playoffs right now and control their own destiny the rest of the way. No need to scoreboard watch if we win.

Sunday Night Football on NBC: Texans hosting the Patriots in two weeks.
It's been moved from 12 noontime to 7:30 PM at NRG Stadium.
But this road game against the Bills on Sunday is pretty huge. One game at a time.

The Texans held the Saints without a Touchdown today. First time in ten years that the Saints didn't score a Touchdown. The Saints had averaged the most points scored in the entire NFL over the last ten seasons combined.

The Texans defense made a 36-year-old Drew Brees look "very average" at times today. He finished 25-for-44 passing, 228 yards, 0 TDs and 1 INT. Watt had sacked him twice and hit him five times. Brees is still having a really good season overall this year.

Facing Tom Brady in the next home game will be an even tougher test for the Texans defense which is playing good football right now.

My main concern right now is Tyrod Taylor. Those small and shifty quarterbacks who can run outside the pocket usually give the Texans defense some problems. Taylor had a 15-yard run against the Chiefs today. 46 rushing yards overall on five carries. Tyrod Taylor is rushing the ball as well as all three of the Texans running backs. LOL

Texans finally doing something

The Texans players enjoy having Mondays and Tuesdays off. "See you Wednesday!"



Their defensive rankings during this four-game winning streak. 1st in every major category.
Two of those wins were against the Bengals and Saints. Teams with very good offenses.



Brian Cushing is starting to look like the All Pro from 2011 (before his two major knee injuries).
Watt is dominating. Wilfork is eating up two blockers. Mercilus is beasting. Clowney is contributing.

The secondary is looking really good because the front seven is playing so well.
But Johnathan Joseph is playing his best football since he made the pro bowl in 2012.

Kareem Jackson had an interception against Drew Brees in his return on Sunday. He's been injured most of the season.
The rookie Kevin Johnson is emerging as a shutdown corner. He still makes rookie mistakes but not as many.

Even the safeties, the weakest part of the Texans defense, have stepped up: Quintin Demps, Andre Hal and Rahim Moore.

Defensively, the Houston Texans are starting to look like a legitimate playoff team.

The Texans plan to use WR Cecil Shorts III at quarterback during their Wednesday morning practice tomorrow to help simulate Tyrod Taylor. Shorts is 1 inch smaller and 15 pounds lighter than Taylor (roughly the same size), and he's just as quick and a good runner. He can help simulate running outside the pocket like a wide receiver which could come in handy.

My question is who can simulate LeSean McCoy? Perhaps Hard Knocks star, Charles James II?
The key to winning this game is going to be shutting down the Bills running game.

The Texans defense wants Tyrod Taylor to remain inside the pocket as much as possible, inviting him to try and beat them with his arm. The Texans will probably sack Taylor three or four times in this game if he's relegated to passing inside the pocket.

The Chiefs defense had sacked him only once this past Sunday but he was able to scramble around and run way too much. Five rushes for 46 yards. He also fumbled twice. Tyrod Taylor has small hands so he has fumbling issues. The Texans defense may be able to take advantage of that as well.

I noticed the weather forecast in Orchard Park, New York for Sunday at noontime is going to be around 45 degrees. No rain or snow. That's real good because it's not much different from the weather in Houston right now. I thought it would be under 20 degrees and snowing but I guess it's not as cold as I thought in New York.

Rex Ryan knows a great defense when he sees one. He's going to see one on Sunday. I hope he's not jealous!
The way J.J. Watt is playing right now it would not surprise me to see the Bills using three guys to block him.
Watt is shedding the double teams so effortlessly. It's beyond what the average human should be able to do.

J.J. Watt has more sacks (13.5) than the entire Buffalo Bills front seven (13).

Hopefully he can sack Tyrod Taylor two or three times tomorrow.
Stay on pace for 20+ sacks in a season for an NFL record third year.



Skip Bayless is an obvious J.J. Watt hater but that's alright. His Cowboys are 3-8 this season. The Texans are trying to reach 7-5 and remain in a playoff seeding despite having, as Bayless would put it, a bunch of nobodies at quarterback. Seems about what the Cowboys have right now without an aging and injury-prone Tony Romo.

Skip Bayless said last year the Cowboys selected a better player in offensive tackle Tyron Smith with the 9th pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, and they don't regret passing on J.J. Watt who the Texans took a few picks later at 11. And then he said the Cowboys demolished the Texans last season and gloated about the win the very next day. They escaped with a field goal win in overtime at home (Arlington). LOL

I just don't understand Bayless' hate. His team isn't any better than the Houston Texans right now.

Anyways, I'm ready for kick off at noontime.

If the Texans beat the Bills on the road to reach 7-5 they'll be in the driver's seat for the final AFC wild-card spot and still in position to overtake the Colts for the AFC South division title. They have a tough Sunday Night game against the Patriots coming up, followed by a game at Indianapolis where they have never won before (0-13 all time since their expansion season in 2002), so they really can't afford a loss against the Bills.

You're back

I'm still disappointed we lost to the Bills on the road but Rex Ryan had his team ready to play and the Texans looked overwhelmed from the get go. Our defense wasn't ready for their speed. Tyrod Taylor, Sammy Watkins and LeSean McCoy were all big time. LeSean McCoy had left the game with a concussion protocol but he came back to seal the win with a big run late in the game.

Great effort tying the game 21-21 in the fourth quarter but just not enough accurate passes on third downs by Brian Hoyer. Too many offensive drives in that game that we stalled on. If Hoyer had any accuracy we'd have won that game.

He was 26-for-43 with 3 TDs and 1 INT (last play of the game). But of all those incompletions, seven of them came on third downs with guys wide open but he made bad passes. One of them we tried to run for the first down but were stuffed. Literally he was an inch or two off with his throws. The Texans third-down efficiency was 7-for-15.

Especially four straight incompletions and turnover on downs late in the game with the Texans down 27-21 and trying to win the game with a TD drive after the Bills missed an extra point. That led to a Bills field goal to put the game away, 30-21. The Bills secondary was getting beat by Hopkins and Shorts but Hoyer couldn't make a good enough pass to take advantage of that.

I don't want to shoulder the blame on Brian Hoyer. Our defense had it's worse game in over a month but Hoyer was Hoyer (too many bad passes especially on third downs). Probably could have been worse but DeAndre Hopkins made three sensational catches. In fact, all three of Hoyer's TD passes it took amazing efforts from Hopkins, Griffin and Polk to complete the TD reception. His 26-for-43 could have easily been 19-for-50 or something worse like that.

Anyways, at 6-6 and still tied with the Colts for first place in the AFC South there's still a little hope left.
The Texans have to find a way to upset the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots on Sunday Night Football.
If they can do that it will set up the big game at Indianapolis the following Sunday. The Texans are 0-13 all time at Indianapolis.

Either way, the odds are stacked against us. Nobody in their right mind is giving the Texans much of a chance to beat the Patriots or Colts. It's really tough to make the playoffs when you don't have a good quarterback. The Texans are trying to defy the odds but it's just tough is all.

Tom Brady has played nothing but close games in Houston throughout his career, including a three-point win over the Panthers in the Super Bowl played here back on February 1, 2004. Against the Texans in Houston he's lost once (34-27 in 2010) and his two wins against the Texans in Houston were both by a field goal (23-20 in overtime in 2003 and 34-31 in 2013).

So if history is on our side, Tom Brady will not have an easy time in Houston on Sunday Night. Maybe we'll make a game of it.

I had to put my speaker volume on maximum settings just to hear the greatest head coach in NFL History speak.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick discussed Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt.



The AFC South standings are a laughing matter just like the NFC East.
Colts and Texans are 6-6 (tied for 1st), Jaguars at 4-8 and Titans are 3-9.

If only the Jaguars can upset the Colts on Sunday. The game is in Jacksonville.
The Colts passing defense is ranked 30th and near the bottom. Only two teams are worse.
The Jaguars passing offense is ranked 14th and near the middle of the pack. So maybe there's hope.

But chances are the Texans will have to beat the Patriots on Sunday Night to remain tied.

That would set up the huge Texans at Colts game the following Sunday.
We're 0-13 all time at Indy but that one looming will have higher implications.

The Texans aren't likely to beat the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots anyways.
But I thought the same when they played the Bengals on National TV and surprise surprise.
It's just really difficult to say that the Patriots will lose three games in a row. That would be mind-boggling.

As far as all the key injuries the Patriots have. They still have Tom Brady so they're still a dangerous team and capable of winning. And plus it's sort of even. The Patriots second best player is likely out for this game and the Texans second best player is out for the season. So it's hard to really use injuries as an excuse when every team is capable of losing an all pro player.