The Push for a First Round Bye

http://www.espn.com/nfl/playoffs/machine

using the playoff machine, it appears Texans have the tiebreaker over the Chiefs if the Chiefs lose to Oakland in week 17

Texans have the tiebreaker over the Chargers if the Chargers lose to Broncos in week 17

 

Call me a paranoid Houston fan... but we haven't even clinched a playoff spot yet. I ran through that playoff machine and I came up with...

1. Chargers
2. Patriots
3. Texans
4. Steelers
5. Chiefs
6. Colts

So we host the Colts in the Wild Card game....

Philly scares me. Fletcher Cox, Michael Bennett, and Haloti Ngata vs our offensive line? Yikes.

 

A lot of people are going to say this, and I'm not going to sit here and say I've watched the Eagles all year, but Wentz put up damn good numbers (70%, 21 TD, 7 INT). He was an MVP candidate last year. I don't think he was the problem.

It actually seems pretty easy to see that when they've been able to run the ball successfully this year, they've won. 3 Rams TO's yesterday also helped.

Anyway, we've got a huge test this week. They're going to have to earn this bye week if they want it and I have no problem with that. Get this win and that'll be a huge boost to team confidence.

 

Also, get this win and the national talking heads might just stop saying "Yeah the Texans are the #2 seed, buuuuuut..."

 

Weird season. For the Texans to have a chance at a first round bye is unbelievable especially how the season started. I still feel this team is not a contender because of the holes they have overall (secondary, missing weapons like Fuller, o-line, coaching, etc). But other teams have holes to so who knows. After the start of the season it’s just good to still be relevant at this point.

 

Better bring their A-game to Philly. The Eagles may be peaking with Foles back and they are fighting for a playoff spot. Contender or pretender?

 

It's funny, but no matter who we play, even if they have a 2nd string QB or only 4 wins someone still says they scare them. Our record does make us seem great, but do you realize how lucky we have been facing so many backup quarterbacks this year? So, yeah, even the Eagles,with only 7 wins and a backup QB will probably be a big challenge for us. Let's hope Foles doesn't make Watson look like the backup QB. Now that would be embarrassing and disgusting. This will be the time for our secondary to step up and Clowney, Mercilus, and Watt to put on the sack attack, and stifle their rushing game.

 

Your love affair with Mahomes is almost as sad as your hate for Deshaun. Enjoy watching him win games or go root for KC. You literally criticized him for his first down signal

 

You crack me up. I will definitely be rooting for,Watson to light it up against the Eagles and their backup QB. I will not be rooting for the Chiefs just because I like Mahomes.

 

The 7 win Eagles with a backup QB just went on the road and soundly beat a Rams team that everyone agrees is a contender. So don’t act like the Texans suck if they lose to them on the road, or that fans are irrational for thinking it will be a challenge.

 

Not to dump on you but...
The Texans beat the Cowboys, who beat the team with the best record in the league. No backup quarterback needed.
That 7 win team (Eagles) with a backup QB didn't just give the Rams (who beat the Chiefs) a challenge, but beat them. Should the Rams be embarrassed because they lost to a backup QB? What about the Patriots in the superbowl? They ought to be totally ashamed and disgusted.

Every playoff team (except the Saints) has looked vulnerable lately.
Rams (lost two in a row)
Chiefs (lost to Chargers without Keenan Allen and Melvin Gordon, barely beat the Ravens with RG3 in OT)
Chargers (dealing with injuries to Allen and Gordon)
Patriots (Losers of two in a row; only ten points versus the Steelers)
Steelers (Losers of 3 of their last four, including to the Raiders)
Colts (got blanked by Jags 6-0 a couple weeks ago)
Ravens (barely beat the Bucs, Lamar Jackson)
Cowboys (got blanked by Colts)

No way you can look at the league as a whole and not think the Texans have a real shot.

 

No, I said this is one of the better teams we will be facing, even with a backup quarterback, compared to some of the others we played this year. It also shows that on any given Sunday, even a team with 7 losses can beat a team with only 2 losses. It is all the variables that make it possible in football, and why I like this game better than any other sport. That is why we need the first round bi so bad. We need to take these last two games seriously and play our best!!! These teams want to win as bad as we do, and we need to make sure that doesn't happen. We can do this! Go Texans!

 

You misunderstood my point. I meant this is one of the better teams we will be facing, even with their backup QB. We can't take this game lightly for a second. Yes, any team, even with twice as many losses can beat anyone else on any given Sunday. That's why we must take care of business these next 2 games and give ourself a bi week, or we could be out the first round of the playoffs.

 

Starting QBs the Texans have played this season:

Tom Brady
Eli Manning
Andrew Luck (x2)
Dak Prescott
Josh Allen (left due to injury, still started)
Case Keenum
Alex Smith (left due to injury, still started)
Marcus Mariota
Baker Mayfield
Sam Darnold

2nd stringers that started against the Texans this season:
**Edit** Titans worthless QB (still took an L)
Brock Osweiler
Cody Kessler

Your argument has no merit. Sorry.

 

LOL yikes.

 

Zach is still in the league? I think you meant Blaine Gabbert.

 

The issue is the Texans are susceptible to the short passing game and also speed over the top. That doesn't match up well with what they might see from Mahomes, Brady, Rivers, Luck, and (maybe) Big Ben which oddly enough could be the majority of the AFC playoff field.

 

Yeah, that guy.

Either way the same could be said about either QB.

TBH, I was going off the top of my head, didn't look at any boxscores for the run down just the schedule we played.

 

We knew that to begin the season.

Our weakness is and has been our DB depth, which is why we brought in Mathieu and drafted Reid. If our front 7 isn't being disruptive against those guys you mentioned above, we'll easily be in a ton of trouble.