Such a huge win - victor was escorted into the driver's seat for the division, and we managed to empty out their stadium in the process. Let's pray statement games still matter. TEN (0-2 div) remaining: Colts Bengals @CAR @ATL Bucs @BUF Saints @IND Jags @HOU HOU (2-0 div) remaining: Jags Browns @TB Bye @JAX Falcons @CIN Panthers @IND Titans Some serious pressure now on the Titans: Need to leapfrog us in the standings while facing a tougher schedule. Need to beat us at home on NYD to balance Sunday's loss in the tiebreakers. Almost have to run the table in the division to make up for the 0-2 hole to our 2-0 lead. Common Games: Jax (2) Ind (2) Steelers Ravens Browns Bengals Saints Bucs Falcons Panthers -->So far, Hou and Titans are tied at 2-2 each. * http://www.nfl.com/standings/tiebreakingprocedures
I think we beat the Bucs handily and have a good chance of heading into the bye at 7-3. That team isn't that good -- I can see our D forcing turnovers from their bad O and Arian Foster lighting them up. That said, Falcons/Bengals/Panthers is going to be a pretty tough 3-game stretch. Bengals are quite good, and Cam Newton is for real.
11-5 Should make you the #3 Rank? If the bills are the low team . . .seems probable Chargers maybe 11-5 or worse. Their division is rougher I figure the teams: 1. Ravens 2. Pats 3.Texans - Buffalo/Raiders 4. Chargers - Pittsburgh I think the Texans can BEAT Buffalo or Raiders Beating Pitt again would be Rough Tomlin > Kubiak Rocket River
Cursory Glance: AFC-E NE (5-1).......BUF (4-2), NYJ (4-3) AFC-N BAL (4-1)....PIT (5-2), CIN (4-2) AFC-W SD (4-2)....Oak (4-3) AFC-S Hou (4-3)......TEN (3-3) Point Differential would point towards Buffalo and Pittsburgh as the wild cards, with the Jets and Bengals as feisty possibilities. I expect the Jets to bump ahead of Buffalo - they play each other twice in Nov, and that should settle things there. Obviously, these things can swing in a huge way over the season, it'll be interesting to see what it looks like in December.
Talking about playoff match-ups right now seems like an exercise in futility.....but a fun one nonetheless. There is so much that is going to happen over the course of the next two months that it is virtually impossible to guess. What if Carson Palmer never takes off in Oakland, and they flounder? What if the Chiefs figure out how to succeed in that weak division, and continue their hot play? The Bills could collapse now that teams have a blueprint on how to beat them. It SEEMS like whoever the Wild Card team is going to be COULD be a favorable match-up for the Texans....but it's still really early. But, it's a nice luxury to be able to allow Andre to get to 100% (along with Manning) with the Jags and Browns coming into town. I think we're about to be in for a fun month of Texans football.
Okay, I've seen 2 posts today saying we should be worried about the Panthers. They're 2-5 and 0-3 on the road. Am I missing something? Cam Newton is better than I thought he would be by now, but he's still just a rookie QB who has more INT's than TD's. We're going to KILL the Panthers.
They have the most talented RB duo in the league, a guy on pace to break Jerry Rice's single season receiving yards record, and a really talented scrambling QB (which we always seem to have problems with). They have one of the lowest point differentials of any losing team in the league. I imagine this game will be a shootout, and we could easily lose it with a couple turnovers or sloppy penalties. The margin for error won't be huge.
Not taking anything away from them, but the Daily Show and DeAngelo are serious business. We're not exactly world-beaters against the run, either.
They're also 29th in the league in rushing defense while we're 5th in the league in rushing offense. They've given up 28 or more points 5 times this season. Foster, Tate and our O-line are already licking their chops. If Kubiak is smart (insert joke here), he'll keep it on the ground all day and avoid a shootout.
I don't think it's going to matter what we do, Carolina is going to go up and down the field on us. But I agree, their defense (and special teams) will be their undergoing.
I second Foster/Tate comment. Welker (already had a bye week) is on pace to break Rice's record in week 16. Smith is on pace to finish second all time behind Welker. Scrambling QB was a problem. I don't expect it to be as much a problem with the Texans in a 3-4 with Cushing as a spy. They still have a negative point differential even if they were the best of the losers. Carolina is better than their record suggests. I'd say they are probably an average team. The Texans should still win by a TD.
I don't see anything better than 10-6 which is only one better than the Texans' best record. That should be enough to be the division champs. If that happens, do we get a bye? Who is our most likely first round opponent?
No way we don't win the division...besides the worst loss the titans ever had at LP field- reasons for joy. 1. Andre coming back 2. Arian Foster could be even more scary for other teams 3. We have a backup who could be a starter 4. We have a Def. Co-ordinator who can teach, and help the team learn from mistakes of the past rather than cause them 5. The favorable schedule compared to others 6. We ARE a top 10 defense- wow
If the team can minimize the "Kubiak Factor!" You know, three straight running plays into the middle of a nine man line. Yeah, stuff like that. In sports, I was always taught to go against the point of least resistance, like you might want to throw against a two man secondary who is playing close. But maybe that's just me.
At 10-6, Texans won't have bye. They would be home first week in the playoffs. Bills, Steelers, and Cincy are most likely first round opponents if Texans are the wild card winner, but a lot of football still needs to be played.
It's because they're pretty good on offense, and that gets the headlines. But they can't stop anyone, much less an offense as good as the Texans'.
