Texans In Playoff Hunt

[HPF Bob]

I'm posting this on Sunday afternoon but it looks like all the AFC games this week are pretty much decided so, assuming the leading teams win, here's the AFC playoff picture through seven weeks:

AFC East: New England 5-2
AFC North: Cincinnati 5-2
AFC South: Indianapolis 6-0
AFC West: Denver 6-0

Wild cards....(conf. record)
Pittsburgh 5-2 (3-1)
N.Y. Jets 4-3 (4-2)
Houston 4-3 (3-2)
Baltimore 3-3 (3-2)
Jacksonville 3-3 (2-1)
San Diego 3-3 (3-3)

Obviously, still a long way to go but we're not in bad shape. The Jets own the tiebreaker with us but we have the tiebreaker over Cincinnati if they slip behind the Steelers.

[Joe Joe]

Jets are 3-3 soon to be 4-3.

[HPF Bob]

You are correct. I've edited the standings on the initial post. I also wiped Miami from the list after they blew a big lead to the Saints.

[Nconroe]

so remaining schedule , looks like a fair chance we can stay on winning record and perhaps shot ay playoffs, obviously gotta play the games. Probably lots of close games. Hope we can win atleast one of the games with Indianapolis and remaining game with Jacksonville. And if we make it 3 wins in a row I'll feel a lot better.

8 Nov 01 HOU @ BUF
9 Nov 08 HOU @ IND
10 Bye
11 Nov 23 TEN @ HOU
12 Nov 29 IND @ HOU
13 Dec 06 HOU @ JAC
14 Dec 13 SEA @ HOU
15 Dec 20 HOU @ STL
16 Dec 27 HOU @ MIA
17 Jan 03 NE @ HOU

[painekiller]

If, and this is a big if, we can beat the Colts twice we still need help to win the division. That January game is looking bigger and bigger, but we must put together an impressive win streak, a win streak like this team has never seen.

I put the must win games in red so you get the idea

8 Nov 01 HOU @ BUF
9 Nov 08 HOU @ IND
10 Bye
11 Nov 23 TEN @ HOU
12 Nov 29 IND @ HOU
13 Dec 06 HOU @ JAC
14 Dec 13 SEA @ HOU
15 Dec 20 HOU @ STL
16 Dec 27 HOU @ MIA
17 Jan 03 NE @ HOU

One lose now hurts our chances. But reality tells me I want to see a game with 4 quarters of solid football in it. Not like todays 2 quarter effort. Our young players are getting so close to getting it, I can taste it. But this is also painful to watch. NBT can back me up, this is similar to the the mid 80's Oilers learning how to win.

[mussop]

***Warning! This post is a reflection of this teams play.
8 Nov 01 HOU @ BUF
9 Nov 08 HOU @ IND
10 Bye
11 Nov 23 TEN @ HOU
12 Nov 29 IND @ HOU
13 Dec 06 HOU @ JAC
14 Dec 13 SEA @ HOU
15 Dec 20 HOU @ STL
16 Dec 27 HOU @ MIA
17 Jan 03 NE @ HOU

We are really lucky to have these teams (in red) on our schedule. These are teams we should be favored to win against. If we just win these games then we have a good chance at the playoffs. If we win those and pull out a victory or two over the other teams we should make the playoffs.

Despite this teams inconsistancy I think we can do it. We are capable of beating Jacksonville and there is a good chance the NE game could be a gimme. I could see this team winning up to 11 games.

Now that I think about it I can also see us loosing to Indy twice, Jacksonville, Tennessee, NE and at least two of the teams in red. So I could see this team loosing up to 10 games. If we do this I see Kubiack getting fired and a new start for this team.

Most likely we will lay an egg in Buffalo and then go into Indy and sqeak out a victory further throwing my world into complete kaos. So is the life, of a Texan fan. Which way will it end?

[WMH]

I think it is fairly impossible to "predict" W's and L's in this league. Just about every team out there (us included of course) has it's Jekyl and Hyde moments.

Who would have thought Dallas would beat ATL.
Who would have thought the Raiders would be the Eagles last week.
Who would have thought that the Fins would hang with the Saints.
Who would have thought that JAX would hang in there with Indy in week 1.
and so on and so on and so on

The league is setup for parity, and with a few exceptions, it pretty much stays the course throughout the year.

8 Nov 01 HOU @ BUF - Should win, but who knows
9 Nov 08 HOU @ IND - Should lose, but who knows
10 Bye
11 Nov 23 TEN @ HOU - Should win, but who knows
12 Nov 29 IND @ HOU - Should lose, but who knows
13 Dec 06 HOU @ JAC - Should win, but who knows
14 Dec 13 SEA @ HOU - Should win, but who knows (they beat JAX 41-0)
15 Dec 20 HOU @ STL - Should win, but who knows
16 Dec 27 HOU @ MIA - This is a HUGE question mark in my mind.
17 Jan 03 NE @ HOU - Should lose, but who knows

[Joe Joe]

Originally Posted by WMH

I think it is fairly impossible to "predict" W's and L's in this league. Just about every team out there (us included of course) has it's Jekyl and Hyde moments.

Teams will lose games they should win and vice versa. I think the texans will win 5-6 of the remaining games. I doubt it will be against the worst 5 or 6 teams though. I expect the Texans will steal one from either Indy or NE, but lose at least one of the easy games.

[Big Texas]

Originally Posted by WMH

16 Dec 27 HOU @ MIA - This is a HUGE question mark in my mind.

I agree, I think this could be the game that determines 9-7 or 10-6. I definitely do not count them out.

I say there are only three more games that we can afford to lose:

Indy: (once): I don't know if I can take a blowout
NE: depending on their playoff hopes (we need the Jets to bomb from here on out)
MIA:

This would give us 10-6 and a great playoff push.

[Arky]

*sips kool-aid smoothie*

There's not a single team left that I think you can pencil in as an "L"... We can beat all these teams if we're clicking on that particular day....

Have to beat the Jags in Jacksonville to even that score... Still can't believe we let 'em beat us in our house...

I think Indy can be had at least once maybe twice...

The Buffalo game coming up looks like *the* trap game for this year.... The Texans cannot overlook these guys...

As far as New England, tough call at this point... Will either us be playing for something? What if NE is fighting for a playoff spot - who's to say we couldn't still beat them? Will the Texans be incrementally better leading up to that game or trying to salvage a .500 season?

[HPF Bob]

It should be noted that we are 4-0 lifetime against the Dolphins (1-0 at Joe Robbie Pro Player Dolphin Landshark Stadium) and 8-7 lifetime against Jacksonville (3-4 at Gator AllTel Jacksonville Municipal Bowl Stadium) so history would say we have a better than even chance against both.