Christmas Miracle Weekend Begins... [aka Week 16 & 17 Scoreboard Watching]

[HPF Bob]

Here's your live (well, semi-live) thread detailing the 12th-place Texans' pursuit to a playoff berth in just two weeks. How? Well, here's how:

Friday, Dec. 25th:

6:30 p.m. Chargers must beat Titans. Will the already-clinched Chargers have a let-down on the road in a short week or is locking down a first-round bye enough to get their juices flowing?

Sunday, Dec. 27th:

Noon Patriots must beat Jaguars. This win is crucial for our playoff hopes, both in helping us leap into second place in the AFC South but also to soften up the Pats for their final-week game in Houston.

Noon Steelers must beat Ravens.* This game is not really crucial but if the Ravens win, then the rest are playing for the last playoff berth. If the Steelers win, they stay in the playoff hunt but you'll have more teams sharing the same fate for Week 17.

Noon Texans must beat Dolphins. Nothing else matters if this doesn't happen but the Texans are undefeated lifetime against the Fins so I have confidence in them to win a close one.

3:15 p.m. Eagles must beat Broncos. Eagles get Westbrook back. The Broncos fired Shanahan for a late-season collapse. New coach, same collapse.

3:15 p.m. Colts must beat Jets. Hate to root for Manning and his quest for perfection but you can't choose your friends when you're begging for miracles.

If the miracle happens, the Texans will be 8-7 along with the Ravens, Steelers and Broncos while the Dolphins, Jets, Titans and Jaguars sit at 7-8 and in need of their own miracle next week. There would be two wild card slots up for grabs, so Houston would need to win Jan 3rd while any two of the Broncos (vs KC), Ravens (@ OAK) and Steelers (@ MIA) lose in order to make the playoffs.

*Should Baltimore beat the Steelers on Sunday, Baltimore clinches the #5 seed and it will be down to the Texans and Broncos for the #6 seed if the rest of the scenario plays out.