Playoff possibilities & why Houston should be more optimisitc

[itssharif]

I don't necessarily think this entire town is being very optimistic about the current playoff situation and possible scenario. Do we control our own fates anymore right now? No. But I think people are starting to lose sight of what makes the NFL (and hell sports in general) such incredible leagues and that is because anything can happen and anybody can win. We all have seen teams win and stay in their seats at the stadium in hopes that somehow some way things will all fall into place. And whether you guys want to make fun of me or not I think it is very valid to think this can be a very likely scenario this year.

Breaking it all down the current standings and remaining schedules look like this:

Overall / Conference Record / Remaining Schedule
5 - Denver: 8-5 / (6-4) / vs. Oak, @ Phi, vs. KC
6 - Jacksonville: 7-6 / (6-3) / vs. Ind, @ NE, @ Cle
x- Baltimore: 7-6 / (6-4) / vs. Chi, @ Pit, @ Oak
x- Miami: 7-6 / (5-4) / @ Ten, vs. Hou, vs. Pit
x- N.Y Jets 7-6 / (5-5) / vs. Atl , @ Ind , vs. Cin
x- Pittsburgh 6-7 / (4-6) /vs. GB, vs. Bal, @ Mia
x- Tennessee 6-7 / (3-7) / vs. Mia, vs. SD, @ Sea
x- Houston 6-7 / (4-6) / @ Stl, @ Mia, vs. NE

*- Now something I am not mentioning that is also very important is a game between San Diego and Cincinnati this week. This game is vital because both of these teams play some of the teams that are ahead of us and we need both of these teams to play as many meaningful games as they possibly can. What we need is for Cincinnati to pull off the W because that will leave the 2nd seed and 1st round bye in the balance until the final weeks. If San Diego wins they all but clinch the 2nd seed and 1st round bye.

Aside from that if you really break this thing down there are some very possible scenarios:

#1) Miami wins every game but loses to us giving us the Wild Card spot via the tie breaker, N.Y Jets go 2-1, Baltimore Ravens go 1-2, and Jacksonville goes 1-2. We win this scenario because Miami swept the N.Y Jets in their division so the Jets automatically get eliminated.

#2) We straight up end in a tie with the Pittsburgh Steelers and no other team at 9-7. If this happens we win the tie breaker because of the common games played (minimum of four). Because of their losses to Oakland and Cincinnati. While we split with Tennessee and potentially in this scenario beat Miami.

#3) Denver loses out while we win out and either of the 2 scenarios above happen alongside this.

#4) All other potential wild card teams just end up 8-8 while we go 9-7.

Now I know a lot of this sounds a little far fetched but in all honesty assuming something out of the norm happens I CAN see Jacksonville going 1-2. I can see Miami winning 2 of 3 (the loss being to us. Also quick tid bit we have never lost to Miami in our franchise's existence). I can see the NY Jets either finishing 1-2 or 2-1. More likely for them to go 1-2 if Indy tries to go for undefeated season and Cincy is playing for a 2nd seed and playoff bye. The one team I must admit that can and very likely will ruin this whole thing is Baltimore because yes officially they have the weakest path to get there and Denver because it doesn't take much now for them to clinch.

All this being said what I don't understand is by the last week of the season it is VERY likely that we ATLEAST be sitting at the edge of our seats throughout the entire New England game scoreboard watching or EVEN waiting it out after the game to see other scores like Tennessee @ Seattle or Baltimore @ Oakland or Kansas City @ Denver. This possibility in and of itself if it were to come true would be an absolute dream come true for me after seeing where this franchise use to be and where it finally potentially looks to be now and in my opinion should be reason enough to at the very least allow our coach Gary Kubiak to be able to complete his contract and see what we can do with 1 more year under his regime (the next year being a make or break year).

BUT and I yes I dare say the unlikely BUT what if our Texans do somehow someway make it as the final seed in the NFL playoffs. Do they not remind you of any team recently? Arizona maybe? Defense showing flashes, running game non existent in the regular season but has the potential of showing up in the playoffs, BIG TIME STAR WR to help carry us there. Aside from that think about the matchups. It is very possible that the #6 Wild Card team will be playing the Cincinnati Bengals. If we were to win that which I believe is very do-able (since the match up is good for us) being the lowest seed we would play the AFC's highest seed the Indianapolis Colts. We have played the Colts very tough this year and it is very difficult to beat the same team 3 times in the same season. And of course if we were to somehow win that we would be playing in the AFC championship against some really good team that would be ridiculously tough to beat but hey at least we could be there with a shot to potentially make the SUPERBOWL right? Look I'm not asking for everybody to just all of a sudden glow with optimism here but honestly isn't this what sports is all about? The UNDERDOGS, the UNLIKELY SCENARIOS, the MOMENTUM. I don't know about the rest of you guys but I will choose to be an optimistic fan until the clock of each and every single game hits 0:00 and our team is completely eliminated. And even then I will say well we can win the Super bowl next year. And no matter what I'm not jumping off the bandwagon of MY TEAM. That's what makes fanhood so fun for me. What do you all say?