Texans win fourth in a row

It all seemed so improbable four weeks ago. The Texans sat at 3-5 and C.J. Stroud was set to miss multiple weeks with a concussion. They trailed the Jaguars by nearly 20 points and they found a way to win. Then they beat the Titans in an ugly intradivision game. They followed up that victory with an improbable victory over the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night. Today, they completed the finishing touch on the four game winning streak beating the Indianapolis Colts 20-16.

Like the other games, this one wasn’t pretty. There were some shaky moments and missed opportunities. There were key mistakes on offense and defense. Yet, it was the Texans standing at the end of the game with another close win. The Most Interesting Defense in the World held up on a late fourth quarter drive and turned the Colts over on downs.

Obviously, the big story was the return of Stroud. The numbers will say he played okay, but not great. The numbers will say they ran the ball okay, but not great. Heck, the defensive numbers will say they were great against Jonathan Taylor, but not great against Daniel Jones. All of it added up to another key divisional win as the Texans playoff hopes improve with each passing victory.

Ultimately, the Texans sit at 7-5 overall and 4-1 against the AFC South. That may not seem like much, but the divisional record could become very important late in the season. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts square off two times in the last five games. Should they split then the Texans will have clinched the best record in the division. Should they beat the Colts again then they will have the tiebreaker straight out.

Key losses by the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs also improve their odds in the wild card race as well. If ten wins was the benchmark to get back into the playoffs then the Texans simply need to finish 3-2 to get there. With two games against the Las Vegas Raiders and Arizona Cardinals, they will need to beat one of the Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, and Colts. If they win two of those three they could very well win the AFC South again. Remember, this was an 0-3 and 3-5 football team at one point. What did you think of the game?