This year's AFC has presented one of the stranger collections of contenders in the conference's history. After the Chiefs, Bills and Ravens -- with some memorable Bengals involvement -- controlled Super Bowl paths since Tom Brady's last stand in New England, the Patriots and Broncos' two-loss ledgers ruling the day remains odd. The 2025 Bills have glaring weaknesses, and the Chiefs' close-game mojo has faded. The Ravens are far from certain to be part of this season's seven-team field.
As Kansas City and Baltimore struggle to stay afloat and Buffalo faces the prospect of needing its road whites for the wild-card round for the first time since 2019, the other constant from the past two divisional-round weekends is surging. The Texans started 0-3; this Houston edition is attempting to become the first 0-3 team to book a playoff berth since the franchise's 2018 squad did so.
Plenty went down between the Deshaun Watson-directed efforts in the late 2010s and DeMeco Ryans' arrival, as the team reminded of the Astros as a Houston club bottoming out before reemerging with a trove of assets. While the now-controversial MLB team capitalized on a then-lottery-less draft system to nab prime draft picks, the Texans did the same and cashed in Watson for a historic bounty. This two-front effort helped the Texans recover from a rough ending to Bill O'Brien's short but memorable HC/GM overlap.
This Texans iteration sits 7-5, having won four straight -- three of which without C.J. Stroud -- and has moved to within a game of the AFC South lead. Although the Jaguars and Colts sit 8-4, the Texans' snarling defense represents a tool the Jaguars lack. The Texans beating the high-powered Colts offense in Indianapolis brought a strength-on-strength triumph for the resurgent visitors. With the Texans leading the NFL in scoring defense, yards allowed and EPA per play -- ahead of a pivotal game against the Chiefs -- it is a good time to examine how this unit came to be.
