No. 6 – Houston Texans
Someone had to win the AFC South. The league requires it. Enter the 9-7 Houston Texans who won out against Indianapolis, Tennessee and Jacksonville to clinch the league’s worst division. (And that’s saying something, considering how bad the NFC East was this year.)
Brian Hoyer will start at quarterback after leading the win at Jacksonville to clinch the South (and a No. 4 default seeding), despite a rocky season that saw him benched both for performance and concussions. He was one of four quarterbacks to lead Houston to a victory this year, the first time a team has accomplished such a feat since 1950.
The Texans, much like the Broncos, are led by a stout defense, one that ranked third in the league in yards per game and tied for seventh in points per game. Houston’s biggest problem all year (beyond their quarterback carousel) was their inability to score. They finished the year scoring just 21.2 points per game, tied for 21st in the league.
Their first opponent, Kansas City, allows just 17.9 PPG, good for third in the league. The Texans will need their middle of the road passing (18th) and rushing (15th) attacks to make a big leap forward to escape even the Wild Card round, let alone win on the road afterward.
