Parity in NFL keeps interest, but it might be confused with parody
It is happening again. The NFL is working its magic.
Parity is prosperous. Perhaps is promise.
Remember just a couple of weeks ago, when all was lost, the Texans’ season was over, and everybody needed to be fired?
Now, they have won a couple of games in a row — including an impressive victory over previously unbeaten Cincinnati — and perhaps they can make a playoff run. Life is good. But is it really? The Texans have more bad losses than good wins — more losses than wins period — making Monday’s game against the Bengals the outlier, not the norm.
It is unlikely they will come through with a similar performance against the New York Jets at NRG Stadium on Sunday.
But with Andrew
Luck’s injury and Indianapolis having a losing record after nine games for just the second time since 2002, the Texans (4-5) and Jacksonville (4-6) can talk about making the playoffs.
Such talk can turn quickly. The Jets contest could be the swing game that vaults the Texans forward or returns them to reeling.
Lose to the defensiveminded Jets and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, whom the Texans threw away after last season, and the Texans would have a difficult time finishing the season 8-8.
And would you be shocked if they can’t score enough to keep up with Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints next week? Or get dominated in Buffalo the week after that? Don’t look far ahead
I am not going to even mention the next two games, because then I would be obliged to bring up the unbeaten Super Bowl champion New England Patriots and Indianapolis, a place where the Texans play and lose every year.
This isn’t an effort to rain on the Texans’ parade — surely, no one in the organization is delusional enough to believe there will be a parade after this season anyway — but they have as good a chance of celebrating Christmas with a 4-10 record as they do of being in first when Santa makes his rounds.
The Texans’ defense might have finally found itself in a Monday night performance against the Bengals and Andy “Daylight” Dalton. But the Texans’ offense averages just 4.9 yards per play, which is next-to-last in the NFL.
Last week, Bill O’Brien confessed to making a mess of things with his premature evacuation of Brian Hoyer from the starting quarterback posi- tion.
If that obvious-to-all revelation by their coach had any impact on the Texans’ play, O’Brien needs to confess to a transgression a week for the remainder of the season.
Maybe that will get the Texans the AFC South championship and into the playoffs.
Formulas from places such as playoffstatus.com indicate the Texans have a 3 percent chance at earning a wild-card slot, so winning the division is by far their best shot at the postseason. Nobody knows how many wins it will take to accomplish that. Mediocrity wins out
Twice in the last five years, a team with a sub.500 record won its division and the right to host a playoff game. Seattle (2010) and Carolina (2014) each won that game.
This has been an odd-enough year in the NFL for that to happen again.
Entering Week 11, there are only 11 teams in the league with winning records. And none of them are in the AFC South or NFC East.
That is the lowest number at this point of the year since 1990. Of course, there were only 28 teams in the league back then, compared to 32 now. History matters not. Here is where O’Brien’s attempted mind trick of convincing his team that each game is a one-game season might pay dividends.
The Texans can’t afford to look ahead. There is too much football left to be played.
Of course, the season could come to a virtual end Sunday with a loss.
On paper, it will look like the Texans have a chance. That’s what helps keep the NFL in business.
It doesn’t matter because for now the Texans are tied for first place, for real.
Do they have a real chance at a good season?
Perhaps.