Pressure is on Texans to clinch AFC’s top seed
INDIANAPOLIS – It’s simple for the Houston Texans: Win Sunday and they clinch the AFC’s top seed.
Lose again at Indianapolis, with coach Chuck Pagano back on the sideline, and they may lose more than home-field advantage. The Texans could drop to a No. 3 seed and again open the playoffs in the wildcard round.
Clearly, the pressure is on Houston.
“We know what we need to do. We know what’s at stake,” Pro Bowl receiver Andre Johnson said. “We just need to go out and get it done.”
This is not how it was supposed to be heading into the regular season finale.
Houston (12-3), one of this season’s AFC Super Bowl favourites, started 5-0, had the conference’s best record all season and looked like a shoo-in for the No. 1 playoff spot after moving to 11-1 following a win over Tennessee on Dec. 2.
Since then, they lost what was billed as the most important game in franchise history, at New England, held off the feisty Colts to clinch the AFC South and lost last week at home to Minnesota. The latest loss dropped the Texans into a tie with AFC West champion Denver.
With the stakes increasing, Houston faces another potentially disappointing chapter in its most nightmarish series.
Ten times, the Texans have come to Indy. Ten times, they have gone home losers — including last December when the Texans captured their first AFC South title and the Colts were 1-13. And while Houston knows what to expect from Andrew Luck and the Colts’ defence, there are plenty of other uncertainties heading into the big game.
How will the Colts and their crowd respond to the inspirational return of Pagano, who’s had a three-month battle with leukemia? Pagano took the reins back from interim coach Bruce Arians Monday and presided over his first full practice Wednesday. On Sunday, he’s expected to be back on the sideline for the first time since a Week 3 loss to Jacksonville.
“I think Chuck gave us a little boost of energy,” guard Mike McGlynn said.
“Being late in the season, everybody is kind of beat up dealing with the season, but having him back has upped our energy for sure.”
Texans running back Arian Foster left last week’s game with an irregular heartbeat, though coach Gary Kubiak said he took all the normal reps at practice Wednesday.
And after two losses in three weeks, Kubiak needs to get things righted before the playoffs begin.
“It’s about how you play when you get there, how you line up, how you play during that month,” Kubiak said.