HOUSTON — It all comes down to Week 18 for the Houston Texans and their playoff hopes.
The Texans head to Indianapolis to face their AFC South division-rival Colts in their first primetime game this season. The Texans cap off a doubleheader with kickoff set for 7:15 p.m. Houston time.
Houston (9-7), Indianapolis, and Jacksonville all won Sunday to leave the three teams with identical records in the AFC South. That keeps the Texans in contention for both the division title and a playoff spot.
A victory at Indianapolis will guarantee the Texans, who won just three games last season, their first postseason berth since the 2019 season.
Jacksonville holds the tiebreaker over Houston so the Jags would clinch the AFC South Division title with a win. However, a Jags' loss would mean that the winner of the Texans-Colts would be the division champ.
The division champion would host a first-round game.
If the Texans win, they could get a playoff seed as high as No. 6 if the Buffalo Bills were to lose to Miami.
NFL Week 18 schedule
The final Week 18 schedule (all times below are Central):
Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024
- Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens, 3:30 p.m.,
- Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts. 8:15 p.m.,
Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers, 12 p.m.,
- Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals, 12 p.m.,
- Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions, 12 p.m.,
- New York Jets at New England Patriots, 12 p.m.,
- Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints, 12 p.m.
- Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans 12 p.m.,
- Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals, 3:25 p.m.,
- Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers, 3:25 p.m.,
- Denver Broncos at Las Vegas Raiders, 3:25 p.m.,
- Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Chargers, 3:25 p.m.,
- Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants, 3:25 p.m.,
- Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers, 3:25 p.m.,
- Dallas Cowboys at Washington Commanders, 3:25 p.m.,
- Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins, 7:20 p.m.,
Looking back at the Houston Texans' playoff history
The Texans have turned things around this season behind first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans and rookie QB CJ Stroud. With the improvement, we've noticed people searching Google for the Texans' playoff history. So here you go.
The Texans have been to the playoffs in six of their previous 21 seasons in the league. Their overall playoff record is 4-6. Houston has never won a playoff game beyond the wild card round.
The Houston Texans came into the league in 2002 and it was more than nine years later that they got their first taste of the postseason.
Texans playoffs in 2011 season
It was a wild card matchup that they won against Cincinnati. You may remember that game featured JJ Watt picking off former Katy Tiger Andy Dalton for a pick six. Houston won, 31-10, but were knocked out in the divisional round by the Baltimore Ravens.
Texans playoffs in 2012 season
Houston was back the following year, again beating the Bengals in the wild card round before falling to Tom Brady and the Patriots in the divisional round, 41-28.
Texans playoffs in 2015 season
They wouldn’t return again until 2015, but that year was one and done, losing in the wild card round to the Chiefs, getting shut out 30-0.
Texans playoffs in 2016 season
They were back in 2016, beating the Raiders, 27-14, in the wild card round, but fell in the divisional round to the Patriots again, 34-16.
Texans playoffs in 2018 season
They would miss the postseason in 2017 but were back in 2018 in a wild card matchup with their division rival, the Colts. Indy took that one, 21-7, ending Houston’s season.
Texans playoffs in 2019 season
Finally, the Texans last playoff appearance in the 2019 season. They beat Buffalo overtime in the wild card round, 22-19, but fell to Kansas City in the divisional round. In that game against the Chiefs, Houston jumped out to a 24-0 lead, but were outscored 51-7 the rest of the way.