AFC playoff scenarios for Week 17: Where do the Texans stand?

Where do the Houston Texans stand in the latest AFC playoff scenarios for Week 17? What games should they care about?

The final week of the NFL regular season is upon the sports world, and with it comes the last of playoff scenarios, some of which read like a spell out of witch’s spell book.

For the Houston Texans, there is no amount of magic that will get them out of wild-card weekend. Nonetheless, they could improve their seeding in the AFC playoffs.

1. los angeles chargers vs. kansas city chiefs

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Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

If the Chiefs beat the Chargers, then they could be in play to get the No. 2 seed, presuming the New England Patriots lose to the Miami Dolphins, which is almost an impossibility given how much Bill Belichick covets a first-round bye. Kansas City could be scoreboard watching, which could mean they start to pull their starters if things get out of hand with Miami and New England.

Why should the Texans care

If the Chargers beat the Chiefs, then the Texans could get the No. 3 seed if they beat the Tennessee Titans in the 3:25 p.m. CT game at NRG Stadium Sunday. What that would do for the Texans is give them a shot to either face the Titans again next week for wild-card weekend or host the Pittsburgh Steelers, or if things get really crazy, host the Oakland Raiders.

A win in the wild-card round as the No. 3 seed would send Houston to New England for the divisional round.