The Houston Texans are locked into the No. 4 seed in the AFC Playoffs regardless of Sunday’s outcome against the Tennessee Titans.
Their opponent? It rests in the hands of Justin Herbert.
The Texans’ options for next week’s wild-card round are down to the Los Angeles Chargers or Pittsburgh Steelers. Since Pittsburgh lost at home to the Cincinnati Bengals, the fate of the No. 5 seed belongs to the Bolts.
If Los Angeles (10-6) beats Las Vegas on Sunday, it will lock up the fifth seed and travel to NRG Stadium to play the Texans in the wild-card round. With a loss, Pittsburgh (10-7) heads south for a winner-take-all showdown in what perhaps will be the Amazon Prime game of the weekend.
Pittsburgh would earn the No. 5 seed because of its head-to-head win over Los Angeles back in September.
The team that nabs the No. 6 seed is in for trouble. The Baltimore Ravens, who bested the Texans in a 31-2 Christmas chaotic outing, clinched the AFC North and the No. 3 seed with a dominant victory over the Cleveland Browns on Saturday afternoon.
The rest of the AFC is mostly set entering Sunday’s finale. Kansas City locked up the No. 1 seed at 16-1, while Buffalo is guaranteed the No. 2 seed.
Denver (9-7), Cincinnati (9-8) and Miami (8-8) are alive for the final spot.
With a win over the Chiefs, the Broncos are in at 10-7.
With a win over the New York Jets and a Denver loss, the Dolphins are in.
The Bengals did their job and have a head-to-head win over Denver, but they still need help to secure a postseason bid.
They’ll be pulling for the Chiefs and Jets to upset the Broncos and Dolphins, respectively.
