In all honesty, who would have thought that the Week 15 matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and the Houston Texans would have huge division and playoff implications for the AFC at the start of the season?
If you didn’t, you are likely not alone. It was hard to envision that the Colts would be in playoff contention coming off of a one-win season, even though they did get the No.1 pick and took quarterback Andrew Luck.
But as it stands now, Luck has been the quarterback Indianapolis needed, and perhaps the piece that puts this team together. The Colts are 9-4 on the season, and just two games back of Houston with three games to play. But two of the Colts’ final three games are against the Texans.
So in essence, Indianapolis controls its own division and playoff destiny.
If the postseason started now, the Colts would be in. Indianapolis has a two-game lead over Pittsburgh, and a 1.5-game lead over Cincinnati for the first wild card slot. Really, just one win in their last three games would all but lock down a playoff berth.
But Indianapolis has bigger things on their mind. An AFC South division title to be exact.
The Texans are coming off of an embarrassing road loss to the New England Patriots, in which the defense gave up 42 points. It wasn’t just that though, it was that the offense couldn’t muster much either. It was just the second loss for Houston this season though, as the Texans are still two games up on the Colts in the division, and one-game up on New England and Denver for the No.1 seed in the AFC.
This is a huge game though, and it will be fun to see how both sides come out and play. Houston likely feels the majority of the pressure, having held a lead in the division the entire season.
The Colts are on the verge of making one of the greatest one-year turnarounds in history. Just think if they were somehow able to win out, finish 12-4, and win the AFC South division with a rookie quarterback leading the charge?
That’d be a pretty good storyline.
It could all start this week, with the Colts and Texans kicking off at 1pm ET on CBS with regional coverage.