[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by apballin

Go look at the Texans remaining games, and tell me the Colts can’t win the division ...... I challenge everyone.

o


(5 WEEKS LATER)



Don’t Sleep on This Path, Too: As AFC South Champions


When the Colts lost in Week 8 to the Houston Texans, it might've seemed like their shot at winning the AFC South had evaporated. And while the odds the Colts win their division for the first time in a decade may be slim, they're not zero.

The Texans, at 8-5, have an effective three-game lead over the 6-7 Colts by virtue of winning both games of the season series. Meaning: The Colts would win the AFC South if they go 4-0 and the Texans go 1-3 down the stretch; the Colts would also be division champions if they go 3-1 and the Texans go 0-4. The flip side is all the Texans have to do is win two of their final four games to clinch the division regardless of what the Colts do.

Certainly, a lot would need to break the Colts' way to win the AFC South. But the Texans, who've lost three of their last five games, do not have an easy remaining schedule after their Week 14 bye (with dates included for a reason in here):


Week 15 ll. Dec. 15 lllll vs. llllt Miami Dolphins llllllll. (5-7)

Week 16 ll. Dec. 21 llll, @ llll.) Kansas City Chiefs llt (11-1)

Week 17 ll. Dec. 25 llll, vs. llllt Baltimore Ravens llll. (8-5)

Week 18 llt Jan. 4th lllll @ lllllll Tennessee Titansllll,) (3-10)


Arguably, Houston's toughest 2-game stretch of the season will come in a four-day span at Kansas City and then home against Baltimore on Christmas day. The Texans, too, might be without linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair for one of both of those games after he was handed a three-game suspension by the NFL on Tuesday (Al-Shaair is appealing) for his hit on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence and the melees that followed.

Also, Hall of Fame football scribe John McClain recently noted on HoustonTexans.com how the Jaguars' collapse in 2023 – from 8-3 to out of the playoffs – concluded in Week 18 on the road against the Titans, who at that point were on a three-game losing streak but won, 28-20, to knock Jacksonville out of the playoffs.

The reality check here is The Athletic's odds give the Texans a 96 percent chance to win the AFC South. The Colts' most likely path to the playoffs still is through beating Denver, then having the Broncos lose one more time down the stretch. But the cement is not dry on the AFC South just yet.


J.J. Stankevitz l (Colts.com Writer)



https://www.colts.com/news/afc-playo...houston-texans

o