The Houston Texans are in the playoffs and while they haven't looked like a playoff team recently, the fact of the matter is that they're in the dance. The Texans can't move up in the seedings, however, so they'll be the fourth-seed in the AFC playoffs.
Sitting as the fourth-seed means that the Texans will host whoever ends up as the fifth-seed and it's going to be a popular spot to have. The Texans haven't exactly played great recently and teams are licking their chops at the idea of going up against a wounded Texans squad.
There are three possible playoff opponents for Houston in the first round. Let's look at who each possible opponent is and what has to happen for them to be the ones coming to Houston.
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Baltimore Ravens
Of all the possible opponents, the Ravens are the team that the Texans would rather not see again after Baltimore thumped them to the tune of a 31-2 final on Christmas Day. For this match-up to happen, the Ravens would have to lose to the Browns in Week 18 and the Steelers would have to beat the Bengals.
If this happened, Pittsburgh would win the AFC North and Baltimore would become the first wild-card seed. That'd send them right to Houston, which again, Texans fans don't want to see happen considering how the first match-up went.
Los Angeles Chargers
This feels like the most likely opponent the Texans will see in the wild-card round and the Chargers have an added benefit: They can see the results of the AFC North drama unfold on Saturday and then make the decision to rest their starters or play everyone against the Raiders on Sunday.
If the Steelers lose their game on Saturday to the Bengals, they'd be 10-7 on the year. All Los Angeles would have to do then is beat the Raiders in Week 18 and they'd be 11-6 and get the five-seed and the honor of playing against the declining Texans.
While the Chargers would be a better match-up for Houston than Baltimore, they're still not the team that Texans fans would prefer to see come into H-Town for the wild-card round.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The team that Texans fans want to face in the wild-card round is the Steelers. Both teams are on the down swing and that bodes well for Houston. If the Texans want to advance to the divisional round for the second straight year, facing Pittsburgh in the wild-card round gives them the best chance of doing that.
Nobody outside of Houston or Pittsburgh wants this to be a match-up because of how subpar both of these teams have looked recently but hey, too bad. For this to be who Houston sees in the first round, all that has to happen is that the Steelers beat Cincinnati on Saturday. If they do that, they're the five-seed and the Chargers can't catch them even with a win.
If the Steelers win and the Browns somehow beat Baltimore, then that'd be a nightmare scenario for Houston as it'd have to host the Ravens instead. So, Texans fans you're rooting for the Steelers and Ravens to win their games on Saturday.