Ok, but seriously, who do the Houston Texans play next?
By Chad Porto
The Houston Texans are off to the second round of the NFL playoffs, having defeated the Cleveland Browns on Saturday night, 45-14. The Texans' win was never really in doubt as they dismantled the pretenders that were the Browns. They were erroneously named the underdogs of the game but anyone watching the Texans at full health knew this team was better than the Browns, but that may not be the case moving forward.
Whoever the Texans face next, the boys from Houston will likely be the underdogs. That doesn't mean they can't win, it just means that winning by 31 won't be nearly as easy against who's to to come. But we won't know who's on tap for the Texans until after Monday night.
We know the third-seeded Kansas City Chiefs defeated the sixth-seeded Miami Dolphins on Saturday night but we don't know if that means the Chiefs are going to be next up for the Texans.
The Baltimore Ravens sit atop the AFC as the top-seeded team, so because they're the one seed, the Ravens will get the right to play the lowest-seeded team available. This means that there are a few scenarios that could see different teams for the Texans to play.
The key game is going to be the Buffalo Bills taking on the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, If the two-seeded Bills eliminate the seventh-seeded Steelers, that means that every wild card team got eliminated, and so the Texans would be the lowest-seeded team in the AFC. So in the event the Bills win, the Ravens would then challenge the Texans next weekend.
However, if the Steelers pull off the upset, then that means the lowest-seeded team would be the Steelers, and they would play the Ravens. That means that the Texans and Chiefs would then face off with one another. Either way, the Texans are going on the road next week.
In fact, the only way the Texans hold another playoff game is if the Steelers knock off the Bills and Ravens and meet the Texans in the AFC Championship game in two weeks' time.