Assuming the Las Vegas Raiders don't unexpectedly play spoiler, the Houston Texans could inch one step closer to a third straight postseason appearance this afternoon. A win puts Houston's Playoff chances at just about 98 percent, but the name of the game for the Texans in Week 16 may be escaping unscathed.
The two-time defending AFC South champions are playing their best football of the season, but at this time of the year, one or two wrong injuries could derail an otherwise promising campaign. Fortunately, heading into Week 16, the Texans injury luck seems to be heading in the opposite direction, and yes, I'm quite literally knocking on wood as I'm typing.
Not that the heavily favored Texans need much help, but it does appear that Houston will be getting some offensive reinforcements back for the matchup with the Raiders.
According to Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk, running back Nick Chubb and wide receiver Christian Kirk are both expected to play this afternoon despite each player having a questionable tag alongside their name on the injury report as recently as Friday.
Chubb was absent from Houston's 40-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday due to injured ribs, setting the stage for Jawhar Jordan to rush for over 100 yards in his first career game in relief of Woody Marks, who exited in the 1st half with an ankle injury. Just a few hours before kickoff, Marks remains questionable.
If Marks can't go, one would assume that we will end up seeing a relatively even split of the workload between the veteran Chubb, who has rushed for 472 yards and 3 touchdowns on 115 carries in his first season with Houston.
Even though Christian Kirk was a late addition to the injury report on Friday, listed as questionable due to an illness, the idea of the 8th year receiver missing time isn't likely to register any sort of panic among Texans fans. Kirk has already missed four games this season, and over his last three contests the offseason addition from Jacksonville caught just 1 pass for 6 yards.
On the season, Kirk has caught just 22 passes for 204 yards.