Beyond the Boxscore
Spooked by Rex Ryan: New York Jets still scare AFC playoff powers, even as theycling to life
Rex Ryan and the Jets still loom large in the AFC — until they're officiallyplayoff dead.
This game will be about the Texans returning to their hard-hitting ways.Photo by © Michelle Watson/CatchLightGroup.com
The longest of long shots to make the AFC playoffs is the team that nobody wants to play. Oh plenty would deny it, but this isn't any Rex Ryan bravado — it's reality.
Do you truly think any of the AFC powers want to see the New York Jets lined up against them next Saturday or Sunday?
The Houston Texans would be the team facing Rex, Darrelle Revis and Mark Sanchez if the Jets somehow luck into the playoffs. And it's be a complete luck in, one that Dustin Hoffman's new HBO character wouldn't even believe.
No one can argue that these 8-7, all-talk Jets deserve to be in the NFL's postseason. But it's equally hard to dispute that they will be awfully dangerous if they somehow do get in.
For the Jets need no less than three teams to lose (the Cincinnati Bengals, the Tennessee Titans and either the Oakland Raiders or Denver Broncos) while winning themselves to get in.
No one can argue that these 8-7, all-talk Jets deserve to be in the NFL's postseason. But it's equally hard to dispute that they will be awfully dangerous if they somehow do get in.
These overhyped Jets are coming off two straight AFC Championship Game appearances, with the first one coming off another 9-7 squeeze in. Their playoff experience could be particularly deadly to a 10-5 Texans team with little of it.
This is what Sunday is about to Texans fans — and in many ways the Texans themselves. The AFC South champs are locked into the No. 3 seed in the AFC no matter what they do against the Titans at Reliant Stadium in a noon kickoff. The most important things for Houston will be how lifeline wideout Andre Johnson plays in a limited-action return (expect 20 plays or less for No. 80) and how the defense looks with The Savior, Wade Phillips, back in charge for the first time in three weeks — albeit working from the press box.
The Texans are going to play the game to win, as they should. Don't think that Houston wouldn't get some pleasure from ensuring that the Titans will not be in the playoffs (8-7 Tennessee needs a win to have any chance). Players like quarterback T.J. Yates need a dose of confidence too.
"We got to get some momentum, get some life back, not only on this team, but in this city a little bit, get everybody back believing again that we can accomplish our goals in the playoffs," Yates said this week. This is anything but a typical last regular season game for a team whose playoff position is already locked in.
Even if the Titans sound not quite convinced that Houston will throw everything at them.
"I don’t know if it really matters to them," Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said in a conference call. "It may, it may not. I don’t know what their mindset is. It doesn’t really matter to me. They may care or they may care about what’s really important down the line for their long-term goals. I’m not sure."
Mostly, the day will be about waiting to see what happens in the other games, waiting to see who the Texans will play in the first playoff game in franchise history.
Cincinnati remains the most likely opponent. The Bengals (9-6) only need to win a home game to clinch the spot and remove all the doubt. Complicating matters is that the game is against an 11-4 Baltimore team that is playing for a first-round playoff bye, essentially playing for a playoff win. Of course, the Ravens are a mediocre road team (3-4).
The Texans are going to play the game to win, as they should. Don't think that Houston wouldn't get some pleasure from ensuring that the Titans will not be in the playoffs,
A Bengals win wouldn't be a bad development for the Texans. Houston's already beaten Cincinnati on the road. And a team starting a not-so-long-ago third string rookie quarterback wouldn't mind facing another rookie quarterback in the playoffs.
An Oakland rematch is not without appeal either. The Texans who lost 25-20 to the Raiders in Week 5 (remember the infamous Matt Schaub doesn't run game?) feel they have some unfinished business with this team. Oakland's road win in Houston came the day after owner Al Davis died and that changed everything about the emotions in the game.
The only potential first-round matchup that truly looks frightening?
Those Jets. The Hard Knocks darlings beat the Texans in 2009 and 2010. And as pathetic as New York has been, the Jets roster is still packed with star power. This matchup would guarantee the Texans the most national attention — and likely the most respect if they win.
But you don't want it. Not if you want to see Houston win.
Let Phillips, Brian Cushing, Connor Barwin and Duane Brown earn that respect in the second round.
