PROVIDENCE, R.I. — When Jacoby Jones — that very vision of self-induced Houston Texans' nightmares — burst behind the Denver Broncos entire secondary and roared into the clear, a packed crowd watching it unfold on a giant screen in the atrium of the mammoth Providence Place Mall broke into excited gasps.

This was good for their beloved New England Patriots. Very good. When it finally ended in Denver, with one last choke from Old Man Peyton Manning, with Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens dancing off the Mile High turf with a 38-35 double overtime win, almost everyone in New England seemed to be buzzing about the fact that the Patriots can now host the AFC Championship Game.

What they forget — just like Bill Cowher dismissively did on TV in front of a national audience — is that homefield has suddenly opened up for the Houston Texans too.

If the Texans (13-4) upset the Patriots (12-4) on the road late Sunday afternoon, they will now get to host the AFC Championship Game at Reliant Stadium Jan. 20 against Baltimore. OK, it's a big IF. The Texans still need to beat Tom Brady as a major underdog.

Still, it's amazing how things have opened up, and who opened them up, on a wild Saturday.

Manning committed the killer mistake, that inexplicable, inexcusable interception late in the first overtime. On a day when Trindon Holliday — the wonder speedster the Texans cut during this season — returned both a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns for him — Manning still couldn't win as the AFC's No. 1 seed.

When I wrote that Peyton looks like Michael Jordan during his Washington Wizards days, a faded star just trying to hang on, back on Sept. 18 and stuck with that view during that inflated Broncos winning streak, plenty of commenters gave me grief. But that's exactly what Manning played like on the big stage.

He has no magic left. Not much of an arm either.

Who would have ever suspected that Jacoby Jones would make the most clutch play of the game though? The Ex Texan banished to Baltimore deserves plenty of credit for shaking off more potential playoff disaster (how he handled his first kick return surely brought back memories to any Texans' fan) to make a play when Joe Flacco needed him most.

Jacoby could end giving Houston a huge assist after all.

Now, for all the rightful furor over blowing homefield advantage throughout the playoffs, the Texans could make it to the Super Bowl in New Orleans having played only one road playoff game. Of course, they still have to win that doozy of a game.