NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Once the AFC South champion Texans are done Sunday with a regular-season finale with no playoff stakes, they’ll find out who they’re going to play in an AFC wild-card game at NRG Stadium.
Already locked into the fourth seed in the AFC postseason, the Texans will play either the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Los Angeles Chargers.
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That’s because the Baltimore Ravens, who embarrassed the Texans on Christmas in a 31-2 blowout victory and ended their season last year in the AFC divisional round, defeated the Cleveland Browns to win the AFC North and clinch the third seed.
The 10-7 Steelers’ loss to the Cincinnati Bengals means that the Texans will face the Chargers at home if the Chargers beat the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday and earn the fifth seed in the AFC. If the 10-6 Chargers lose to the Raiders, the Steelers will be the fifth seed due to their head-to-head win over the Chargers under the NFL tiebreaking procedure.
“Pro Bowl, cool and all, but I’m a person of firm belief try to speak things into existence,” Texans Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon said. “Hopefully this year we’re not playing for the Pro Bowl, we’re there for the Super Bowl. Got to keep going, thinking positive and trying to do whatever we can to make it happen.”
#Texans running back Joe Mixon @Joe_MainMixon on being named to #ProBowlGames @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/GnjoYSxwH2
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) January 2, 2025
The Texans plan to play their starters, for at least a portion of their road game Sunday against the Titans. Texans coach DeMeco Ryans hasn’t detailed his plan for playing time, but acknowledged he’ll see how the game is going in determining those decisions on individual players. His emphasis all week has been to build confidence and continuity heading into the postseason and put the Ravens loss behind them.
All of the above reasons are why Ryans decided to play his starters in an otherwise meaningless regular-season finale against the Tennessee Titans. Because the Texans are the AFC South champions and locked into the fourth seed in the AFC for the playoffs, there’s nothing tangible at stake other than a 9-7 team trying to win their 10th game and finish the regular season with some confidence in advance of the postseason.
Readiness over rest is the choice for the Texans, albeit with the caveat that Ryans is considered likely to pull starters depending on how things are going Sunday.
“We just want to end the season the right way, on a positive note,” quarterback C.J. Stroud said. “We have to be ready to play and go to Tennessee, who has a good defense up there and a lot of good players. We have to bring our A game and try to end the season the right way.”
“I can say DeMeco has a plan for us and we have to trust his plan and to go out there and play. I am excited and it is a blessing to be able to go out and play in this league whenever it is. We are excited to play Tennessee and even more excited to play in the playoffs.”
#Texans wide receiver Nico Collins @lbg_nico7 on being named to first #ProBowlGames @UMichFootball @DrewJRosenhaus @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/1pGhfW9Lam
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) January 2, 2025
During practice all week, there’s been a sense of urgency and visibly more enthusiasm after an 11-day break after the Ravens debacle. That game was played a few days after a Saturday road loss to the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs as wide receiver Tank Dell suffered a devastating knee injury.
After the Ravens game in the locker room, several players said the energy was lacking heading into kickoff and they seemed flat overall. And defensive end Danielle Hunter said the game plan needs improvement in the future for matchups with the Ravens.
“The mindset of our team and what I feel is renewed energy,” Ryans said. “Guys getting away for a minute, I feel renewed energy. I feel our guys are upbeat, excited about the opportunity to go up to Tennessee and play a really tough opponent. Our guys are in a really good spot mentally, physically and we’re excited to just go and compete.”
Mixon,who has rushed for 993 yards and 11 touchdowns, was held to 26 yards on nine carries against the Ravens. He rushed for 57 yards against the Chiefs and 23 yards against the Miami Dolphins with little holes to run through since a 101-yard game against the Jacksonville Jaguars before the bye week.
The last time the Texans faced the Titans, they lost the game and Mixon was shut down with 22 yards on 14 carries as their linebackers played him for the cut-backs that worked so well the previous week against the Dallas Cowboys. And Stroud was sacked four times as Titans defensive tackles Jeffery Simmons and T’Vondre Sweat were dominant.
Mixon emphasized it’s been a different kind of week of preparation this time.
“I thought that we had a hell of a week of practice,” Mixon said. “The way that we responded from last week, everything was timing up in practice with C.J., receivers, linemen and everybody being in sync. At a time like this right now, after the hiccup from last week, when you see stuff like that going into the playoffs, the postseason, you can never take that for granted. “I just had a conversation with them guys, I thought we had a hell of a week of practice.
“In terms of going into the postseason, you can never take that for granted. You’ve got people after this week that are going home. You’ve got 14 teams left. From there, it’s time to put your best stuff on tape. I think that we have a great opportunity in front of us to go out there against Tennessee to try and do whatever we can to go into the playoffs with a great taste.”
The Texans lost in the AFC divisional round last season to the Ravens after winning one playoff game in convincing fashion over the Cleveland Browns.
Although there’s nothing tangible at stake about this game, that hasn’t changed the Texans’ approach of trying to win again and snap a two-game losing streak.
“I love football, I’m trying to play,” Pro Bowl wide receiver Nico Collins said. “I know you’ve got to take care of your players, want them to sit out and stuff. But I feel like if you love the game of football, you’re willing to do whatever.
“And I love it, so I’m trying to play. I ain’t trying to sit out. I’m trying to go out and improve stuff I need to improve from last week. We don’t get this opportunity a lot. The mindset is you have go out there and have fun and take advantage of the opportunity.”
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Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com
