The Houston Texans’ season is back on track. Can it stay that way against the Indianapolis Colts following a long weekend with C.J. Stroud back at practice?
With a 23-19 win over the Buffalo Bills, the Texans are now 6-5 and very much in the hunt for a playoff bid. It wasn’t pretty down the stretch, but eight sacks on Josh Allen and three turnovers against the Bills’ offense, Houston did enough to keep a four-point lead intact entering the closing minutes of the fourth quarter.
Davis Mills threw for two touchdown passes and totaled over 200 yards of offense. Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter each finished with a multi-sack game to push their season totals to 10 and 10.5, respectively. Calen Bullock recorded two interceptions and forced a fumble during the third quarter to set up a Ka’imi Fairbairn field goal, serving as the only points in the second half.
Sitting at 6-5 with a chance to gain even more ground on the Colts, the Texans moved up two spots to No. 11 in Nate Davis’ latest NFL power rankings for USA TODAY Sports. With the Bills coming up short, they moved to No. 12 behind Houston, despite having a 7-4 record.
“Yet another impressive component of this top-ranked defense? It has 17 takeaways over the past eight games, a stretch when the resurgent Texans have gone 6-2,” Davis wrote.
While the No. 12 spot seems high, it could be warranted thanks to another stellar defensive outing. As Davis said, no one has consistently found success against the Texans’ defense. The secondary remains a thorn in the side of every quarterback trying to extend plays deep. The problem? No one can extend plays to begin with since a potent pass rush closes the gap before the quarterbacks can take shots downfield.
Current quarterback C.J. Stroud’s status likley factors into the ranking, though he’s not expected to start for a third straight game.
Looking around the AFC South, the Colts remained idle at No. 8 following their overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, though they could have easily moved down after blowing a 20-9 lead in the fourth quarter.
“A team with the league’s highest-scoring offense couldn’t generate a first down over its final four possessions Sunday in K.C. … but it managed to surrender 33 of them,” Davis wrote.
The Jacksonville Jaguars, who watched Trevor Lawrence throw three interceptions in an overtime win over the Arizona Cardinals, moved down a spot to No. 14, with most of the concern coming at quarterback.
“Just a game out of first place in the AFC South, the Jags have four of their final six games against the Colts and Titans,” Davis wrote.
As for the Titans, to no one’s surprise, they pulled up the rear at No. 32, though the Las Vegas Raiders are making a compelling case to land the No. 1 pick and the title of worst team in football.
“If you thought a four-game homestand was going to help a team that hasn’t won in Nashville for 13 months … welp,” Davis wrote.
To check out the full rankings, click here.
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: NFL power rankings: See where the Texans rank after Week 12
Reporting by Cole Thompson, Texans Wire / Texans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
