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The New England Patriots‘ troubles are changing things across the AFC. All of a sudden, they’re missing three key offensive pieces from a year ago, and their future has become a little uncertain. This opens the door for teams like the Houston Texans to come in and take the Patriots’ spot. That spot, is atop the AFC, usually in the form of the No. 1 or 2 seed in the playoffs.
Houston can tell you all about not getting one of those top spots, and a result, they’ve had to travel to New England in January, each of the past two seasons. So while I admit that it’s way to early to really talk about playoff seeding, I do think that the Texans are the team that has to capitalize on the Patriots potentially being down a bit this season.
The Texans can’t afford to travel to Foxborough in January any longer. If they want to finally make it to the Super Bowl, the road will be much easier going through Houston, after a first round bye.
There’s no reason, with the talent in place on both sides of the ball, that the Texans can’t earn the No. 2 seed this year. Outdueling the Denver Broncos (in theory) for the top spot would be a tough task to accomplish, but obviously that’s the ultimate goal. Either way, a top seed would do wonders for this Texans team.
New England is finally vulnerable, and it’s time they get knocked down a few pegs. The Texans host the Patriots on December 1st, in a game that figures to have major playoff implications. If you’re a Texans’ fan, you should have that game circled on your schedule.
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