How Thursday Night Football changed the Texans' and Colts' playoff chances
The Texans took control of the AFC South with a pivotal win on Thursday night, but the Colts still have hope.
The Colts and Texans entered Thursday Night Football with matching 6-4 records, but Houston’s 3-point victory at NRG Stadium had a massive impact on each team’s projected playoff chances with five games left to play in the season.
The Texans beat the Colts 20-17 to take first place in the AFC South, and Houston is currently in line for the third seed in the AFC. The Colts fell to seventh in the conference with the loss, behind the 7-3 Bills and the 6-4 Raiders, the two teams that currently occupy the Wild Card positions.
We’ve been tracking each team’s playoff chances week-by-week, using the projections from three major playoff models (ESPN, Five Thirty Eight and Football Outsiders) to find an average playoff percentage. Here’s how the Week 12 result affected the Texans’ and Colts’ playoff hopes.
Colts’ playoff chance before Week 12: 58.4%
Colts’ playoff chance after Week 12: 37.7
Change: DOWN 20.7%
Texans’ playoff chance before Week 12: 69.2%
Texans’ playoff chance after Week 12: 87.2%
Change: UP 18%
You can see every NFL team’s current playoff chances by clicking below.