HOUSTON – The Texans are headed to prime time as they’ve been assigned a plum spot in the NFL playoffs.
The Texans, as the highest-ranked wild-card playoff squad, will face the AFC North champion on Monday night next week. The matchup between the fifth-seeded 12-5 Texans, riding an NFL-high nine-game winning streak, and the fourth-seeded AFC North champions, is set for a 7 p.m. Central kickoff.
The Texans will face the winner between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, who are locked in a win-or-go-home rivalry game Sunday night on NBC.
The Texans are the fifth team since 1990 and the first team since the 2018 Texans squad to qualify for the playoffs following an 0-3 start. They are in the playoffs for the third year in a row under coach DeMeco Ryans’ leadership. The Texans are headlined by the NFL’s top-ranked defense.
“Nothing shifts for us when it comes to our mindset,” Ryans said after a 38-30 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in a regular-season finale at NRG Stadium. “Our mindset never changes. We don’t turn it up because we’re in the playoffs. We continue to grind out, put the work in, do what we have to do to practice really well throughout the week.
“No matter who our opponent is, we got to have a great week of practice and that shows up whenever that game is. How we work throughout the week, it’ll show up then. Our process and mindset doesn’t change.”
The Texans have never opened the playoffs on any day other than a Saturday. In the Ryans era, they have won wild-card round playoff games over the Los Angeles Chargers and Cleveland Browns in blowout fashion the past two years. They are winless in two AFC divisional round games, falling to the Kansas City Chiefs and the Ravens.
As a franchise, the Texans are the only NFL team to never reach a championship game. They are 0-6 all-time in the divisional round and have set their ambitions on making a lengthy playoff run this year and are a confident team.
“We’re built tough,” quarterback C.J. Stroud said. “I think you look in here, you got ‘S.W.A.R.M.’ and ‘relentless.’ I think that’s what we try to embody every game. I think we finally bought into it. I think as an offense, swarming looks different than defense swarming or special teams swarm.
“I think we found that groove. I’m just excited. I’m really motivated to get going this next week. I’m going to enjoy this win and regular season and get back to work tonight and I’m excited to go into the playoffs and try to make some noise.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com
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