The Houston Texans had their backs up against the wall midway through the season.
All of a sudden, the Texans have a great chance to make the playoffs.
That's captured best in one stat shared by ESPN on Friday: After Week 9, the Texans had an 11% chance to make the playoffs. Entering Week 15, it's now at 89%.
That's helped most by the fact that the Texans have gone on a five-game winning streak.
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They got a crucial pick-me-up from backup QB Davis Mills, who won all three of his starts when C.J. Stroud was out with a concussion.
Stroud has been steadier since returning, avoiding any big mistakes in order to keep the offense moving.
The story, really, has been the defense, which has turned into the NFL's most fearsome unit. No matter who Houston faces, the quarterback is in big danger of being brought to the ground.
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The Texans take on an Arizona Cardinals team in Week 15 that has lost five in a row, but the Cards do have Jacoby Brissett throwing it well, so Houston isn't taking anything lightly.
From there, it's the Raiders, Chargers and Colts.
If Indy stabilizes, there's a chance that Week 18 game has a ton of meaning to it.
The Texans certainly wouldn't mind a final-week game with meaning after the early portions of this season looked like Houston might not have any say in the playoff race at all.
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