Why Texans' playoff tiebreaker chances could be determined by Bills game in Week 12

Billy Heyen

Why Texans' playoff tiebreaker chances could be determined by Bills game in Week 12 image

The Houston Texans are playing the biggest game of their season, so far, on Thursday night.

They'll host the Buffalo Bills in a Week 12 matchup that has massive playoff picture, wild card and tiebreaker implications.

Here's the basic key: Head-to-head is the first tiebreaker in the wild card standings. If teams end up with the same record and have played one another, the team that won the head-to-head matchup gets the higher spot in the standings.

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Bills-Texans tiebreaker scenarios for wild card in Week 12

The Bills are 6-3 and currently hold the No. 5 seed in the AFC.

The Texans are 5-5, one game back for the final wild card spot, which currently belongs to the Jacksonville Jaguars (6-4).

Houston wouldn't make up all its ground on Buffalo with a win, but it'd get close.

ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime shared this stat:

"The Texans enter the game with 26% odds to make the playoffs, according to ESPN Analytics; if Houston wins Thursday, it'll increase its odds to 37%. A loss would drop it down to 15%."

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Senior Editor