NFL Power Rankings: Panthers, Patriots and Bengals at the top entering Week 14

16. team. 10. <p>Where do you head with this Houston Texans team? They’ve run the gamut from obscene to serviceable to kinda good to head-scratching.</p> <p>By the grace of God and football schadenfreude, the Texans entered Sunday’s game with a shot at the AFC Playoffs. And by the grace of all things unholy even a loss to the Buffalo Bills didn’t knock them from the playoff ranks. The AFC South, ladies and gentlemen: where dreams simultaneously go to live and die.</p> <p>Look, the Texans’ defense is good. Okay, it is. They’re among the league-leaders in yards allowed per game, and are middle of the road in terms of points allowed. The latter is excusable, considering that the offense is basically DeAndre Hopkins and 10 guys off the sandlot.</p> <p>With that said, games like Sunday’s against the Bills absolutely cannot happen. Tyrod Taylor looked like a regular surgeon at times, and LeSean McCoy ran for over 100 yards. Also, Sammy Watkins was borderline unstoppable. For a team that lives and dies on the back of its defense, 30 points allowed to be Buffalo Bills is absolutely inexcusable.</p> <p>J.J. Watt is all kinds of nice, but how much flak would Houston’s defense get if he wasn’t always pandering to the cameras? He is a nice deflector shield from his team’s sometimes porous play.</p> <p>Next week is the Patriots, but after that the season closes with all three teams from the division – the banner matchup being a road matchup against the Colts on December 20. Circle Week 15 on your calendars.</p>. (6-6). Previous: . houston texans