Colts win wild game over Texans, and here’s their playoff path

The Colts moved one step closer to the playoffs with a wild win over Houston.

The Texans certainly gave the Colts all they could handle but Indianapolis hung on for a wild 27-20 win when Keke Coutee was stripped by Darius Leonard on his way to the end zone for a potentially game-tying touchdown.

The win helped the Colts improve to 10-4 and move one step closer to clinching a playoff spot in the AFC.

The AFC South race itself remains a tight one as the Titans beat the Detroit Lions 46-25 to tie the Colts atop the division at 10-4. Tennessee maintains the tiebreaker over the Colts for the division due to a better division record (4-1 to 3-2 for the Colts) with both teams having divisional games coming in Week 17 when the Texans host the Titans while Indianapolis draws the hapless Jaguars.

If Houston beats Tennessee in Week 17 and Indianapolis tops Jacksonville the two teams would finish with identical 4-2 divisional records, making the next tiebreaker common games. That could also be tied if each team finishes at 11-5 or 12-4, and things could get crazy since both the Titans and Colts could finish with identical 8-4 conference records in the 12-4 scenario.

Both teams have tricky Week 16 road games, with the Colts traveling to Pittsburgh and Tennessee going to Green Bay, so this AFC South race may not be decided until the season’s final weekend.

The good news for Indy is that it won’t take much more for them to officially clinch a playoff berth, which could happen as soon as next week with one more win or a loss from either the Ravens or Dolphins.

Baltimore holds a head-to-head tiebreaker over Indianapolis, which could be problematic if the two sides end up tied with 11-5 records, but if Miami ends up there as well it could lead to a 3-way tie that would go down to common games. A win over Pittsburgh next week would all but end the drama for the Colts, however, since the odds of them losing a home game to Jacksonville with everything on the line are slim to none.

Indianapolis’ chances of reaching the playoffs have improved to 95 percent as a result of today’s win over the Texans. A win next week combined with a loss from Miami or Baltimore would be enough to punch the Colts’ ticket to the postseason before Week 17.