AFC Playoff Picture: Loss To Colts Knocks Houston Out Of First-Round Bye

With their stunning road loss to the 2-13 Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night, the Houston Texans no longer control their own destiny when it comes to getting one of the two coveted first round byes in the AFC.

At 10-5, they are two games behind in the loss column to the 11-3 New England Patriots and one game behind the 10-4 AFC North champion, either the Baltimore Ravens or Pittsburgh Steelers.

Unlike the Texans, all three veteran teams have made deep runs in the playoffs over the last few seasons, and each has a fairly home winnable game on Saturday, with New England playing the Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh playing the St. Louis Rams and Baltimore playing the Cleveland Browns.

Houston is still two games ahead of the Denver Broncos, who lead the AFC West at 8-6, which puts them in line for a home game against the AFC's No. 6 seed.

Two teams are currently tied for the last AFC wild card at 8-6: the New York Jets, who have been to two straight AFC Championship Games, and the Cincinnati Bengals, who defeated the Texans 20-19 in Week 14.

For more news and analysis on the Texans, check out Battle Red Blog.