Wtf does Carolina have to do with us? That's NFC playing NFC. I understand NO because they're playing Jax and NO winning would help us. Jets doesn't make sense because Pats are 1st seed and Jets are currently 7th seed. We're 4th seed as it is.
This is from the NFL themselves our scenario not some hack job that Chron pays to make shit up like normal:
CLINCHING SCENARIOS:
Houston clinches AFC South division with:
1) HOU win + HOU clinches strength of victory tiebreaker over IND OR
2) HOU win + IND loss or tie OR
3) HOU tie + IND loss
Originally Posted by Fishpie
It gets deep into the tiebreakers and into strength of wins of common opponents. The AFC south played the NFC South this year so the strength of wins in the NFC south plays a role.
Here's a little more in depth explanation from Houston Press explaining what happens if both teams tie at 8-8.
* 1st TIEBREAKER: Head-to-head record
Both would be 1-1.
* 2nd TIEBREAKER: Division record
Both would be 4-2 in the division.
* 3rd TIEBREAKER: Record vs common opponents
Both would have a 7-5 record against common opponents.
* 4th TIEBREAKER: Conference record
Both would have a 6-6 record in conference games.
* 5th TIEBREAKER: Strength of victory
Okay, here we go — "strength of victory" is a succinct way of saying, "Whose victories were over teams with a better combined record?" Now, obviously, for the Texans, there are two possibilities — beating the Titans and losing to the Jags, and losing to the Titans and beating the Jags.
The Colts' eight wins would be over the following: TEN, JAX, HOU, DEN, ATL, TB, MIA, TEN
That group of teams currently has 47 wins.
If the Texans went 8-8 with a win over Tennessee 12/27, their eight wins would be over the following: TB, JAX, TEN, CIN, NYJ, NOLA, IND, TEN
That group of teams currently has 50 wins.
If the Texans went 8-8 with a win over Jacksonville 1/3, their eight wins would be over the following: TB, JAX, TEN, CIN, NYJ, NOLA, IND, JAX
That group of teams currently has 52 wins.
In either of these scenarios, the only teams that can affect the difference between the Texans' and Colts' strength of victories are CIN, NYJ and NOLA for the Texans, and DEN, ATL and MIA for the Colts, as all the other wins for both teams are over common opponents and, therefore, affect each team the same way. In other words, all the other teams panel themselves out.
That last paragraph isn't completely accurate since Carolina plays the Falcons again. CAR should be in that mix but I guess they are making an assumption by including ATL. The Colts beat the Falcons and the Texans lost against the Falcons. A Carolina loss to the Falcons swings a strength of wins game in that 47-52 current win nightmare. to the Colts since they beat the Falcons and the Texans didn't. At some point like maybe the 10th tie breaker it becomes a coin flip. That possibility can still come into play as of today. Clear as mud?