DeMeco Ryans said the #Texans are still playing for the division, so they’ll play their starters this week vs. Colts.

— Jonathan M Alexander (@jonmalexander) December 29, 2025

Unlike the Los Angeles Chargers and several other AFC teams, the Houston Texans won’t be playing for the tie.

They also won’t be playing for a wild-card spot in Week 18’s regular-season finale against the Indianapolis Colts.

Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said starters would play at NRG Stadium. That doesn’t mean backups won’t find their way into the lineup in a blowout, but C.J. Stroud and company will begin Sunday afternoon running the show.

“We still have an opportunity to win our division,” Ryans said Monday. “That’s always the goal each and every year, to win the division. We know we need help from the Titans to be able to do that, so we’re going and playing our guys.” 

Entering Monday night, the Texans (11-5) currently own the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoff picture. With a loss, Houston could fall to as low as the No. 7 seed, but with a win, it still has a shot at its third consecutive AFC South championship. The biggest thing for Houston is that it must be pulling for the Tennessee Titans to upset the Jacksonville Jaguars, thus putting both teams at 12-5.

Following Week 17, the Jaguars sit at 12-4, meaning a win would put them over 13, thus holding a one-game lead over Houston. If both teams were to finish with the same record, Houston would clinch the division since it would finish 5-1 against AFC opponents, while the Jaguars would finish 4-2. The Texans would also clinch the AFC’s No. 3 seed based on the divisional record tiebreaker, meaning they’d host the No. 6 seed, which could be either the Jaguars, Buffalo Bills or Los Angeles Chargers.

The Texans are healthy for the most part, but injuries throughout the games could warrant a weekend of rest. In Saturday’s 20-16 win over the Chargers, both cornerbacks Kamari Lassiter (foot) and Derek Stingley Jr. (oblique), left before entually returning to close out the game.

Houston also missed both starting tackles Aireontae Ersery and Trent Brown, who did not play Saturday after missing multiple practices throughout the week. Giving quarterback C.J. Stroud a bit of extra rest wouldn’t be the worst thing, either.

But given the fact that there’s no front-runner in the AFC, there’s no guarantee any team will eventually secure a dominant path throughout the postseason, meaning anyone could advance or fall before the wild-card round.

“Any time you’re playing any sport, you want home-field advantage,” Ryans said. “You want to be in front of your home fans. You want that crowd noise.”

Given that Houston could clinch a No. 3 seed, there are reasons to believe that the Texans could be hosting a second playoff game for the first time in franchise history.