NFL Power Rankings, Week 8: Eagles collapse in fourth quarter during loss to Panthers

13. Houston Texans

Give the Houston Texans all of the credit in the world for turning things around after losing each of their first three games, as Sunday’s victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars marked their fourth win in a row, and put them on top of the AFC South all alone. When looking at some of the struggles surrounding the Jaguars in recent weeks, the Texans knew they were in the perfect position to make it a long afternoon for Blake Bortles, and seeing how the Jaguars ended up benching their quarterback shows how much credit they deserve.

While Deshaun Watson didn’t exactly put together his best performance after completing just 12 of 24 passes for 139 yards with a touchdown, the biggest hero on offense for Houston in Week 7 ended up being Lamar Miller in the backfield. For a running back that hasn’t always been the most consistent player in the world, watching Miller rush for 100 yards with a touchdown will hopefully result in better numbers moving forward.

With a full-game lead in the division, the question now becomes whether the Texans continue to play at this high of a level to show they do in fact deserve to be viewed as legitimate contender in the AFC. The division may be up for grabs, but Houston has built a strong case to become the new team to beat over these last four weeks, which has been awesome.