Miami Dolphins vs Houston Texans

The Texans are champions of the AFC South for the eighth time in franchise history. They will host a playoff game – tickets are on sale now.

Houston beat the Dolphins, 20-12, on Sunday at NRG Stadium. Later, the Colts lost on the road in Denver. The Texans’ record is 9-5, while Indianapolis fell to 6-8. Because Houston won both contests with the Colts this season, they own the head-to-head tiebreaker. Therefore, even if Houston lost the final three games of 2024, and Indianapolis won their remaining three, the Texans would take the division.

All eight titles have come since the start of the 2011 campaign. DeMeco Ryans was a captain on that squad as a linebacker, and has now guided the team to consecutive AFC South crowns in both seasons as head coach. Following the win, but before the Colts loss, he was pleased with his team’s approach to the final stretch of games in the regular season.

“Collectively as a team, that’s what it looks like, especially in the month of December, playing complementary football,” Ryans said.

Quarterback C.J. Stroud completed 18-of-26 passes for 131 yards, and threw a pair of 6-yard touchdown passes to Nico Collins. He finished with a passer rating of 106.4. He and Ryans are the only quarterback/head coach duo to capture division crowns in their first two seasons together.

“Today we took another step,” Stroud said. “To play for the division this early in December is kind of cool, and not have to wait until the very back end.”

The Texans will travel to Kansas City later this week for a Saturday matchup with the Colts. Four days later, they’ll face the Ravens at NRG Stadium on Christmas Day.