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The Indianapolis Colts lost
their chance for first-round bye for the playoffs last week after cruising through
the season.
Now they'll try to hang on to home-field advantage in the opening round as they
look to clinch the AFC South in a matchup with the Houston Texans at Reliant
Stadium.
The Colts can still undo some of the damage of last Sunday's dreadful 31-17 loss to the Denver Broncos, which gave Kansas City the second of two AFC first-round byes..
``It's a done deal, it's over,'' running back Edgerrin James said of last Sunday's defeat. ``We've got to look at the Houston game as the game of the year.''
The Colts can take
the division with either a win, a Tennesee loss to Tampa Bay, or ties by both
teams.
``Anytime you lose a game you had a chance to win it's very disappointing, but
we do have on our side another opportunity,'' James said.
Despite their 11-4 record, the Colts can still tumble as far down as the sixth season.
If Indianapolis loses and Tennessee (11-4) wins, the Titans would win the AFC South. And in that scenario, if the Broncos win their game, then the Colts would fall to the sixth seed and head to Nashville to face the Titans.
The Colts own the division tiebreaker against the Titans because of a season sweep, while Denver has the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Colts for wild-card seeding.
Besides having motivation, the Colts also have history on their side going into this game.
They have played 24 straight regular-season games without back-to-back losses, the longest streak in the NFL. At 6-1, they are the AFC's best road team and they have beaten Houston, this week's opponent, in all three previous meetings.
The only positive not for the Colts Sunday was Peyton Manning becoming the first NFL quarterback to pass for 4,000 yards in five straight seasons.
``It was frustrating and disappointing,'' said Manning, who went 12-for-23 for just 146 yards.
The Texans, meanwhile, are coming off a frustrating 27-24 loss to the Titans. With Houston leading by four points with 1:17 left after Domanick Davis' five-yard run, Steve McNair rallied the Titans back with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Drew Bennett with 17 seconds to play.
It was the sixth straight home game decided by less than a touchdown for the Texans.
``Today is one of the most disappointing losses I've been involved with,'' Houston coach Dom Capers said. ``It's disappointing to me as a head coach because of the way our guys fought.''
While the Texans try to avoid a season-high four-game losing streak, Davis and receiver Andre Johnson are within striking distance of a rookie record. Davis needs 68 rushing yards Sunday to crack 1,000 yards, while Johnson needs 75 receiving yards to hit 1,000. If they both reach their milestones, they would become the first set of rookie teammates to do so.
``Im going to try and finish
on a good note. Im going to do what Ive been doing,'' Davis said. ``Keep working
hard in practice and continue to try and make plays happen.''