Five reasons for optimism after the Texans edged the Bengals on Christmas Eve.
- The Texans won the AFC South for the second consecutive year. Everyone says you need a quarterback to win in the NFL. Or eight of them. That's how many have started for Bill O'Brien. So Andrew Luck isn't going to dominate the division until he gets a better team around him.
- The Texans could--should--enter the playoffs with home-field advantage and momentum. A win at Tennessee on Jan. 1, which became a probability with Marcus Mariota's season-ending injury Sunday, would give them a four-game winning streak.