8. Houston Texans
I’ve got to eat some crow regarding the Houston Texans. I thought they were one of the most overrated teams in the entire league coming into the NFL playoffs. They played in a bad division. They looked horrible down the stretch. CJ Stroud seemingly hit a second-year slump. They just felt like such an underwhelming division champion.
But they came out and made me look dumb with a tremendous performance against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Justin Herbert entered the game against Houston with three interceptions, and he threw four picks into the Texans’ secondary with All-Pro Derek Stingley Jr. leading the way. DeMeco Ryans had his guys ready in this game and the young head coach absolutely throttled a much more experienced coach in Jim Harbaugh on the other sideline.
This game wasn’t even close thanks to Houston’s defense. Can they carry that momentum for a rematch in Kansas City against the Chiefs this coming week?
7. Los Angeles Rams
The Rams play on Monday night against the Minnesota Vikings, and I won’t be shocked at all if they come away with a win despite the Vikings having a pretty significantly more successful regular season.
The Rams have a number of key players who have won the Super Bowl, including their quarterback. They know what it takes to win at this point in the season and the Vikings simply don’t. With Los Angeles having revamped its defense over the last handful of years since they won it all, there are a lot of young players who are going to have to make names for themselves on the biggest stage.
Players like Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, Kobie Turner, and Byron Young need to make life miserable for Sam Darnold as quickly as possible to help this Los Angeles team go on another potential Super Bowl run.
I have been a huge believer in Sean McVay and his crew this year. I think they can make some noise.