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After Houston debacle, Titans' playoff hopes are paper thin

HOUSTON – After an ugly 34-17 loss to the Texans at NRG Stadium and now with a 5-6 record, the Titans’ playoff chances are slim with five games left to play.Wild Card rgb

They are now three games behind 8-3 Houston with a split in the season series, and Houston is 3-1 in the division compared to 2-2 for the Titans.

That's going to be too much ground to make up and too much help to expect.

The wild-card route rates as just as difficult, as they stand 11th in the AFC.

"We have no reason to think about playoffs," Kevin Byard said. "What are we thinking about playoffs for? The only thing we can think about is the Jets, coming into Wednesday as best we can, correct the mistakes. At this point, we can only think about what's right in front of us right now."

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The current wild cards would be the 8-3 Chargers and the 6-5 Ravens, with the 6-5 Colts and 5-6 Dolphins next in line.

You might notice an issue with that four-pack: Each of them has a win over the Titans.

Division tie-breakers go first, so the Titans would have to beat the Colts in Week 17 to make their season series a split and come out if it with the same overall record. Then that would come down to division record, which the Colts currently lead 2-1 to 2-2. If they were even there it would come down to common games, where the Titans currently lead 4-3 to 3-3. That's about the only advantage to be found anywhere here.

Here are the tie-breaking scenarios in a wild card situation, between two clubs or more than two.

The Chargers are three games better overall, have the head to head and stand 2.5 games better in the AFC.

The Ravens are one game better overall, have the head to head and stand three games better in the AFC.

The Dolphins have the same overall record, have the head to head and are one game better in the AFC.

The 5-6 Bengals and the 5-6 Broncos also have better AFC records.

Things can change in a hurry. But can the Titans, coming off a two-game losing streak and with a 3-6 AFC record get past enough team to get to sixth place in the conference?

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