TAMPA, Fla. — The Houston Texans clinched the AFC South with a 23-20 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday.
Houston, which only needed one more win or a loss by the Tennessee Titans this season to win the division, forced four turnovers in the first half before taking the lead for good midway through the fourth quarter.
The 10-5 Texans have now won the division in four of the last five seasons, all under head coach Bill O’Brien. Houston has now won at least 10 games in back-to-back seasons and has finished with a winning record in all but one season since O’Brien took over in 2014.
Houston did it without having wide receiver Will Fuller for most of the game, after he left in the first half with a groin injury and was ruled out at the start the third quarter.
With the win, Houston is currently the fourth seed in the AFC but holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over the 10-4 Kansas City Chiefs, who play the Chicago Bears on Sunday night.
The Texans started the season 2-2 before winning six of eight games. After they were blown out 41-7 by the Baltimore Ravens coming off the bye in Week 11, they rebounded to beat the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots in back-to-back weeks.
Last week, when quarterback Deshaun Watson was asked about the chance to clinch the division by beating the Buccaneers, and he was quick to say that the team could not overlook Tampa Bay but acknowledged that a victory would check off their first goal of making the playoffs.
“You want to win it and take care of the next step,” Watson said.