The Buffalo Bills' backs are up against the proverbial wall. At 5-6, the Bills have once again fallen behind in the AFC playoff race, and they probably need to win four out of their last five games - ideally, they'd win all five, of course - in order to climb back into serious contention.
That journey begins today against a Houston Texans outfit that, like Kansas City a week ago, has furiously climbed back into the playoff picture thanks to a four-game winning streak. Led by the best player in all of football, J.J. Watt, and another legitimate star in receiver DeAndre Hopkins, the Texans pose a plethora of personnel issues that the Bills will need to solve in order to end their two-game losing streak.
Buffalo is playing at home for the first time since November 8, and they won't play at Ralph Wilson Stadium again until December 27. This is therefore their lone home game in what otherwise amounts to a six-week stretch of road games, a fact that the Bills need to capitalize on. Losing a game at home against a beatable opponent in such a tough part of the schedule would be as devastating a blow to the team's playoff chances as the Bills have yet had this season.
This is your open thread for the first half of today's pivotal Bills-Texans game. Go Bills!