Texans not looking past Dolphins with chance to clinch AFC South title with win and loss by Colts

HOUSTON (AP) — With three games in a span of 11 days against Miami, Kansas City and Baltimore approaching, it would be easy for the Houston Texans to look past the Dolphins and ahead to their tougher upcoming opponents.

But they insist they’re only worried about Miami this week, especially with a chance to clinch their second straight AFC South title Sunday with a win and a loss by the Colts.

“You have to take care of them one at a time (and) now we are just focused on Miami,” quarterback C.J. Stroud said. “Trying to ace that and look past that right when the game is over.”

But while Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes complained this week about his team facing three games in the same time frame as the Texans are, Stroud is embracing the challenge.

“I am actually excited about it,” Stroud said. “Anything worth it in life isn’t easy. It is not going to be easy, but I think that difficulty of it will help us in the long run.”

Miami is the only team in that stretch with a losing record, but the Dolphins have played much better of late. They’ve won four of their past five games after a 2-6 start to move within one game of .500.

They’re coming off a 32-26 overtime victory against the Jets that wide receiver Jaylen Waddle said meant a lot.

“It was a hard-fought game; it was a game we really needed to win,” he said. “It just showed what this team could do. It definitely gave us a lot of confidence.”

Miami’s recent success has come as quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has played his best games of the season. He leads the NFL with a 73.8% completion rate and threw for 300 yards for the third straight game last week.

“Watching the Dolphins, the first thing that jumps out is just how efficient and accurate Tua is with the football,” Houston coach DeMeco Ryans said. “He gets the ball out very quickly, but it’s accurate and he’s getting it to the hands of some dynamic playmakers ... and Tua’s done a great job since he’s been back just making really smart decisions with the football.”

Tagovailoa is the first player in NFL history to have at least 40 pass attempts, multiple touchdown passes and no interceptions in three consecutive games within a single season. But he said he isn't worried about making history, but just trying to keep the offense moving.

“Basically what it entails ... is just find a completion wherever it may be,” he said. "But with all the statistics and what not, all we’re trying to do is stay on the field, find ways to elongate our drive so that we can find ways to go down and put the ball in the end zone.”

Where’s the run?

The Dolphins have struggled to run the ball for four straight weeks, failing to top 85 yards rushing in each outing. Miami rushed for just 44 yards against the Jets in Week 14 after a season-low 39 yards rushing the previous week against Green Bay.

That has come as Miami has prioritized short and intermediate throws, which coach Mike McDaniel has said sometimes supplement the run game.

“There’s a lot of times, with the consistency of the decision making and accuracy of Tua that I’m exchanging tone-setting run plays for tone-setting pass plays,” McDaniel said.

But it is a balance that the team is working toward, McDaniel added.

“I think the numbers do represent something that we absolutely need to improve,” he said. “However, I think it’s magnified given the circumstances, adjusting to 75% completion percentage and giving guys (opportunities) that are very good players on our team.”

Hunter’s season

Defensive end Danielle Hunter has been great in his first year in Houston after spending his first eight seasons in Minnesota. His 81 quarterback pressures lead the NFL, according to NextGenStats, and he ranks third in the league with 15 tackles for loss and fourth with 10 1/2 sacks.

The 30-year-old Hunter has 98 sacks, making him one of seven active players with at least 90 sacks, and this is his sixth season with at least 10 sacks.

“He’s been everything we can ask for and more,” Ryans said. “Just the production that he’s had, how much pressure he’s able to apply on a quarterback ... his play speaks very loud and the opposing offenses understand they have to account for him because he’s such a force when he’s out there.”

Sack Sieler

Defensive tackle Zack Sieler was selected as the AFC Player of the Week on Wednesday for the first time in his career after haivng four tackles, two sacks, three quarterback hits and two tackles for loss against the Jets.

Sieler leads the Dolphins with six sacks and is one of two players in the league this season with at least six sacks, one interception, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery (San Francisco’s Nick Bosa is the other).

McDaniel believes that Sieler should make the Pro Bowl this year, and the defensive tackle said that would mean everything.

“Just to be able to come from where I came from," Sieler said. "Just from walk on D-II, cut twice in the NFL, to even have a chance of making it is just an incredible journey and makes me emotional because coming from where I came from in high school, I was always told: ‘You’ll never play in college, let alone in the NFL.’”

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AP Sports Writer Alanis Thames contributed to this report.

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Kristie Rieken, The Associated Press