Congratulations to the Texans, who have clinched the first playoff berth in franchise history. With three weeks left in the season, there are still eight playoff spots up for grabs. And three teams – the Patriots, Ravens and Steelers – all have a chance to officially join the party this weekend.

Adrian Peterson is a game-time decision for Minnesota this week, meaning fantasy owners should stay on alert in case he plays. And have a contingency plan ready in case he doesn’t.

Several big name fantasy players are trying to fight their way back from injuries to play in Week 14, but fantasy owners should be wary of all of them.

With four weeks left in the season, there are still six division crowns and 10 total playoff spots up for grabs. Congratulations to the Packers and 49ers, who have clinched the NFC North and West, respectively. Meanwhile, here’s a look at what can happen this week.

Speculation runs rampant over where Donovan McNabb could land, but regardless of where it is, he’s not worth adding to any fantasy rosters.

We know that Texans LB Connor Barwin is a bad man, but so bad that the Jaguars fired coach Jack Del Rio and then owner Wayne Weaver sold the team, all after Barwin recorded four sacks against two quarterbacks in a 20-13 Texans win in Jacksonville on Sunday?

Think the Bears’ playoff chances are done without Jay Cutler? Can the same be said about the Texans without Matt Schaub? Not according to Brian Billick and Jim Mora. Hear what the coaches have to say about those teams’ chances going forward, as well as other hot topics around the league in this week’s podcast. Subscribe to Podcast on iTunes

This time of year, everyone is starting to line up their teams as ponies in an NFL derby race toward the Super Bowl. You have the usual steeds – the Packers, Steelers, and the Patriots – but a few interesting names are starting to enter the mix.

On Wednesday, we looked at how the division leaders stack up in terms of total defense. So today we decided to see how the eight first-place teams stack up when you take into account their overall ranking for both total offense and total defense. One thing to note is that there isn’t a great deal of balance among these teams. and only two of the division leaders — the Steelers and Texans — rank in the top 10 of both categories.

There was an interesting note this week in the NFL Media research packet pointing out that the top eight teams in the NFL in total defense all come from the AFC. Pretty crazy, considering it used to be that the NFC was known for rugged defense and the AFC was known for high-scoring aerial attacks.

Andre Johnson, Sam Bradford and Fred Davis were either limited or missing from practice Wednesday, but all hold out hope of playing Sunday. Fantasy owners, however, might want to consider contingency plans.

Texans linebacker Brian Cushing is playing better than just about any defender in the NFL and is the driving force behind Houston’s vastly improved defense. He joined the Cover Two Podcast to discuss his strong start.

With the monotony of Indianapolis’ annual contention for the AFC South stifled by Peyton Manning’s injury, Houston and Tennessee will battle for the division lead Sunday as we approach the season’s midpoint.

Log onto NFL.com to vote for the FedEx Air & Ground Players of the Week. And don’t forget to cast your vote for the week’s top rookie performance and top comeback, too.

One of the best matchups of the weekend has to be football’s version of the “Running of the Bulls,” a ground-and-pound contest between Texans RB Arian Foster and Raiders RB Darren McFadden.