Houston Astros

From the week spanning Sept. 18 through Sept. 25, the Houston Astros posted a 4-2 record, taking their early series from the Chicago White Sox 3-1 and their later one against the Los Angeles Angels 3-1. Justin Verlander is continuing his hot streak since arriving to Houston, having yet to concede a game, even after this past week’s play.

With their loss to the Angels to end the series, the Astros now find themselves 2.5 games behind the Cleveland Indians, who own the best record in baseball. As the final week of the regular season gets going, the Astros will look to dethrone the Indians for the best record and head into the playoffs on a hot streak.

Texas Rangers

After starting the week strong with a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners, losing their three-game series to the Oakland Athletics put a large dent into the Rangers’ wild card aspirations. At 76-79 (as of Sept. 25), the Rangers are on the outside looking in, sitting 5.5 games behind the last wild card spot, which currently belongs to the Minnesota Twins.

Their week starts with a three-game series against the Astros and they will be ending the season with a series against the Athletics, who once again, they did not win a game against in their series to end last week. However, it is never over until it is actually over when it comes to sports, so only time will tell if the Rangers will sneak into the playoffs.

Houston Texans

Despite losing 33-36 to the New England Patriots, the Texans made a statement to the entire league. Before anyone else, it starts with Deshaun Watson. The rookie quarterback completed 22 of 33 passes for 301 yards and added 41 yards on 8 carries. Although he had two interceptions, the last came on a prayer to the end zone to try and come up with a touchdown after Tom Brady did what he does best by scoring a touchdown with 23 seconds left in the game.

Thanks to a defense that accounted for five sacks, Sunday provided us with what was one of the most competitive games between these two teams in recent memory. Moreso, last year’s top-ranked defense is starting to look more the part. Even though JJ Watt has yet to record a sack, the constant double and triple teams opened up opportunities for others on the front seven, including Jadeveon Clowney who had two sacks and a fumble return for a touchdown.

In the end, it was not enough but the season is still young and they will look to bounce back next Sunday against the Titans in Houston.

Dallas Cowboys