The Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens know that playoff football is in their near future. However, they don’t know who they will face on Super Wild Card Weekend (and the latter doesn’t even know where they will play). However, the results of their Week 17 clash could give us clarity on their respective paths to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.

Baltimore is tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers at the top of the AFC North. How they perform over the course of the regular season could determine whether they are hosts or visitors in the first round of the postseason.

The Texans are now committed to at least one home playoff game. However, beating the Ravens on Christmas Day makes things interesting and gives them a chance to secure third place in the conference.

Houston and Baltimore will be without several players in their high-risk holiday showdown. Both teams only played four days ago and have therefore had less time than usual to recover before their crucial clash. According to their respective injury reports, the turnaround has come too quickly for some key players and the timing is brutal.

Protection issues continue to plague quarterback CJ Stroud and the Texans scoring unit. The game doesn’t get any easier against the Ravens considering Shaq Mason and Juice Scruggs, who start at interior offensive lineman, are ruled out. Notably, Baltimore ranks second in the NFL in sacks (47) this season, making this matchup a nightmare for Houston.

Veteran defensive tackle Foley Fatukasi injured his ankle in Week 15 and has been out since. He still has to practice after that, so that will continue against the Ravens.

We also won’t see newcomer Diontae Johnson’s Texans debut on Christmas Day after he was claimed off waivers in recent days following his release from the Ravens. That’s to be expected given the limited time he’s spent in the building so far and will likely take some time to get the hang of. Still, it will be interesting to at least speculate on the possibility that he could have potentially given his new team inside information about his former club.

Change-of-pace/third-down running back Justice Hill had virtually no chance of clearing concussion protocol on such short notice after his bell rang in Week 16. Wide receiver Nelson Agholor is also unavailable due to a brain injury, although he has been on the shelf since opting out in Week 15.

Despite the questionable designation, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport revealed that Zay Flowers is “expected” to play. Baltimore’s top pass catcher is nursing and treating a shoulder ailment, but it’s not enough to prevent him from missing the team’s contest against Houston.

Flowers and Tre’Davious White will both suit up for Wednesday’s Christmas game after being listed as questionable before kickoff. White will continue to serve as a depth piece in the Ravens’ secondary, but Flowers remains the bigger question. He’s been the focal point of Jackson’s passing offense for much of this season, so whether he’s hindered at all in the Houston game could have a big impact on the team’s offensive performance. D