Saturday Night Football begins this week, but Week 15 is still kicking off earlier on Thursday Night Football as the Broncos battle the Texans. I'll have the rest of my Week 15 predictions online later this week.

THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

PROCESS OF ELIMINATION

Denver Broncos vs. Houston Texans. Neither of these teams have a strong chance of making the postseason in the AFC, but whoever wins will at least have a fighting chance if several things go there way. Last week, both the Broncos and the Texans came through with their best performances of the season. The Broncos destroyed the Kansas City Chiefs 41-7 behind a complete defensive effort and a successful trio of playmakers on offense. Jay Cutler tossed four touchdowns, Brandon McDonald caught ten passes for over 100 yards and two touchdowns, and Selvin Young ran the ball 17 times for 156 yards. Meanwhile, the Texans took apart the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a premiere contender over in the NFC. Sage Rosenfels was efficient replacing Matt Schaub, creating a potential quarterback controversy for next season.

The home/road factors don't usually factor overwhelmingly into my decisions, but I'm forced to do so here. The Broncos have been night and day this season, and the difference between playing at home and on the road is often the cause of that. Prior to their big win over the Chiefs, the Broncos were destroyed by opposing offenses in two road games against the Chicago Bears and the Oakland Raiders. They also lost to the Detroit Lions 44-7 on the road earlier this season. When Denver gives up that many points and can't stay on pace offensively on the road, almost all of the matchups in this game favor the Texans. Texans 31, Broncos 20

STATISTICS

Predictions Record to Date: 137-71 (My loss column only increased by one last week.)
Last Week: 15-1 (Fifteen weeks? Outstanding.)
Survivor Streak: Won 5 (Min over Atl, Den over Oak, Car over Atl, [NYJ over Buf], Ari over StL, Cle over Mia, Cin over NYJ, NYG over Mia, [SD over Min], Sea over SF, Ind over KC, Pit over Mia, NE over Bal, and GB over OAK.)
Survivor Record: 11-2

How exciting will the Bengals and 49ers contest be on Saturday? So exciting, that no on will be watching.