It’s Christmas Eve, Week 17 of the NFL season, and the 2014 Houston Texans are still alive in the playoff race.

It’s not quite a Christmas miracle, but it’s close. Let’s count the reasons why:

• This a team that went 2-14 last season, fired its coach who had spent eight years building a roster to fit his system, and didn’t add the answer at quarterback – one of the most glaringly obvious holes on the roster and a key reason for said 2-14 season.
• The Texans have used the following quarterbacks en route to their 8-7 record: Ryan Fitzpatrick, a 10-year veteran journeyman who had never posted a winning record or passer rating above 83.3 in his career; Ryan Mallett, who played in four games with four pass attempts in three seasons before the Patriots traded him for a conditional draft pick in August; Fitzpatrick, two weeks after he was benched for Mallett; Tom Savage, a rookie fourth-round pick who came in for an injured Fitzpatrick at Indy, only to get hurt himself – almost forcing Shane Lechler into action; and Case Keenum, who went undrafted out of the University of Houston in 2012 and 0-8 as the Texans’ starter in 2013, was cut by Bill O’Brien in August, signed by the Rams, cut by the Rams, placed on the Rams’ practice squad and signed by the Texans six days before getting his first victory as a starter against the Baltimore Ravens.
• Despite having the No. 1 pick in the draft, the Texans have gotten next to nothing from their rookies aside from backup running back Alfred Blue. They also didn’t sign a single high-level free agent and let several key starters go, guys like defensive linemen Earl Mitchell and Antonio Smith and tight end Owen Daniels, without really attempting to replace them.
• Jadeveon Clowney had more surgeries (three since June) than games started (two). The number one overall pick, potentially a generational pass rushing talent and absolute nightmare next to J.J. Watt, had five tackles and zero sacks and one very daunting microfracture surgery to end his season.

Granted, the Texans play in a terrible division and had a favorable schedule by virtue of last year’s last-place finish. And plenty of NFL teams turn around from worst to first, or at least bad to average. And the Texans were nowhere near as bad as their 2-14 record last season and have two of the league’s most singular talents in J.J. Watt and Arian Foster on their roster.

But I’d say it qualifies as a major surprise that these Texans are still alive with one game left to go. That with Case Keenum as their starting quarterback, they have a legitimate chance to earn a playoff spot on Sunday. Can they beat the Jaguars at NRG Stadium? Of course. Can the Chiefs beat the Chargers in Kansas City? Yes. Can the Browns beat the Ravens in Baltimore? Well… crazier things have happened.

No matter how it shakes out on Sunday, Bill O’Brien deserves a tip of the cap. So does the entire team. They’ve overachieved this season. And now they have a chance to keep on overachieving into January.