The postseason scenarios for the Indianapolis Colts are straightforward: Win Saturday night’s game against the Houston Texans and go to the playoffs. Lose and enter the offseason.

Indianapolis center Ryan Kelly will take it.

“This team has done a lot of work starting back in April, in the offseason, in training camp and then grinding it out through the season to put ourselves in this position to control our own destiny,” Kelly said. “It’s obviously a big game, but it’s obviously the next one, so it’s always a big game in this league. Getting flexed into a prime-time game at the end of the season with a lot to play for, it’s all you can ask for as competitors.

“Not making it any bigger than it needs to be. It’s a big game for us because it’s the next one, and so I think the preparation we do all week will determine what happens on Saturday night.”

The Texans won’t be playing out the string in their regular-season finale, though. Houston has the same playoff possibilities as the Colts, making Saturday night’s contest a win-and-in game for both teams.

Kelly has been here before with Indianapolis.

In Kelly’s third season, the Colts arrived at the regular-season finale with the same 9-6 record as their opponent, the Tennessee Titans. The winner of the game would go to the playoffs; the loser would not.

Indianapolis defeated Tennessee 33-17 to earn a 2018 wild-card playoff berth, then defeated AFC South champion Houston 21-7 in the first round of the postseason before falling to the Kansas City Chiefs 31-13 in the divisional round.

“I think that teams that try to do something different or try to play a different way, out of their scheme, it never bodes well for them,” Kelly said, “so I think for us, the message from (coach) Shane (Steichen) is it’s obviously a big game but it’s obviously the next one, so trust what we do, do what we do – the small things all week better than we’ve ever done them and then trust what you go out there and do on Saturday night.”

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The Texans and Colts kick off at 7:15 p.m. CST Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. ABC and ESPN will televise the game.

While the winner will earn a wild-card berth in the AFC playoffs, there’s the possibility of an upgrade on Sunday.

The Colts, Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars have 9-7 records. The Jaguars hold the tiebreaker advantage over their division rivals. But if Jacksonville loses in its regular-season finale against the Titans on Sunday, the winner of the Houston-Indianapolis game will receive the AFC South’s playoff berth and the accompanying home game in the first round of the postseason.

The Colts did not have a full practice on Tuesday, holding a walkthrough instead. But the NFL team estimated if it had practiced, Kelly would not have been able to. The center battled through an ankle injury to finish Sunday’s 23-20 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.

The 18th selection in the 2016 NFL Draft, Kelly joined Indianapolis as a consensus All-American on Alabama’s 2015 CFP national-championship team. When healthy, he’s been the center for the Colts since coming aboard, starting all 110 regular-season and three playoff games in his career.

Kelly earned Pro Bowl recognition in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.