The Houston Texans play the San Francisco 49ers in week 17 in a battle that will likely be to see who will get the first overall draft pick. That makes the season at least somewhat intriguing for a couple of teams who haven't sniffed playoff races since before the season started. But, if you look deeper at these two teams, I'm not sure if it truly matters to them who finishes worse off. The only thing that may matter is which USC player is taken with the first pick (assuming Reggie Bush declares himself eligible).

If San Francisco wins the draft pick war (and likely loses in week 17), they will draft Reggie Bush. I don't think that is any secret. What would be better than having a number 1 overall pick quarterback from the season before and following that up with a number 1 overall pick running back? They have a clear hole at running back, as their leading rusher has not even reached 600 yards through 13 games.

If Houston wins the draft pick war, they will be more apt to draft Matt Leinart (assuming Vince Young does stay in college like he has said, taking another year to get a Heisman). David Carr has just not panned out for Houston as of yet, and they need a fix quickly. They have a 1000 yard rusher in Domanick Davis (who is 24 yards shy of 1000 with 3 to play, I think he'll get it), and they have two pretty decent young receivers in Andre Johnson and Jabar Gaffney. Passing up the chance to draft a quarterback of Leinart's talent with the top pick, would be a woeful decision.

However, because these two teams have two vastly different needs, it might not matter who finishes with a worse record. If Houston finishes worse, they draft Leinart first, and San Francisco drafts Bush second. If San Francisco finishes worse, they draft Bush first, and Houston drafts Leinart second.

I believe Bush will come out for the draft, but if he does not declare himself eligible, I believe San Francisco makes a drastic effort to trade their draft pick for a veteran running back. Running back is their biggest hole, and behind Bush, there will not be another running back in the draft worthy of a number 1 or number 2 overall pick, and they will not draft Leinart since they already have Alex Smith.