The AFC South Preview Written by: Terence Turner
Here is the Good, Bad, and Ugly for the AFC South this year. The opinions expressed are mine, so dont give the boss a hard time about anything I say here.
The Good: The talent of the teams in the division.
This division has arguably the best collection of talent for the conference. Tennessee only lost one starter (albeit Albert Haynesworth) and the Jaguars FINALLY added a weapon at receiver in the form of Future Hall of Famer Torry Holt. The Houston Texans and Colts have maintained their talent level and look to make the race for second place pretty tight.
The Bad: Can the Colts maintain that magic?
There has been a lot going in Indy. Dungy is gone. Marvin Harrison is gone. Are the Colts a legitimate threat anymore? That is a legitimate question. Only 2 of their first 6 games are at their brand new home, so that means they must be tough enough to get through that stretch if their season has a chance. Some of you may say, these are the Colts we are talking about, but change might not be the best thing for them this season.
The Ugly: Lendale White and Chris Johnson = Snoop and Dre.
With arguably the 2nd best backfield in football (Peterson and Taylor out of Minnesota are number one. I do think they are better than The Panthers duo of Williams and Stewart), I dont see too many defenses on their schedule that can contain them under a combined 150 rushing yards. Lendale is in the best shape of his life, and he led the AFC in rushing touchdowns last year. Thats a problem.
Predictions:
Order of Finish
1)Titans
2)Colts
3)Houston
4)Jags
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Short and sweet.
I can't argue with the logic. That sounds about right, but I think Indy will be stronger on both sides of the ball than they were last year. Donald Brown makes them tougher in the Red Zone (not LenDale tough, but tougher), and a new scheme may make the D better. Both teams should win at least 11 games.
September 4th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
I think Indy will be weaker than people think due to the instability on their offensive line (not to mention the lack of a great LT). Tennessee will give up more long drives and wear down because they don't have a legitimate run stuffer in their D-line and they simply don't generate much of a pass rush. Jacksonville can't protect Garrard and even with Torry Holt, the Jags have a pedestrian WR corps at best. I hate to say it, but they're going to overwork MJD just to stay semi-competitive. The Texans will continue having problems stopping the run. Not to mention that they gave away their only legit backup QB Rosenfels for a couple of schmucks.