The AFC South: A One-Horse Show?

Last year the Indianapolis Colts had their division wrapped up by week 12 of the season and they cruised into the playoffs with the league’s best record while their division rival Jacksonville clawed and scratched to get a wild card birth.  Then when neither team made it to the AFC Championship, they both showed that the AFC South isn’t as powerful as some thought it was.  So with 2006 approaching there are many questions facing this division and its talent.

Let’s start with a team that made the biggest NFL Draft mistake since San Diego took Ryan Leaf or everybody passed on Tom Brady: the Houston Texans.  Now I’m not saying that Mario Williams will be as big of a bust as Leaf was, but he is not the impact player that Reggie Bush is.  Not only will the Texans miss Bush’s presence on the field, but they will also suffer when it comes to ticket sales and other merchandise sales.  They could’ve built their team around Bush and QB David Carr, but now they will still be one of the worst teams in the league.  The Texans have possibly the worst offensive line in NFL history and it seems like Carr is on his back almost every other play.  The Texans have a decent defense, but they will continue to be one of the doormats in the league.  Houston should be a 2-14 or 3-13 team again this year and could very easily have the top pick again next year, maybe then they will take an impact player to help their dreadful offense. 

The Tennessee Titans had a bittersweet off-season, but have improved their team.  They drafted Texas Longhorn superman Vince Young to be their building block for the future and as a result had to say goodbye to their previous franchise player Steve McNair.

They also drafted RB LenDale White from USC to back up Chris Brown.  They acquired two other veteran free agents on offense in former Super Bowl MVP WR David Givens and C Kevin Mawae from the Jets to sure up the offensive line.  However, with all of that said, they will still struggle to win six games this year.  Even with all of their talent on offense and a young, fast defense, the Titans will need Vince Young heroics to win more than five or six games.  Half of their games are against playoff teams from last year and they probably won’t win any of those.  Plus San Diego, Miami, Dallas, and Baltimore are much-improved teams from last season and all four of those games will be hard to win. 

The Jacksonville Jaguars made the playoffs last year as a wild card and were promptly crushed by the defending champion Patriots in New England.  It was a devastating end to a great season that saw the Jags go 12-4, which was the third best record in the AFC.  Now, Byron Leftwich and his team look to duplicate their 2005 success and try to take down the defending division champs from Indy.  The first four and last four games of the season will be very hard to win and Jacksonville could be in big trouble this year.  The honeymoon will probably come to a crashing halt in 2006 for the Jags because they have a very tough schedule and a very young and inexperienced running back and wide receiving core.  Although Head Coach Jack Del Rio will do his best to keep the ship afloat in 2006, it will take his best coaching job yet to get his team back into the playoffs.  Look for the Jags to be 9-7 or maybe 10-6 as a best-case scenario, but they will probably miss the playoffs.

The Indianapolis Colts trampled their way through the regular season and to home field advantage throughout the playoffs in 2005, only to have their hearts broken once again by a tough, hungry Pittsburgh Steelers team.  When the Colts were 13-0 and chasing NFL history their biggest problem was keeping players healthy and trying to pursue perfection.  However, attempting to go 16-0 in the regular season resulted in a devastating playoff loss in front of their home fans when it was finally supposed to be “their year.”  Things didn’t look like they were getting much better in the off-season and two of their main offensive weapons have left.  RB Edgerrin James and kicker Mike Vanderjagt left as free agents, however they did sign one of the greatest kickers in NFL history, Adam Vinatieri.  The Colts drafted RB Joseph Addai from LSU to try to replace James and early indications are that Addai will fit perfectly into the Colts fast-paced offense.  The Colts could be even better this year if they can get solid running back play from either Addai or Dominic Rhodes.  All of the pieces are still there for the Colts, but they are an older team and the window of opportunity may be closing on their run for a championship.  This may be their best and last chance to get it done.  However, this year if their season comes down to a field goal attempt they will have the greatest clutch kicker in history on the field instead of Vanderjagt and Vinatieri could prove to be the missing piece to the Colts Super Bowl puzzle.  Although the Colts have four potential losses on their 2006 schedule, expect them to be no worse than 12-4 and to be the team to beat in the AFC once again.