AFC SOUTH 2021 PREDICTIONS

BY ADAM GREENE

If you were dropped off here from an alien planet, with only an academic understanding of the current NFL, you would be shocked to learn that the AFC South has been dominated by one team over the last decade plus. One single franchise, since 2011, has won this division six times. That team is the current worst team in football; the Houston Texans.

How did this happen? Especially with a guy like Bill O’Brien as head coach, a man rightly fired last season in the midst of a 4-12 campaign? The answer is that the AFC South, for the most part was just that bad. With the exception of Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts when he was healthy, no other team in the division did much of anything. And when they did, they won the whole thing, as the Jacksonville Jaguars did in 2017. In fact, every team has claimed a title at least once since 2011.

This year? Well, it’s a safe bet it won’t be the Texans. Or the Jaguars.

TENNESSEE TITANS: 12-5

Tennessee had the worst defense entering the playoffs last season and still nearly took out the Ravens in the Wild Card game. This offseason they tried, through free agency and the draft, to address their defensive shortcomings (specifically a pass rush) and that’s probably enough to keep them atop the division.

But what could make them special is the addition to their offense, already one of the best in the NFL. They traded magic beans and expired Hardee’s coupons to the Atlanta Falcons for Julio Jones. Jones jumps into an offense with A.J. Brown, one of the best young WRs in the game, the best running back in the world in Derrick Henry and a QB in Ryan Tannehill that’s been matching stats with Patrick Mahomes for the last two seasons.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS: 9-8

Perhaps more than any other team that I’ll work through in these divisional previews, COVID-19 is going to do the most damage to the Colts and their postseason plans if Carson Wentz doesn’t wise up and get vaccinated. Wentz and his starting center Ryan Kelly have both managed to avoid any and all efforts, thus far, to convince them to take a vaccine that’s been proven safe by about 250 million Americans now and instead consistently risk catching a virus that’s killed over 600,000 of us. Who knows, through their lacking leadership, how many other players are risking the same problems.

If Wentz can bounce back and actually stay on the field, this could be a 10-11 win team. If Wentz is constantly missing time on the COVID-19 list because he was in close proximity to a carrier or, worse, catches it himself, then the season immediately goes off the rails.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS: 5-12

As I mentioned in my AFC East preview, we might be in the heretofore never before seen scenario of every single rookie QB taken in the first round being good. In the preseason, it certainly looked that way. And while there have been plenty of drafts with multiple quarterbacks taken, including the legendary 1983 draft that saw four of the six QBs selected play in the Super Bowl and three of them (John Elway, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly) make the Pro Football Hall of Fame, there was still a dud (I’m looking at you, Todd Blackledge).

Regardless, I like Trevor Lawrence. He was the proper pick for the Jaguars and will do nothing this season to make them a winning team.

HOUTON TEXANS: 1-16

In my 7 Bold Predictions for the 2021-22 Season article, I’ve already spelled out Houston’s doom. There’s no need to rehash here, other than I’ve given them a single win. Because going 0-17 should just be impossible.

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