NFL Pro Football 2008 AFC South Preview

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Fearless Rick's 2008 NFL Preview - AFC SOUTH

Rick Gagliano | 8/7/2008

AFC SOUTH - Predicted order of finish and (predicted record)

Indianapolis Colts (13-3) - the best team in the NLF's best division (42-22 combined record), the Colts are a fixture in the post-season and there's no reason to believe that trend won't continue.

In 2007, the offense was third in the league, at 28.1 points per game, while the defense was the league's best, allowing a skimpy 16.4 points per game. That the defense was tops in the league should come as no surprise, as head coach Tony Dungy has always been hailed as a defensive genius. He just happened to inherit a spectacular offense, spearheaded by Peyton Manning, arguably the best quarterback of his generation and a certain Hall of Famer.

Manning has a nice corps of receivers, including Marvin Harrison - another future Hall of Fame entrant - Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark, and a solid running contingent with Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes (who rejoins the Colts after a season with Oakland). Rookie Mike Hart from Michigan should also make the team and may turn out to be worth the draft pick.

The Colts' fine 13-3 regular season was overshadowed by the Patriots' undefeated run and a 24-20 loss to New England in Week 9, but Indy never got another shot at the Patriots, being ousted from the playoffs by San Diego in the divisional round, 28-24.

The Colts are the class of the division, but, as usual, will be challenged by Jacksonville for the top spot.

The AFC South plays the NFC North this season, which translates into 3 or 4 wins for the Colts, but plenty of bumps and bruises to boot. There is a tough stretch from 10/19 to 11/9, with games at Green Bay, at Tennessee, home vs. New England and at Pittsburgh. But the schedule is favorable at the end. Home games with Cincinnati and Detroit are followed by one at Jacksonville and a home ending with Tennessee.

Jacksonville Jaguars (11-5) - The Jaguars have been battling - and losing - for the AFC South title for the last five years with the Colts, and this season will be no less frustrating. The Colts are loaded once more, but so are the Jags. With quarterback David Garrard back with a full season of leading the offense behind him, this team can only get better.

Besides a meaningless final-game loss at Houston, the Jaguars lost only four games, two of them to Indianapolis. The rivalry between these two squads is becoming legendary, and the hope is to at least earn a split with Indy this season.

Along with the scampering ability of Garrard, the backfield is a powerful one with Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew doing the bulk of the damage. Jacksonville easily had the best running game in the conference, at 149.4 yards per game, and were second to only Minnesota (164.6) in the league.

Dennis Northcutt and Reggie Williams are capable wideouts, but seldom used as the Jaguars prefer to bludgeon opponents with steady doses of the run. The offense will be effective and the defense will be among the best in the conference as well.

The Jaguars drafted defensive players with their first four picks - defensive ends Derrick Harvey (USC) and Quentin Groves (Auburn) in the first two rounds, linebacker Thomas Williams (USC) and corner Trae Williams (South Florida) in rounds three and four. Their final pick was running back Chauncey Washington from USC, so the Jaguars intent was clear. They went coastal and bulked up. This is one scary team.

If this was sumo wrestling rather than football, the Jaguars would win hands down. But they still have to deal with the Colts, and that's a tall order.

--- Story continues below ---

Tennessee Titans (9-7) - Year three of the Vince Young era at Tennessee, and all systems seem to be go. Jeff Fisher continues to assemble competitive teams, and the Titans will once again be in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Two big problems the Titans have in 2008 - the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars - the two teams in their division that are almost certain to make the playoffs. Last season, the Titans went 10-6 and won a tiebreaker with the Browns that got them into post-season play as a wild card. Unfortunately, Tennessee was bounced in the opening round by San Diego, though the Titans inflicted a dose of pain on the Chargers that would eventually lead to their demise in the AFC Championship game at New England.

The Titans feature a smashmouth offense somewhat in the Jacksonville mode with some additional finesse in the passing game. LenDale White does most of the smashing from his tailback position, but Young is a threat to take off and motor downfield at any time.

Young needs to continue his progress as an NFL QB following a season in which he hit on 62% of his passes, but threw just 9 TD passes and 17 INTs. If Young can reverse the TD-INT ratio, the Titans will be in great shape. Any improvement on offense beyond the 18.8 points-per-game average in 2007 will put the Titans in the hunt because the defense allowed just 18.6 on average.

The draft was indicative of a solid team seeking to strengthen itself at certain positions. The Titans drafted Chris Johnson (RB, East Carolina), Jason Jones (DE, Eastern Michigan) and Craig Stevens (TE, California) as their top three choices. The way Fisher substitutes and employs his full complement of players, all three stand to contribute significantly.

Like the other teams in this tough division, the Titans will face NFC Central teams, and should do well against them. A couple of key game come late in the season, when the Titans will host two teams that will be looking for playoff berths themselves - Cleveland, on December 7, and Pittsburgh, December 21. The regular season ends at Indianapolis, which, depending on the standings, may or may not be a must-win for either or both.

Houston Texans (7-9) - No longer the punching bag of the conference, Houston finished a very respectable 8-8 in 2007. Matt Schaub was the big difference last season, throwing for 2241 yards and 9 TDs. Many of Schaub's passes were directed at Andre Johnson, who emerged as a big-time playmaker.

Houston may have helped themselves tremendously, drafting shifty running back Steve Slaton from West Virginia in the third round. If Slaton proves out, the offense will attain better balance and more explosiveness from another position.

However, the defense is still a work-in-progress. Houston allowed an unacceptable 24 points per game in 2007, ranking near the bottom of the league.

Bottom line is that the division is simply too tough for the Texans to hope to achieve anything more than a couple of upsets and a .500 season.

Copyright 2008, 2009, Rick Gagliano, Downtown Magazine. All rights reserved. Downtown Magazine is located in the Uinted States of America and is not affiliated with the National Football League or the NCAA. For more information, contact us here. Use of this site is for entertainment purposes only.

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