AFC South: Colts and Titans Moving Up
The AFC South is ruled by the Houston Texans who are 6-1 on the season. In second place by a half game are the Indianapolis Colts at 3-3. The Tennessee Titans are in third place at 3-4 and the Jacksonville Jaguars bring up the rear at 1-5. Nashville, home to country music will see a matchup between two AFC South teams that are trying to move up in the standings.
The Colts visit the Titans and both teams have been on a positive role of late. Tennessee has won two consecutive games and is working their way back into a potential playoff spot. In week 6 the Titans won a thrilling game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and followed that up in week six with a win over Buffalo.
Indianapolis is 2-1 over their last three games with victories over Green Bay and the Cleveland Browns. With a win today, the Colts would win their first back to back games since the Andrew Luck era started.
The rushing game has finally reappeared for the Titans. In their week 7 victory of Buffalo the Titans rushed for 197 yards. Running back Chris Johnson participated all week in practice this week and should be able to start. Last week he had 195 yards on just 18 carries. It was his best rushing effort, yardage wise, since week 7 of the 2009 season.
Indianapolis has not played well against the run this season and is ranked no. 26 in the NFL in that category. Johnson could have another big day like last week. Last week the Colts were able to hold their opponent, Cleveland, to just 55 yards rushing. However, Trent Richardson is not comparable to Johnson quite yet.
Adding to the Colts’ woes on defense are six starters who are listed on their injury report. Three of the six will most likely suit up and play, the other three are questionable at best.
Tennessee’s offense has come out of nowhere and racked up 750 yards and 61 points in just two week. The offense has had only one turnover in those two games.
The Colts’ Andrew Luck scored two touchdowns on the ground last week and only turned over the ball once. The potential for a big shootout between the two teams is there as the defenses for both are quite suspect.
Playoffs Anyone?
Taking a quick glance ahead to the playoffs, the Houston Texans, currently in first place in the AFC South are the projected number one seed for the AFC. That probably will not change as the Texans came back from their only loss with a big win last weekend.
However, the Colts are currently ranked seventh in the conference and play teams like Buffalo and Miami at home and both teams can be beat. Then they have New England and Kansas City of which at least one could be considered a win. Add that to two games against Houston and Tennessee and things could get interesting, especially for a Colt team that was lucky to win the two games they won last season. They also have another game against Jacksonville.
The potential is there for Indianapolis to reach the playoffs if they stay on track and do not make unnecessary mistakes and give away the ball too often. However, before Colts’ fans start thinking AFC Championship and Super Bowl, they need to visit the home of the Grand Ole Opry today and defeat the Titans.
