With the exception of an AFC title game appearance for the Indianapolis Colts a couple of seasons ago, the AFC South has been an afterthought when it comes to legitimately vying for a Super Bowl Championship. Will that change this season? Spoiler alert; no.
Key = Z – Home Field Advantage, Y – Division Champion, X – Wild Card
O/U wins: 8.5
My Prediction: 10-6
Understand something, if the Titans don’t win at least 10 games this season head coach Mike Mularkey should be fired on the spot. Also, if the Titans win 10 games this season, or more, Mularkey should be fired on the spot. He should be fired right now, today. Or, really anytime is the right time for firing Mike Mularkey.
With the forcible removal of Gus Bradley and Jeff Fisher from the head coaching ranks, Mularkey is now, unquestionably, the worst head coach in the NFL. You don’t have to take my word for it. Mularkey has a career winning percentage of .370 (27-46), and that’s after Tennessee went 9-7 last year. No current head coach is even close to that bad. Hell, Mike McCoy was a complete shitshow with the San Diego Chargers and he still had a .422 winning percentage, a solid 0.52 points ahead of Mularkey.
Truly, of all the coaches with a last name synonymous with horse shit, Mike Mularkey is the absolute worst.
So why am I picking the Titans to win the AFC North this season? There are two reasons. First, Tennessee is absolutely loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. Second, every other team is a complete disaster.
The Titans have upgraded their receiver corps, and while I don’t see Corey Davis being a huge factor early on, Rishard Matthews is a solid No. 2 and Eric Decker will likely be quarterback Marcus Mariota’s favorite downfield target. Delanie Walker will likely be on his way to another Pro Bowl at the end of the season.
Tennessee boasts what is probably the second best offensive line in the league, led by left tackle Taylor Lewan. They not only get to block for Mariota, a guy who can do it all at the quarterback position, but for two of the better running backs in the NFL. There aren’t enough footballs for DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry to share, but I do see an increased workload for Henry this season.
Defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau has put a solid stamp on the defense and got new life out of guys like Derrick Morgan and Brian Orakpo. They’d added talent in the draft with cornerback Adoree’ Jackson, but this is an up and coming unit that, unlike the offense (and overall team) is coached by a professional. If a real head coach was running this team, I’d pick them to go 12-4 and make a real run.
O/U wins: 9.0
My Prediction: 7-9
Speaking of head coaches that should be fired, the Chuck Pagano farewell tour officially begins on Sunday, Sep. 10 in Los Angeles when he brings the Scott Tolzien-led Colts into the Los Angeles Colosseum. The fact that Pagano has known all off-season that Andrew Luck likely wouldn’t be able to play in the opener, let along maybe the first month of the season and made no effort to upgrade his back up quarterback situation is absolutely unforgivable. But that’s just the latest in a long list of reasons Pagano should be sent packing.
This team can’t win a single game without Luck at quarterback and even with the upgrades they’ve made across the offensive line and defense over the last two seasons, it’s not enough to make a difference. If Luck played in all 16 games, maybe they’ve got a shot at 9-7. There’s no excuse for Jim Irsay to keep this coaching staff in place with Luck in the prime of what could be a Hall of Fame career. The sooner they fire Pagano and get ready to move on, the better.
HOUSTON TEXANS
O/U wins: 8.5
My Prediction: 6-10
The Houston Texans should still boast one of the best defenses in the NFL in 2017. That’ll be just good enough to keep them from being blown out in every game because of their horrible offense led by Tom Savage.
Of course, Savage will be eventually replaced by DeShaun Watson and that move will earn five of these six wins. Like Pagano and Mularkey, Bill O’Brien has no business coaching an NFL team and his two pitiful playoff appearances in a ridiculously weak AFC South shouldn’t convince anyone any different. Somebody had to win this conference last season. Was it going to be the Gus Bradley Jaguars for God’s sake?
The Texans have a solid group of receivers, at least from one through three and a decent enough offensive line to open holes for an underrated stable of running backs led by Lamar Miller.
On defense we’ll get to see what a healthy Jadeveon Clowney and J.J. Watt can do together along with Whitney Mercilus, the forgotten guy on that defense that seems to put up double digit sacks every season. Jonathan Joseph steps back in after injury and replaces top rated corner A.J. Bouye in the defensive backfield opposite Kevin Johnson.
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
O/U wins: 6.5
My Prediction: 5-11
Unless Blake Bortles rediscovers his testicular fortitude, this will be his last season at the Jaguars’ quarterback. The problem for Jacksonville and new head coach Doug Marrone, is the guy behind him was a draft bust himself, Chad Henne. He was supposed to be the answer in Miami a few seasons ago, but left his scantron sheet blank as they shipped him out of South Beach.
The Jaguars have too much offensive talent to waste another season and since I’ve picked them to go 5-11, I’m already saying they will. Running back Leonard Fournette hasn’t been healthy all off-season which explains why they haven’t cut Chris Ivory. T.J. Yeldon is probably their second best back, so he and Ivory can battle it out until Fournette is ready to strap on his cleats.
On defense, the Jaguars have plenty of pieces. Owner Shad Khan has not been afraid to spend money and draft capital on guys that all look like future stars in the making. Myles Jack, after an injury redshirt, will get to take over in the middle of the linebacking corps with Paul Psluszny moving outside. Calais Campbell is likely in the wrong spot at defense end to produce a lot of stats, but he’ll definitely eat up offensive lineman and open lanes for the linebackers.
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