Over the past couple days, I’ve become quite taken with with European Champion League soccer, and have been looking into the European Cup tournament. I subsequently determined that I needed to finally figure out who my English Premiership team is. Well, I did just that, selecting the Blackburn Rovers, and finding out that I will have a soft spot in my heart for Brann in the Norwegian league as well. But now is not the time to discuss that, because we need to finish barrelling through the NFL preview! And look! The AFC South contains my new favorite football teams. Teams listed in order of expected finish.
Indianapolis Colts – Nothing bad can be said about the Colts, really except that their offense will be dramatically affected by the departure of Edgerrin James, and Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy need to get a serious monkey off their back by performing in the postseason. Other than that, the Colts are clearly the premier team of the AFC South. A dominant passing attack will more than make up for the weakened ground game, and a good pressuring defensive line will make the rest of the defense look fantastic. The Colts will easily make the playoffs, but will struggle their because of their one dimensional offensive attack. At least they have excellent clutch kicker Adam Vinatieri instead of excellent head case Mike Vanderjagt on board.
Jacksonville Jaguars – The Jaguars aren’t really doing anyhting for me on offense, and I’m not sold on Byron Leftwich’s talent. The Jaguars are deep however, and they have a solid defense. That’s saying a lot more than what can be said for the Titans or the Texans, so really, the Jags are in second by default. I really wish I had more to say, but the Jaguars are an incredibly boring, faceless team.
Tennessee Titans – The Titans really have a deep corps of running backs. Travis Henry, local hometown hero from the University of Tennessee highlights this group. Then they have Chris Brown, who, despite his trade requests has helped carry this Titans team on his back. Some people even think that LenDale White, the rookie from USC is better than Reggie Bush in some situations. Their fourth string back is Jerret Payton, son of legend Walter Payton! But, you ask, why am I spending so much time talking about their running game? Because I almost started to cry when I looked at their awful aerial attack, the brutal defense or the fact that they only have 9 offensive linemen on their roster.
Houston Texans – The Texans, despite what Skip Bayless wants you to think, did an excellent job this summer in the draft. Reggie Bush would be wasted on the Texans, as he would be destroyed much like David Carr is already. The Texans needed help on the offensive line, not in the backfield, and though they also needed to plug several holes on defense. And that’s just what they did. They went after Mario Williams, the premier defensive end, and Demeco Ryans, a talented linebacker from Alabama. These are two players who can affect the game on their own, immediately. Reggie Bush needs an offensive line to run behind, and after four years of getting abused, would leave town anyways. So yes, Reggie Bush will be successful, but he wouldn’t have been in Houston. And in any case, the Texans are going to bad this year, but they may be better than Tennessee.
So the Colts are clearly the favorites here, and barring a disaster, they will easily reach the postseason. What they will do there is anyones guess. But are than that, the South will be shut out of playoff teams. Are the Rovers on?
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