AFC stock reports: Playoff shuffle, Week 12 upsets, MVP, and NFL Draft
The AFC South might be the most exciting division in the AFC
It seems like every week, we are talking about a new division leader in the AFC South. That would be true as the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts have swapped places the last few weeks. During a crucial game on Thursday night between the two teams, the Texans came away with the victory winning 20-17 at home. Both teams were banged up. The two sides seemed to want to get out of there as fast as possible.
On Thursday night, the Texans and Colts combined for 63 rushing attempts. It came as no surprise that the Colts wanted to run the ball considering the injuries around the offense, including their starting quarterback not being fully healthy. Houston was likely the most surprising considering the performance that their playmakers put up with Will Fuller and DeAndre Hopkins, who combined for 234 yards and 2 touchdowns on 13 receptions.
Even when Indianapolis was trailing late in the game, head coach Frank Reich elected to run the ball 6 times on their final drive that included 10 plays. With only 2:49 seconds left in the game, Houston was able to keep the ball and run out the clock. It’s not like Jacoby Brissett was on top of his game coming back from injury, and his playmakers were less than ideal. T.Y. Hilton returned only to catch three passes for 18 yards while dropping two crucial third-down catches.
With the Texans deploying backups across the secondary, there’s no excuse for the performance by the Colts offense in the passing game. Houston signed cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III just one week before this matchup and deployed him against the Colts on Thursday. The team had only recently traded for cornerback Gareon Conley from the Raiders for a third-round pick as well. Houston’s secondary has been depleted in 2019, and Bill O’Brien has sought outside help to employ right away.
With the victory over the Colts, Houston jumps up to the third seed in the AFC while Indianapolis now sits from the outside looking in. The Pittsburgh Steelers snatched the sixth seed away from the Colts with a victory over the Cincinnati Bengals who now fall to 0-11. Even Oakland sits ahead of the Colts in the runner up section considering the win head to head earlier this season. Could this be the end of the line for the Colts in 2019 for a playoff opportunity? Are we even talking about the right teams in regards to the AFC South division?
Since quarterback Ryan Tannehill took over as the starter, the Tennessee Titans have won four out of five games. During that five-game stretch, Tannehill has thrown for 1,276 yards, 9 touchdowns, and 3 picks while rushing for 117 yards and 3 touchdowns. The most recent performance came against the Jacksonville Jaguars in which Tannehill rarely had to throw the ball, but when he did, he made it count. In Week 12, Tannehill threw the ball only 18 times, completing 14 passes or 259 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also carried the ball 7 times for 40 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Tannehill becomes the first Titans QB with 2+ passing touchdowns and 2+ rushing touchdowns in a single game since Steve McNair in 2001. Running back Derrick Henry lit up the Jaguars defense as well rushing 19 times for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Both touchdowns came within 20 seconds of each other. While the Texans and Colts are trading punches back and forth struggling to stay above water, Tennessee has been running toward a playoff birth sitting at 6-5. The only reason they haven’t surpassed the Colts (6-5) in the division is due to their 1-2 record inside the division that former quarterback Marcus Mariota put them in.