NFL Divisional Previews – 2012 AFC South Betting Breakdown
The Houston Texans are the big favorite to win the AFC South and with good reason, as they have a legit QB while the Titans have a QB battle with Tim Hasselbeck and Jake Locker, the Jaguars have a 2nd year signal caller who struggled last season in Blaine Gabbert, and the Colts will be starting rookie Andrew Luck.
AFC South Team Pages
Houston
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Tennessee
Houston Texans
Odds To Win AFC South -400
Odds To Win Super Bowl 12-1
Houston was 10-6 last season and made the playoffs even though star WR Andre Johnson missed most of the season and QB Matt Schaub missed the last several games with an injury. If Johnson and Schaub can stay healthy Texas should have a great offense along with stud RB Adrian Foster. The defense lost Mario Williams to free agency, but they drafted Whitney Mercilus out of Illinois in the 1st round. Health will be the key in the Lone Star State this season and a big question is can their D played like they did last season when they ranked in the top 5 against the pass and the run?
Texans AFC South Prediction – I think the stars for the Texans will avoid the injury bug, for the most part, and Houston should not have a problem repeating as division champs.
Tennessee Titans
Odds To Win AFC South +450
Odds To Win Super Bowl 50-1
There are 2 big questions for the Titans heading into the season. Who will be the QB and was last season just a fluke for RB Chris Johnson. Hasselbeck and Locker are locked in a QB battle, but I think Hasselbeck will win the job again. The bigger issue is Johnson. After a long holdout to get a new contract he led the Titans to only the 31st ranked rushing offense in the league and he only had 4 TD. He needs to be the Johnson of old for the Titans to win the AFC South. WR Kendall Wright gives the Titans another solid WR option and they may need him to step up right away since Kenny Britt may not be ready for the regular season opener. On D the Titans were decent against the pass, but struggled against the run and that may hurt them again this season.
Titans AFC South Prediction – Johnson will not struggle out of the gates like last season and Tennessee will be good, but they will only finish around .500 and they will not make the playoffs. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Jacksonville Jaguars
Odds To Win AFC South +1500
Odds To Win Super Bowl 200-1
The Jags will start 2nd year QB Gabbert again and his struggles last season were not all his fault since Jacksonville had one of the worst WR corps in the league. They moved up in the draft to take WR Justin Blackmon and they signed free agent WR Laurent Robinson. Gabbert now has some weapons and that should take some pressure off RB Maurice Jones-Drew. They made some moves to improve a solid defense that ranked in the top 10 against the pass and run last season so if the Gabbert and the passing offense is solid the Jags may be a surprise this season.
Jaguars AFC South Prediction – I like Gabbert and I think the weapons he was given will vastly improve the passing game and I think the Jags will be the 2nd best team in the AFC South, but they will not win the division. However, a Wild Card is not out of the question.
Indianapolis Colts
Odds To Win AFC South +1200
Odds To Win Super Bowl 100-1
The Manning era is over in Indy and the Luck era begins. However, Manning was not the only player gone from the Colts, as C Jeff Saturday, TE Dallas Clark, and WR Pierre Garcon are also out. On top of that the Colts have a new offensive coordinator. RB Donald Brown will be counted on to carry the load at the RB position and he does not have much help. At least Luck has a re-signed WR Reggie Wayne and college buddy TE Coby Fleener, who Indy took in the 2nd round, to help him out on offense. The defense? They were decent against the pass, but ranked 29th against the run and that will hurt them again with Foster, Johnson, and Maurice-Drew in the same division.
Colts AFC South Prediction – I think Luck will have a good rookie season, but with the defense the Colts have they will still finish a few games under .500 and they will not come close to challenging for the AFC South crown.
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