1. Houston
Texans
Remember that period of 4 years where people kept saying
that this was the year the Texans would final make the jump from an 8-8 team to
a playoff team? Well, last year was the finally the year—they won 10 games and
the weak AFC South outright, not to mention a playoff win. What made the run
even more remarkable—they started the season without star runningback Arian Foster, ended the season without
starting quarterback Matt Schaub,
lost all-world wide receiver Andre
Johnson for a large chunk in the middle, and were without defensive end Mario Williams for almost the entire year. Now
Williams got the big bucks and fled to Buffalo, but if the rest of these guys
can stay in one piece and play on the field at the same time…watch out, this
offense could be lethal. When he plays, Foster has been the best back in the
league for the past two seasons, and we all know how good Andre Johnson can be. Schaub just needs to be an adequate
QB and the offense will be very good if not great. On defense, this improved
unit did lose Mario Williams as well as linebacker Demeco Ryans, but star-in-the-making JJ Watt along with underrated Connor Barwin and Antonio Smith
should give this team an elite pass rush. The addition of Jonathan Joseph at corner last year finally provided some
resistance to the aerial attack and Kareem
Jackson opposite of him should only get better. O, and Brian Cushing is a straight up animal. For the Texans, this year is
all about staying healthy. If they can do that…all systems go baby. They play
in a weak division where they should beat both the Colts and Jags twice, can
they take the next step?
Projected Record: 11-5
2.
Tennessee
Titans
All things considered, the Titans flew very much under the
radar last season finishing 9-7 and remaining in the playoff hunt until the
final week of the season. They did so with Chris
Johnson performing at a very pedestrian level, losing #1 receiver Kenny Britt to a torn ACL in Week 2 of
the season, and an aging QB in Matt
Hasselback who surprisingly played his best football in a long time. CJ2K
(#jklol the jokes on you! Only rushed for 1047 yards!) has rededicated himself
this offseason and all reports say that he is in fantastic shape and looking like
the guy we saw in 2009 who rushed for over 2,000 yards. When healthy, Kenny
Britt has looked like a future star but will have to overcome the ACL injury
and also some off-the-field issues, which landed him with a suspension for week
one. The Titans will also go to their QB of the future in Jake Locker who looked fantastic in relief of Hasselback last
season but also had some hiccups this pre-season, which is to be expected of a
young signal caller. They also drafted speedster Kendall Wright to give Locker another weapon to utilize, and the
two seemed to develop some nice camaraderie in the pre-season The defensive
unit is stout, but will need to improve if they want to make the post-season,
they ranked 11th in yards per game and 8th in points
allowed. This season will likely rely on the arm of Locker and how well he
handles the starting role, if he can show he will be a part of this next wave
of great young QB’s, this team may just surprise people this year.
Projected Record: 9-7
3.
Indianapolis
Colts
Man, last year was brutal. A 2-14 finish confirmed just how
valuable Peyton Manning was to that team and organization. I mean don’t get me
wrong, I am as big as a Curtis Painter fan as the next guy, but wow, even I
didn’t think they were going to be THAT bad. The Colts will be in full fledged
rebuilding mode this year—that guy named Manning now plays for Denver, and that
guy named Luck will now look to start a new era of greatness at the QB
position, a position Manning held down at the absolute highest level for 13
years. No big deal, small shoes to fill. All reports said Luck was as good as
advertised and camp, and he looked like a five-year veteran this pre-season. I
remember watching him play and just saying damn, this kid is an absolute stud.
However, the Colts didn’t just lose Manning. Long staples of the franchise like
Joseph Addai, Jeff Saturday, Pierre
Garcon, Gary Brackett, and Dallas
Clark are all history. It’s an entirely new generation in Indy. Luckily
(<<see what I did there!!), they did hang onto Reggie Wayne, who should be ready for a big bounce-back season with
a capable QB throwing him the ball. They also drafted Luck’s favorite target
throughout his collegiate career in Coby
Fleener, with the hopes that they have already found the Manning-Clark
clone of a combo. Luck will be handing off to Donald Brown, who somehow managed a more than respectable 4.8 yards
a carry mark last season. He has never handled an every-down-back workload, but
he has showed some flashes of explosiveness in the pre-season. They also added
tackle Eric Winston to give Luck
some protection. Look, this team will have some MAJOR growing pains. The
defense will have those games where you will have to cover your eyes, but all
in all, this year will be a glimpse of the future, a glimpse of the most highly
touted quarterback to come out of college since his predecessor. I see this
season as maybe a 5 to 6 win season, but I also think they have the ability to
pull off one of those shockers where they pull a game out of their rear end—and
if that is the climax of the season, I think the Colts organization will be
perfectly happy with that.
Projected Record: 5-11
4.
Jacksonville
Jaguars
Yikes. Meet the NFL’s most putrid offense. Their only weapon
and without-a-doubt best player just completed a lengthy holdout and will be
limited to 3rd down duties to start the year, their quarterback was
a complete mess in his rookie season, and their #1 receiver is a rookie who
blew a .24 while in control of a motor vehicle this offseason #BadDecisionBin.
Seriously though, the glass isn’t just half empty for this team, it is pretty
much Sahara dry. Many of his own coaches and scouts around the league have
already proclaimed Blaine Gabbart to
be a complete dud. When that man is your starting quarterback…that’s never a
good sign. MJD’s holdout just
secured a miserable season for the Jags, and that holdout will probably subsequently
result in a down year for the NFL’s leading rusher last season. Just ask Chris
Johnson about that one! Remember in that movie Perfect Storm where they sailed through the eye of the mother load
of all storms, and then shit hit the fan and sunk their boat? That’s kind of
what I’m thinking for this team.
Projected Record: 2-14
Pj’s Picks
1.
Houston Texans
2.
Tennessee Titans
3.
Indianapolis Colts
4.
Jacksonville Jaguars
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