The AFC South was the joke of the NFL all season long and that didn’t change in Week 18. However, it did highlight that there will be some big decisions that each of the four teams will have to make going forward. Let’s just say that a very interesting offseason awaits.
The Jags finished the job
New year, new Jaguars? That’s right. What a difference a year makes in Jacksonville. Last year, the Jags found themselves on the clock for the second straight year when the regular season ended. This season, they are preparing to host a playoff game at home thanks in large part to some competent people finally arriving in Duval. Doug Pederson has transformed this group and allowed Trevor Lawrence the ability to learn how to play quarterback in the NFL. The fans at TIAA Bank Field were loud and rowdy, cheering on the team they watched emerge from the cold, dark basement of the league. Even though it required a collapse for the ages from their counterparts in Tennessee, this magical season has a chance to continue well into the future. Maybe we shouldn’t have made so much fun of the offseason moves in Jacksonville. Apparently they are paying off quite nicely. Now we’ll see if they make a difference when the games matter even more. Congratulations on making the dance, Jags. Can you stick around?
Titans fork in the road moment
Much like the Jags, what a difference a year makes for the Titans. One year ago, Tennessee was the top seed in the AFC, armed with a couple of playmakers on offense and defense. They were approaching their last best chance to compete for a Super Bowl, but fell in the divisional round to the eventual AFC Champion Bengals. One year later, injuries came and conquered the team, age and bad decisions caught up, and the window has since suffered a broken chain, slamming shut. Now they’ll search for a new general manager and coaches for the staff on offense, but they cannot mask what is no longer in doubt. It’s time to blow up the roster and begin the rebuild. We could’ve argued that time was last year, but Tennessee chose to get started a year late, rather than a year early. At least the end game is no longer in doubt. Prepare for a wild offseason in Nashvegas. Hopefully they’ll be able to field a good team by the time their new stadium opens. Until then, Titans fans can still celebrate the fact that they live in Tennessee, enjoying all that downtown Nashville has to offer.
Masterful Colts’ tank job
It would be easy to look back on last year for the Colts like we did for the two previous teams, but that would just be cruel. Instead, we’ll look back on preseason expectations, not because that’s better, but we have to start somewhere. Back in August, Indianapolis was viewed as a potential Super Bowl contender, a sure fire playoff team at worst. Unfortunately, even the worst possible outcome was surpassed. Matt Ryan was a disaster, Frank Reich was, for some reason, fired for general manager Chris Ballard’s inability to find a successor to Andrew Luck. Then Jim Irsay hired Jeff Saturday right out of the ESPN studios for what we could assume was only one reason. To lose as much as possible. That’s the only logical explanation at least. If that was the goal then it was mission accomplished. The Colts will select fourth overall in April’s draft and hope they can put an end to their prolonged quarterback nightmare. Time will tell, but a disgraceful season is finally over in Indianapolis.
The Texans can’t do anything right
The Texans were bad last year and managed to be bad again this year. They fired another coach after only one season. On the bright side, they can finally hire Josh McCown to be the head coach after pretending for the last two years they didn’t bring him in due to “lack of experience.” Houston also ruined their chance to own the first overall pick, so it only goes from bad to worse for arguably the NFL’s most irrelevant franchise.