Perhaps no division in the NFL enters the 2021 season with more uncertainty than the AFC South. Two of its teams — the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Indianapolis Colts — will have new starting quarterbacks this season (and a third could, as well, depending on how the Deshaun Watson situation plays out in Houston).
The division put two teams into the expanded playoff last year, but now only the Tennessee Titans will maintain a lot of continuity as the Colts replace the retiring Phillip Rivers with Carson Wentz, though they maintain a strong supporting cast.
Considering the Jaguars are a young team coming off a 1-15 season and the Texans are widely considered to have the worst roster in football, it shouldn’t be too surprising that the division ranks low on CBS Sports’ divisional power rankings. Only one division — the NFC East, whose champion had a losing record last season — ranks below the AFC South. Here’s John Breech’s take.
This might be the most top heavy division in the NFL this year. On one hand, you have the Colts and Titans, who should both be playoff contenders. On the other hand, you have the Jaguars and Texans, who might end up finishing the season with the two worst records in football.
Right now, Houston is a total disaster. The team has a quarterback who doesn’t want to play for them, but they can’t trade him due to his legal issues. With Deshaun Watson’s status up in the air, the Texans will likely be turning things over to Tyrod Taylor at quarterback. In Jacksonville, the Jags should be better — because it’s not possible to get much worse after a 1-15 season — but with a rookie quarterback and first-year coach in Urban Meyer, this doesn’t feel like a team that really has a chance to finish the season above .500.
Although the Titans and Colts are both expected to be good this year, this division could end up as the worst one in football if either of those teams falter, which isn’t completely out of the question. The Colts have no idea what they’ll be getting in Carson Wentz and the Titans defense will need to be better than it was last year.
AFC South out-of-division record in 2020: 15-25 (8-8 vs. NFC North, 2-14 vs. AFC North, 3-1 vs. AFC East, 2-2 vs. AFC West)
2021 out-of-division schedule: Four games vs. NFC West and AFC East (one game vs. NFC South)
Though the Jaguars aren’t expected to have the worst record in the league again in 2021, most of the national media doesn’t expect them to perform much better despite a busy offseason that saw a number of positional upgrades.
If the Jags are in the ballpark of .500 and can compete for one of the three wild card spots, at least into the latter half of the season, this ranking will probably move up. But for the time being, it seems to be Tennessee’s division to lose with the Colts close behind and everyone else way in the dust.