SUS Previews the AFC South

1. Indianapolis Colts

3 positives

1. Mastercard’s own Peyton Manning. Still good.

2. Dwight Freeney returns this year to help a team that was date raped with injuries last year to Freeney and Marvin Harrison among others.

3. Reggie Wayne is coming off of his best season where he had 104 catches for 1,510 yards and 10 touchdowns. As a Marvin Harrison fantasy owner, this annoyed me to no end.

3 Negatives

1. Marvin Harrison. Is he back? Is he still hurt? Is he going to jail for murder? Does he need a lawyer? The answer to all of these is maybe, probably not, hopefully not, and unfortunately (for me) not. But he’s still 36.

2. Starting center Jeff Saturday is going to miss a bunch of games to start the year. You don’t win friends with salad, and you don’t get past the Patriots with a backup center. But on a positive note, the backup center is Steve Justice. Who is this guy? I don’t know, but he’ll win the 2^nd annual Winston Justice “Justice has been served” award if Saturday isn’t back for the Patriots game.

3. Jared Lorenzen was cut by the Colts. From a pure football standpoint, this was a wise move. But as far as entertainment value goes, any Giant fan can tell their Indy counterparts that you haven’t lived until you’ve seen the Hefty Lefty convert a 3^rd and short.

Prediction:

The Colts are fairly banged up, but they still have the best regular season quarterback in the NFL, complimented by a great young running back in Joe Addai. The defense, led by Bob Sanders isn’t great, but does it have to be? They’ll make the playoffs again. And there’s a good chance they’ll lose to a less talented team in the playoffs. Again.
10-6. Loss at home in the first round to Jacksonville.

Jacksonville Jaguars

3 Positives

1. Not only is David Garrard settled as the Jacksonville QB, but there are two people who are not allowed into Jacksonville: Osama Bin Laden and Byron Leftwich.

2. Other than the Patriots, no team plays Peyton and the Colts tougher.

3. Fred Taylor, who earns props for going from King of the Groin Pulls to a potential Hall of Famer. Taylor is currently 17^th in the NFL in career rushing yards, and is roughly 700 yards away from moving up to 14^th on the list, easily attainable by season’s end.

3 Negatives

1. Wide Receivers. Troy Williamson, Reggie Williams, and Matt “Cocaine” Jones don’t keep opposing cornerbacks up at night. And for that matter neither does Jerry Porter, who was recently taken off of the PUP list but will still miss some games.

2. The Jaguars traded up in the draft to take Derrick Harvey with the 8^th pick in the first round. He also reported to training camp roughly 10 days ago. Ask Brady Quinn and seemingly every mid 90’s Giants first round pick how holding out of camp worked for them? And if you’re unable to reach Jarrod Bunch or Derek Brown, let me just answer for them that holding out began the end of their careers.

3. I and apparently the City of Jacksonville don’t care enough about this team to even include another negative here.

Prediction:

They’ll be good again this year. Much of the same team returns with a year of playoff experience under their belt. They’ll be good enough to participate in the annual Peyton Manning January collapse, but their run will end the same place as last year, Foxboro, Massachusetts. 10-6. Loss to New England in 2^nd round.

Houston Texans

3 Positives

1. Relax Houston, David Carr is in New York and apparently not going anywhere.

2. Remember when Vince Young, Reggie Bush, and Matt Leinart were going to redefine the NFL? Yeah, Mario Williams and his 14 sacks say hi.

3. Look, I don’t know if Dunta Robinson is any good, and as a Giants fan, I don't particularly care. But I do know that I love his name. Even if it’s pronounced Dante.

3 Negatives

1. Hey Giant fans, remember when Will Demps was our problem? Well say hello to Houston’s starting free safety!

2. Recently waived Tim Carter, AKA the most overrated Madden player ever. Actually, this is a positive for Houston, negative for me. For years my favorite Madden franchise project was turning him into a pro bowler.

3. Ahman Green was a very good running back 5 years ago. He stopped being a legit starting running back 3 years ago. He’s once again the Texans’ starting RB.

Prediction:

It took them long enough, but the Texans are actually inching towards respectability. With some improved drafting and shrewd free agent signings, Houston will earn its first playoff spot in franchise history. If they were in an easier division, they’d win it, but still no small feat for the newest franchise in the NFL. 9-7 1^st round playoff loss to San Diego.

Tennessee Titans

3 positives

1. Jeff Fisher continues to get the most out of his players and blah blah blah. But props for keeping an impressive ‘stache all these years.

2. Props to Tennessee’s best pick in the ’06 draft, Lendale White. He went to draft workouts overweight and seemed destined to be a bust, but is now the Titans starting running back and a legitimate #1 back.

3. Albert Haynesworth. When he’s not stomping out Cowboys, he’s putting up Pro Bowl numbers and has become one of the top 2 or 3 defensive tackles in the NFL.

3 Negatives

1. I’m just going to cut and paste this from above: Remember when Vince Young, Reggie Bush, and Matt Leinart were going to redefine the NFL? Yeah, Mario Williams and his 14 sacks say hi. Sure, VY may know how to “just win” games, but his QB numbers are amazingly average, and he has become Michael Vick at best.

2. Didn’t you used to be Jevon Kearse? I did a double take when looking at the Titan depth chart and saw this ex-Pro Bowler back at DE for Tennessee. Something tells me that if Philly thought he was worth keeping, they would have made the effort.

3. Hey Jet fans, remember Justin McCareins? Say hello to the #2 wide receiver in Tennessee. And while we’re here, shouldn’t Tennessee stop signing guys who were there for the glory years? Who do they think they are, the New Jersey Devils?

Prediction:
The prognosticators will call this the year that VY finally gets his shizz together and leads Tennessee to the promised land. They’ll be wrong. Maybe VY eventually becomes a productive NFL QB worthy of being the 3^rd draft pick in 2006. But not this year.
7-9.