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Colts Divisional Foes: AFC South Roundup
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Colts Divisional Foes: AFC South Roundup
in Out of Line 14.11.2018 04:32von panxing18 • | 154 Beiträge
With the Colts’ opening day matchup against the Bengals coming on Sunday Youth Anthony Walker Jersey , it made sense to have a look around the AFC South to get a look at what our divisional foes will be facing in the first four weeks of the season, and how they stack up. Let’s get to it.Tennessee TitansJim Brown-USA TODAY SportsI don’t know what to think about the Titans. For two seasons I’ve predicted that they would be the best team in the AFC South. They seem perched on the edge of relevance, but it took the abysmal performances of the Texans and Colts, as well as a fairly easy schedule to get them to a 9-7 record and a playoff berth. They’ll face a much tougher schedule this season and they cannot afford to falter early. After their week one road trip to Miami, they’ll come home to face Houston, before traveling to Jacksonville. They’ll end the first quarter of the season at home against the defending Super Bowl Champion Eagles. It is very conceivable that they could finish that stretch 1-3 and 2 games back in the division, which would make a tough climb for a pretty balanced, but ultimately unspectacular team.That fast start will be made even tougher by the fact that they have had several valuable contributors to the team, right tackle Jack Conklin, linebacker Brian Orakpo, and rookie first round pick Rashaan Evans, miss all or much of the preseason with injuries. They’ll need to hit the ground running, and injuries can significantly complicate that effort.Houston TexansShanna Lockwood-USA TODAY SportsThe Houston Texans are my pick to win the division. This is a team that was absolutely decimated by injuries last season, and has gotten a lot of serious players back in the offseason. J.J. Watt is back and healthy, and that counts for a lot. We are due for him to stick around for a little bit, and as much as I want to beat the Texans, watching Watt disrupt whole games on his own was really enjoyable, so I’d love to see one more season of him at his peak. Just not against the Colts. Whitney Mercilus is also back, and putting these guys up front to get after the passer means this is a scary defense.Perhaps most importantly for their team, second year passer Deshaun Watson looks to be fully back from his ACL tear. Watson is an electrifying player with game-changing ability, and although he found himself on the right side of a lot of possible turnover situations last season, and benefited from more than a little good fortune with some of his errant throws, overall he showed himself a dangerous playmaker who takes this team and offense to another level.The first quarter of the season looks like one that the Texans can be successful in. They’ll travel to Foxboro for their season opener against New England, and the head to face the Titans in Nashville, before a home game against the Giants. They’ll finish off the first quarter in Indianapolis against the Colts. They will likely be favored in all these games with the exception of the game against New England. However, getting wins against the Titans and Colts would give them a two-game lift in the division. If they could get out of this stretch 3-1 they would be thrilled.Jacksonville JaguarsDouglas DeFelice-USA TODAY SportsThe Jaguars are certainly a very talented team on the defensive side of the ball. They have got the football cognoscenti firmly behind them as a team that is right in their Super Bowl window and should be equipped to beat just about anyone they face.However, there are several questions that I have about this team that lead me to believe this won’t be quite the year many are expecting for the Jaguars.First Womens Nate Hairston Jersey , how do they plan to score points? The problem with this team is that they don’t have any real threats in the passing game. The loss of Marquis Lee was a big blow to a thin wide receiver corps, and Blake Bortles is not going to do all that well if he is throwing to All-Pro’s, let alone just a bunch of guys. Leonard Fournette cannot be the only offensive weapon on this team, and I am not sure they have any other reliable ones.Second, this is a team that stayed relatively healthy in the 2017 season. They didn’t lose key players to injury and they didn’t get killed by mistakes from their quarterback. With Watson and Luck both healthy in their division, the chances are high that they’ll find themselves in at least a couple shootouts, which bodes ill for Blake Bortles. You can only hide your quarterback for so long, and expecting another such injury free season for the defense is naive. It is too much to ask your defense to have another performance like 2017, but that is what it will take for this team to win games.The good news for them is that the first month is relatively winnable. They have a road game against the Giants before coming home for three straight against the Patriots, Titans, and Jets. Realistically, there is no reason they can’t come away with 4 wins here and start their season undefeated, but reason tells me they’re likely to lose at least one. Still, a 3-1 start would be something they could be pretty pleased with, so long as the Titans weren’t their one loss. For the last few minutes of the first quarter and all of the second, Washington's offense couldn't be stopped.Whether it was Alex Smith passing or Adrian Peterson and Chris Thompson running, the Redskins simply dominated Arizona up front and the 24-6 Washington victory on Sunday was even more dominant than that score would indicate."Our O-line set the tone early," Smith said, "especially with the way we were running the football. I mean, anytime you're moving the chains like that, it's easier to get into a rhythm and I thought we did that there in the first half."Washington had consecutive touchdown drives of 80, 73 and 92 yards to lead 21-0 at halftime.The first-half statistics were grossly one-sided.Washington outgained the Cardinals 261 yards to 36 and had a 22-2 advantage in first downs. The Redskins controlled the ball for 22:57 to Arizona's 7:03."That was about how you draw it up," Washington linebacker Ryan Kerrigan said. "I don't know how many snaps we played in the first half (14 for the Redskins defense), but it wasn't a lot. Kudos to our offense for keeping us off the field."Smith, acquired from Kansas City in the offseason, finished 21 of 30 for 255 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions in his Washington debut.Peterson rushed for 96 yards on 26 carries. Thompson gained 65 yards in just five attempts, and caught a 13-yard touchdown pass."I think any time you win on the road first game of the year http://www.thecoltsfootballauthentic.com/quincy-wilson-jersey-authentic , whenever you win on the road, you've got to say everybody played pretty darned well," coach Jay Gruden said. "Especially the quarterback and safety on defense, middle linebacker. I thought they all played extremely well."Here are some things to consider from Sunday's Redskins victory over Arizona.CHORUS OF BOOS: The Cardinals, in the debut of new coach Steve Wilks, were showered with boos from the home crowd as they left the field."We heard them booing," Arizona cornerback Patrick Peterson said. "I mean, we didn't give them nothing good to watch today."Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald agreed."They pay a lot of money," he said. "They work extremely hard to build up to buy those tickets and they expect to see good football and they didn't see that today. Next time we come back here, we owe it to them to perform a lot better and give them something to be happy about and cheer for."PETERSON'S MILESTONES: Adrian Peterson, with 96 yards rushing, moved past Marshall Faulk and Jim Brown into 10th on the NFL career yards rushing list with 12,372. He needs 368 to pass Tony Dorsett for ninth place.Peterson's 1-yard scoring run was his 100th career rushing touchdown, tying Faulk and Shaun Alexander for seventh on the career list.His performance came just two weeks after he signed with the Redskins."God has really gifted me with tremendous talent," Peterson said. "The Redskins saw that. Other teams had the opportunity, but for whatever reason, things didn't work out. They worked out the way they were supposed to. I was ready."JOHNSON'S DEAL: David Johnson was in no mood to talk about his new contract after what he considered a poor performance.Johnson signed a three-year extension Saturday night worth $39 million with $30 million guaranteed.He had a pair of good early runs but the team had to go away from the ground game after falling so far behind. Still, Johnson was very self-critical."We just couldn't get anything going," Johnson said. "I missed a couple holes and I didn't help out Sam (Bradford) with the blocking. I didn't play my best game."Johnson rushed for 37 yards on nine carries and caught five passes for 30 yards.REDSKINS 2-0? Washington took care of one issue by getting Gruden his first season-opening win as Redskins coach (in five tries).Now, the team will try to go 2-0 for the first time since 2011 when it plays its home opener against Indianapolis on Sunday."You guys kept reminding me all week about the thing, the 0-4 start," Gruden said. "Now it's time to put back-to-back games together. We have to play a tough Andrew Luck-led Colts team next week at home, and we have to do a better job for our home crowd."INJURIES: Washington lost a pair of wide receivers to ankle injuries, rookie Cam Sims and Trey Quinn. Arizona starting right tackle Andre Smith left with an elbow injury in the fourth quarter.
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