With week 5 of the NFL now in the books, early playoff pictures are starting to take form. With many teams you now have a glimpse of how they will look this season, and in the immediate future. It’s no different in the AFC South.
After looking good on paper the last several years, the Jacksonville Jaguars have finally translated that over to the field. They now lead the division with a 3-2 record, and a 1-1 division record. The Houston Texans sit at second after a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs with a 2-3 record, and a 1-1 division record. Not only did the Texans lose the game, they lost two of their defensive cornerstones in J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus. The Tennessee Titans land in third place with a 2-3 record and a 1-1 record. Finally, the Indianapolis Colts round the division out at 2-3 and no division games.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars have done a nice job limiting Blake Bortles this season. They’ve found success in running the football and having one of the better defenses in the NFL. This is exactly how they beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in week. Rookie runningback Leonard Fournette rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns. Bortles only had to attempt 14 passes. On the defensive side of the ball the Jaguars were able to come away with 5 interceptions. Tashaun Gipson had two.
Houston Texans
The Texans weren’t able to give the Kansas City Chiefs their first loss Sunday night, but they played a good game. What will hurt more than the loss for the Texans is losing J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus for the rest of the season. Will Fuller played in his second game coming back from injury, and continues to look better than ever. DeShaun Watson put up 5 touchdowns again for the second week in a roll.
Tennessee Titans
Ugly wouldn’t even begin to describe how bad this game was. The Dolphins won 16-10, but the score would have only been 10-6 if it wasn’t for the refs calling an incomplete pass a fumble. That should tell you how bad off the Tennessee Titans are without Marcus Mariota. Besides a long pass to Delanie Walker, that was called back for holding, this was a game of field position between two bad teams.
Indianapolis Colts
Although the Colts are still sitting at the bottom of the division, they’ve made up some ground with an overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers and a loss from the Texans and Titans. Rookie Marlon Mack came alive in this one averaging 10.1 yards a carry on 9 carries, and scoring a touchdown. The Colts will have a great opportunity to move up in the division Monday night when they take on the Tennessee Titans, especially if Marcus Mariota doesn’t play.