NFL Preview: AFC South

Hey, it's the division that produced last year's Super Bowl champion. How will each team fare this year? I have no idea, but I'll give it a shot!

1. Indianapolis (11-5)
2. Jacksonville (8-8)
3. Houston (6-10)
4. Tennessee (5-11)

Indianapolis Colts: It's probably harder to repeat as champion in the NFL than it is in any other sport, so the Colts would've already been facing an uphill battle.

And that was before they lost key players like the retired Tariq Gleen (who has literally watched Peyton Manning's back for most of the QB's career), Dominic Rhodes (part of the two-headed running back combo who defected to the Raiders...fool!) slot receiver Brandon Stokely and Booger McFarland (who helped shore up that awful Colts defense last year.)

Ah yes, the defense. As was the case last year, their D (particularly their run defense) is going to KILL the Colts.

Still, they have the best QB in the league in Peyton Manning (sorry Mr. Brady, but you can take solace in being the handsomest QB in the league). Once again, they'll have a tough, first-place schedule, but I don't expect that to be a huge obstacle because they've won their division the past few years, so they ALWAYS get a tough first-place schedule. In the end, Manning (pictured, right) will make more funny commercials and the offense (Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Joseph Addai, Dallas Clark, rookie Anthony Gonzalez) is still good enough to help them win their division

Jacksonville Jaguars: This was one of the hardest teams to figure out last year, and also one of the most frustrating.

Actually, they weren't THAT hard to figure out. They beat good teams (Indy, Pittsburgh before they were out of it) and lost to bad ones (Houston…twice!)

They're also frustrating because they have, not one, but TWO competent QBs on their roster in Byron Leftwich and David Garrard (they even have a decent third stringer in Quinn Gray), not one, but TWO really good running backs in Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew (MoJo!), a GREAT defense and…why did this team miss the playoffs again?!

Oh yeah, they're a bunch of knuckleheads and, although coach Jack Del Rio (pictured, left) has a overall good reputation, I think management should maybe look his way when they're trying to figure out why the Jags go to sleep against terrible teams.

The QB situation is still not resolved. Leftwich is better, but Del Rio seems to favor Garrard. I expect another up and down year which ends with the Jags home for the playoffs.

Houston Texans: They've made colossal blunders in the past few drafts (passing on the likes of Vince Young and Reggie Bush), their offensive line has been notoriously bad (credited with the failure of former 1 pick David Carr in a Texans uniform) and they haven't ever sniffed the playoffs.

But I think there's hope. They have a good young coach in former Broncos assistant Gary Kubiak, who will be in his second year, which is generally the time when teams responds to a new offensive system.

They have talent on offense, led by wide receivers Andre Johnson and Andre Davis. Their running game is still suspect at best, but new QB Matt Schaub (who I REALLY like) should help open up the running game by hitting the two Andys.

There's also the defense, which I expect to help keep the team in and win some games this year, led by last year's defensive rookie of the year DeMeco Ryans (picture, right...some love for the linebacker!) and former 1 overall pick Mario Williams, who improved toward the end of last year. This year they drafted Amobi Okoye, a 20-year-old (unheard of in the NFL) phenom who could turn out to be better than all of them.

All that being said, the reason I expect Houston to NOT finish in last place is because the...

Tennessee Titans': ...season hinges completely, maybe more than any other team relies on ONE player, on Vince Young staying healthy.

For reasons known only to them they let RB Travis Henry go, they've got no notable talent at receiver, and their defense AND special teams took major hits thanks to the assorted antics of Hall of Fame moron Pacman Jones, who got himself suspended for the entire season. Now the Titans have to hope and pray he doesn't get injured "wrestling" or hanging outside of strip clubs

Even when they had Henry and Jones around last year, it was the Vince Young show as he went 8-5 as a starter and almost willed Tennessee into the playoffs.

Unfortunately, he decided it'd be a good idea to be the cover boy for Madden '08 (pictured, left). I mean, it's official now. As per the Madden Curse, something awful will happen to Vince Young this year. Even if his legs don't spontaneously fall off, he's almost guaranteed to, at the very least, not be as good as he was last year. Don't believe me? Just ask Marshall Faulk, Donovan McNabb, Daunte Culpepper and others. There's just no way around it. And the Titans will be helpless without him.

Oh well, there's always next year.