After a thrilling season, the NFL is officially over for another year. So, the team at SportsTips thought it would be a good idea to go through every team in the AFC South, and have a look at the year that was!
Houston Texans
Before the season even began, the Houston Texans were blemished by gross accusations against their star quarterback Deshaun Watson, who then ended up missing the entire season. It was a bad start that the Texans weren’t prepared for, as they had to platoon between Blake Mills and Tyrod Taylor, two quarterbacks who probably thought they’d be spending a majority of the season on the sideline.
Football 24/7 for The Smiths. pic.twitter.com/nquzQoVgcq
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) February 22, 2022
It also didn’t help that the team’s run attack underwhelmed, as Rex Burkhead was unable to strike much fear and veteran Mark Ingram only ended up playing seven games. Luckily the team got 1,000+ receiving yards from Brandin Cooks and saw linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill have a breakout year on defense.
Also with two wins against in-division rivals the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Texans were able to avoid last place, despite a 4-13 record. While those were just minor victories, the Texans will march forward in 2022 with veteran coach Lovie Smith, who just took over. Now, they’ll try to work their magic in the draft and on the market to try and build a contender for the future.
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts had one of the more frustrating seasons in football this year: they started 0-3, but as the season progressed they had a really strong November and December to put them in a playoff position. In the final week of the season, all they had to do was beat the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars and they were in the playoffs.
Unfortunately, that was easier said than done, as the Jags upset the Colts 11-26, denying them from making the postseason. Despite a brutal ending, the Colts have a lot to look forward to: Jonathan Taylor led the league in rushing with over 1,800 yards in just his second year and the Colts’ defense was second in takeaways, leading the league with 14 fumbles recovered.
Jonathan Taylor was good as a rookie.
He was MVP-caliber in year 2.
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) February 10, 2022
While they might’ve lost defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus to the Chicago Bears, don’t expect this defense to be hit too badly, as they didn’t rank particularly high in metrics such as pass yards and rush yards per game. While Eberfuls did a great job at developing these players, they should continue to be turnover creators without him.
Their biggest question mark is at quarterback, ever since Andrew Luck abruptly retired before the 2019 season, the team has had a hard time filling the void. Jacoby Brissett did a fine job in 2019, but the team missed the playoffs. Then, Phillip Rivers took over and led the team to the playoffs before they lost a close one to the Buffalo Bills.
After the 2020 season, Rivers retired and the Colts obtained Carson Wentz from the Philadelphia Eagles. While Wentz put up solid numbers (27 touchdowns, 7 interceptions), the team might be looking for someone with a little upside going forward. The team has almost all the right pieces, they just needed to start stronger and not choke with the season on the line.
Jacksonville Jaguars
For the Jacksonville Jaguars, what was supposed to be a new era turned into a complete mess. The team finished in last place and fired legendary college coach Urban Meyer after 13 games, as he went 2-11 with the team and was said to be “difficult” off the field.
This was not the start first overall pick Trevor Lawrence envisioned for his NFL career, as the college phenom from Clemson struggled, throwing 12 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. In Lawrence’s defense, he didn’t have a strong receiving core and with the dysfunction created by Meyer, he wasn’t in the ideal situation. Now that Meyer is gone, the team has brought in offensive mastermind Doug Pederson, to give Lawrence a second chance going forward.
Congratulations to @TonyBoselli, named a member of the @ProFootballHOF Class of 2022!#TimeForTony pic.twitter.com/RE5WFYjIfA
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) February 11, 2022
On the defensive side of the ball, the Jags weren’t particularly bad at allowing opposing yards. But they were the worst in the league at creating turnovers, recording only 9 takeaways, seldom giving Lawrence’s offense a good field position to start from. They’ll look to new defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell to better that metric going forward. Ultimately, Jacksonville will look forward to its new staff for a second chance to head in the right direction.
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans had an exceptional regular season: they went 12-5; Mike Vrabel won AP Coach of the Year; and they captured the one seed in the AFC. Even more impressive: they did it with a fair share of injuries. Derrick Henry—who is arguably the league’s best running back—missed over half the season with a broken foot.
In addition to Henry, wide receivers A.J. Brown and Julio Jones also missed multiple games—but the team didn’t use those injuries as an excuse. Vrabel relied on quarterback Ryan Tannehill to play efficient football and let his defense do the rest of the talking as that unit (led by All-Pro safety Kevin Byard), allowed the second least amount of rush yards per game, sitting only .1 per game behind the Baltimore Ravens for the league lead.
Enjoy 2 stiff arms from number 22 on the 22nd!#Twosday | @Titans | @KingHenry_2 pic.twitter.com/cbVdakereG
— NFL UK (@NFLUK) February 22, 2022
Despite their impressive regular season, the postseason didn’t quite go as planned: after a first-round bye, the Titans hosted the Cincinnati Bengals and fell 16-19 in the final seconds, resulting in their elimination from the playoffs.
Even more disheartening: the Titans got Henry back for that game, but his rustiness was apparent as he rushed 20 times for 62 yards. The fact that the Titans still nabbed the one seed despite that many injuries is still something to be proud of; next season, they’ll hope to keep everyone in top form to improve upon that 12-5 record and advance further in the playoffs.
Even though the season has finished, we’ve got you covered with all the latest information on the NFL! We keep you as up to date as possible, so you don’t miss any of the action this off-season.
