Indy Sports News

Indy Sports News

Week 12 could answer the question: Who wants to win the AFC South?

by

Kate Arhar
Senior Sports Editor AFC North and NFC South

By Kate Arhar // @ClvlndK8 

The AFC South division is one that has been hotly contested so far this season.

With the teams all hovering around the .500 mark, this week has them going head-to-head to see who can take over the top spot.

The Houston Texans took on the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday Night Football, while the Tennessee Titans will face the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at 4:05 pm EST.

While the outcome of these games won’t reveal the ultimate winner of the division, it could be the beginning of someone breaking away from the pack.

Houston Texans (7-4) vs Indianapolis Colts (6-5)
Thursday night’s game proved to be a battle of the quarterbacks as Deshaun Watson led his Texans to a 20-17 victory of Jacoby Brissett and the Colts. Watson threw for 298 yards with two touchdowns and one interception while Brissett struggled to get only 129 passing yards.
After the embarrassing 41-7 loss to the Ravens last week, the Texans absolutely had something to prove on both sides of the ball, and they did it in convincing fashion. Heck, the linebackers even showed up at the stadium decked out in Mortal Kombat gear to ensure everyone knew they were there to play and make a statement!
The bright spots for the Colts were in the ground game. Running back Jonathan Williams went over 100 yards with a touchdown and, while Brissett struggled to hit his receivers, he did manage to do some running of his own with a TD.
There was even the usual controversy regarding the officiating, some “bad” calls for penalties and a fumble that wasn’t a fumble. In the end, the Texans were victorious, which is all that will matter at the end of the season. But with just a game separating them in the standings, we can’t count the Colts out yet.
In their first meeting this season, back on September 19th, the Jaguars won with a 20-7 effort. The Titans struggled mightily as they began the season a weak 2-4. However, they’ve managed to turn things around and still have the playoffs in their sights.
The Jaguars are a 3 point underdog playing in Tennessee, which basically means it’s a “push.” It’s all going to come down to the play of the quarterbacks in the game as well.  Nick Foles put up decent numbers in his return last week – 296 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT – in their 13-33 loss to the Colts, but in my opinion, that was largely a failure by the Jacksonville defense to put up any kind of a fight.
The Titans will be starting QB Ryan Tannehill this time around, so don’t look for another 9-sack game from the Jaguars defense. They also gave up 264 rushing yards last week, so if the Titans can get Derrkic Henry going, they’ll be in good shape.  I look for this to be a game with more scoring on the ground than through the air.  30-17 Titans.

Talk NFL Football with Kate on Twitter // @ClvlndK8

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