Category Archives: AFC South

2012 NFL Team Preview: Jacksonville Jaguars

If you’re not a Jacksonville Jaguars fan, you probably don’t know who the man is on the right. He is not a Persian Ron Jeremy impersonator, he’s the Jaguars new owner, Shahid Khan. He currently has a big problem with his team, their starting running back Maurice Jones-Drew is holding out and it’s getting ugly.

Take five seconds and look at the Jacksonville roster…I’ll wait. Why are the Jaguars not paying MJD?! He’s the only player on offense who has ever had elite productivity and would account for over half of their total offense in 2012.

In 2011, Jacksonville was last in the league in passing yards. QB Blaine Gabbert had a rough rookie season and only completed 50.8% of his passes. They brought in QB Chad Henne to help spark the passing game if he struggles. What should they expect from Gabbert this season?

Here is our 2012 team preview for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

2011 Win/Loss Record: 5-11

Key Additions: QB Chad Henne, WR Justin Blackmon, CB Aaron Ross, DE Andre Branch, CB Reggie Corner, WR Laurent Robinson, QB Jordan Palmer, P Bryan Anger, LB Brandon Marshall and CB Mike Harris.

Key Losses: QB Luke McCown, WR Mike Sims-Walker and DT Lege Douzable.

Non-Division Schedule: AFC East and NFC North

Fantasy Sleeper: WR Cecil Shorts – The Jaguars are looking to open the playbook for Blaine Gabbert in 2012. Mike Thomas led the receivers in receptions last season and the addition of Justin Blackmon is huge for Gabbert’s development. The #3 and #4 spots are open to win during training camp. Shorts, Laurent Robinson, Brian Robiskie, and Chastin West will be battling for those two spots. Shorts only had two receptions last season, but he as a lot of speed. Gabbert is still a work in progress and any wide receiver other than Thomas or Blackmon will be a risky gamble.

Team Analysis: Jacksonville must find a way to get Jones-Drew into camp and on the field. They can’t afford to be without him. When a running back misses training camp, they never have great years. Two examples come to mind, Larry Johnson with Kansas City a few years ago and Chris Johnson with Tennessee last season. Gabbert will need him as safety net when he checks down on passing plays. If he fails to put up decent passing numbers, the crowd may start to turn on him. Jacksonville’s defense was the only reason why the team won fives games last season. They come back with basically the same squad that ended the season in the top-10 in both opposing passing and opposing rushing yards. Paul Posluszny anchors the defense with Jeremy Mincey pressuring the quarterback. They face a tougher schedule this season and their defense will be tested by elite quarterbacks. The best case scenario for Jacksonville would be matching their win total from last season, that’s if Jones-Drew arrives in camp this week. Worse case scenario would be if Jones-Drew’s holdout carries into the regular season and they win two or three games. They are lucky the Colts are in their division and will not end up in last place.

2012 Wins Over/Under Line: 5 (Prediction: UNDER)

2012 Projected Win/Loss Record: 4-12

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2012 NFL Team Preview: Indianapolis Colts

What a difference a year makes. The Colts were expected to still be a playoff team in 2011, even with Peyton Manning missing a ‘few games.’ Well, he went on to miss the entire season, Indianapolis received nothing from the quarterback position and finished with a 2-14 record.

The Indianapolis Colts have many question marks going into the 2012 season. They are just at the beginning of the rebuilding process and fans will have to endure another bad season. Arguably, this season won’t hurt as bad since Kerry Collins won’t out there fumbling their happiness away.

There are a slew of new faces in Indianapolis this year. Forget about Luck, new head coach Chuck Pagano and new offensive coordinator Bruce Arians are the two new guys who will make the biggest impact in 2012.

Here is our 2012 NFL team preview for the Indianapolis Colts.

2011 Win/Loss Record: 2-14

Key Additions: QB Andrew Luck, RB Mewelde Moore, WR Donnie Avery, S Tom Zbikowski, C Samson Satele, DT Cory Redding, CB Justin King, C Mike McGlynn, DT Brandon McKinney, WR T.Y. Hilton, TE Colby Fleener, TE Dwayne Allen, DT Josh Chapman, OG Zane Taylor, RB Vick Ballard and WR LaVon Brazill.

Key Losses: QB Peyton Manning, RB Joseph Addai, LB Gary Brackett, S Melvin Bullitt, TE Dallas Clark, QB Kerry Collins, WR Pierre Garcon, WR Anthony Gonzalez, CB Jacob Lacey, WR Blair White, QB Dan Orlovsky, QB Curtis Painter, C Jeff Saturday, TE Jacob Tamme, LB Phillip Wheeler, DE Jamaal Anderson, OG Ryan Diem, DT Eric Foster, OG Mike Pollack, OG Jamey Richard, LB Ernie Sims and Brody Eldridge.

Non-Division Schedule: AFC East and NFC North

Fantasy Sleeper: RB Delone Carter – The starting running back job is up for grabs in Indianapolis. Joseph Addai is gone and they will need either Donald Brown, Vick Ballard or Delone Carter to shine during training camp. Brown is the front-runner for the job. If he gets it, Carter should get plenty of goal-line carries. He is currently the front-runner to be the third-down back. I almost picked Ballard for the sleeper, since he has the same build as Carter. If Carter is taken in your fantasy football draft, WR T.Y. Hilton is a nice deep sleeper. WR Donnie Avery is already banged up in training camp and he has left an opening for a receiver to shine.

Team Analysis: Just look at the list of guys who have arrived or left this organization in the last five months. It will take a few weeks just for these guys to know their teammates’ names. Andrew Luck will have a productive, yet humbling rookie season. He will not have Cam Newton’s numbers, but will end the season better than he was when he arrived at training camp. The receiving corps will help him out a lot. Just by having his old college teammate Colby Fleener out there will help Luck feel more comfortable. The running game was horrible last year and does not appear to be improved this season either. Donald Brown could go from ‘draft bust’ to ‘late bloomer’ with a good season. The Colts’ defense is a complete crapshoot. There are so many new faces and young players expected to contribute, they are bound to look bad at times. The coaches hope the learning curve is small for the young players and guys like Pat Angerer can keep improving. Indianapolis will be bad this season, but they will be watchable…something you could not say last season.

2012 Wins Over/Under Line: 5 (Prediction: UNDER)

2012 Projected Win/Loss Record: 3-13

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A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

2012 NFL Team Preview: Houston Texans

The Houston Texans backed into the playoffs last season and lost QB Matt Schaub in the process. T.J. Yates and Jake Delhomme filled in at quarterback, but could only get them into the second round of the playoffs.

Arian Foster and Ben Tate are back to lead the ground attack, but two important pieces are not back in 2012, DE Mario Williams and LB DeMeco Ryans. In 2011, the Texans were top-5 in both areas of defense. With the emergence of J.J. Watt and Connor Barwin, Williams and Ryans became expendable.

Is Houston a Super Bowl contender? Here is our 2012 NFL team preview for the Houston Texans.

2011 Win/Loss Record: 10-6

Key Additions: LB Bradie James, RB Justin Forsett, CB Alan Ball, P Donnie James, FB Moran Norris, DE Whitney Mercilus, WR DeVier Posey, OG Brandon Brooks, C Ben Jones, WR Keshawn Martin and DE Jared Crick.

Key Losses: DE Mario Williams, LB DeMeco Ryans, OT Eric Winston, QB Matt Leinart, K Neil Rackers, RB Derrick Ward, FB Lawrence Vickers, TE Joel Dressen, CB Jason Allen, QB Jack Delhomme, C Chris Myers and Matt Turk.

Non-Division Schedule: AFC East and NFC North

Fantasy Sleeper: WR Keshawn Martin – Jacoby Jones is no longer on the Texans and Martin will be taking over as their return specialist. He will not be in that role exclusively. He should play in the slot position or take over the 3rd wide receiver position if DeVier Posey has a rough training camp. Martin has even seen time with the first team during Texans training camp while Johnson is out with an injured groin.

Team Analysis: Let’s be real, it isn’t going to take much to win the AFC South. Indianapolis and Jacksonville are both really bad and Tennessee overachieved in 2011. The Texans could end up winning this division with an 8-8 record, but they are better than that. Schaub does have durability issues, but Foster and Tate are more than reliable if called upon to carry 40+ times combined in a game. On defense, they will miss the leadership from Williams and Ryans. The squad will be solid, but not outstanding. I like rookie Jared Crick to be a surprise this season. He will fit well next to Watt and Barwin. I loved him at Nebraska and was a steal as a fourth-round draft pick. Houston will win the division, but Schaub and Johnson will need to stay healthy for the entire year if they have any Super Bowl aspirations.

2012 Wins Over/Under Line: 9.5 (Prediction: OVER)

2012 Projected Win/Loss Record: 10-6

CLICK HERE to read the rest of our 2012 NFL Team Previews

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.