I've almost made my way around the country to this point, with tomorrow being the final region of the country I have to focus on. Today, meanwhile, I'm moving on to the AFC South.
As another reminder with just three days left, you still have time to get in on the action of picking NFL games against the spread. Adam Quinn and I return our weekly feature of picking games on here, and Adam seeks to defend his 2015 title. You can join us in this endeavor at our ESPN Pigskin Pick 'Em group.
Let's get to the predictions.
AFC South
Common opponents on schedule: AFC West, NFC North
2015: 8-8 (2nd), missed playoffs
Andrew Luck missed more than half the season due to various injuries, but he's back and healthy, and with him leading the Colts' offense, Indy should be the favorite in the division once again. He's got some decent weapons in T.Y. Hilton and Frank Gore, but there are multiple injury questions on the offense. The defense isn't bad, with a decent linebacking corps and Vontae Davis leading the secondary. Really though, Luck's presence should be enough for Indy.
2016 Prediction: 11-5
2015: 9-7 (1st), lost in AFC Wild Card Round
Houston may have its offensive issues solved. Brock Osweiler is a bit of a wild card, but he played all right in Denver last season, and he has some good weapons around him in DeAndre Hopkins and Lamar Miller so he doesn't have to be a miracle worker. The defense is excellent, but J.J. Watt's status is uncertain following back surgery. He won't miss the whole season, but it may end up costing Houston its defense of the division title.
2016 Prediction: 10-6, Wild Card
2015: 3-13 (4th), missed playoffs
My old editor from now-defunct (but switched over to The Read-Optional) UKEndZone Ollie Connolly wrote a nice piece about Marcus Mariota in one of his new roles as a football writer and gives me some optimism for this pick. I don't like their passing game a ton just because I'm not sold on the receivers, but the run game should be excellent with Derrick Henry and DeMarco Murray forming a two headed monster. Given Mike Mularkey's desire to run the football, this isn't a bad thing. That ball control will take some pressure off their defense, which I'm not crazy about, but it shouldn't be a complete sieve. Tennessee will be better, but not that much.
2016 Prediction: 6-10
2015: 5-11 (3rd), missed playoffs
Blake Bortles was pretty good last year, and this is going to help the Jaguars out especially since Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns are one of the better 1-2 punches in the league. I'm just not totally sold on the defense, since Gus Bradley has had a couple years to get this team off the ground and it hasn't really happened yet. He's going to have to get them going this year, or he's going to be looking for work, and I can't say I would be surprised if that's exactly what happens.
2016 Prediction: 5-11
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