2020 NFL Preview

 

Fear not, Confessions of a Sportscaster is back from hiatus!

The COVID-19 pandemic threw a huge monkey wrench into the world of sports that... I'm still not totally over. I kind of feel bad that I haven't written anything since feeling compelled to address a race issue on North Central's campus, but for a long time there wasn't anything to watch except for old sporting events. Then the NBA and NHL set up some bubbles and got started, which I took in some of.

But now the NFL season is upon us, and by some miracle (and largely timing of everything) the season appears to be going on as planned, with the only difference being a ton of empty stadiums for the time being.

So it's time to get back into the swing of things. With the college football season largely in shambles even though some FBS conferences are playing on as if nothing is happening, this means we won't see a 2020 Death to the BCS Playoffs, though I still have to simulate through the 2019 iteration. I have ideas for a pseudo-Tournament of Champions for the Death to the BCS Playoffs of the past that, time permitting, I may try to undertake. But more importantly... the COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em contest is back for its ninth season as I try to maintain even year magic and retake my crown from Adam.

So with that in mind, I need to power through some NFL previews. Last year I condensed the eight posts, one for each division, down to two. This year I'm cutting it down to one and cutting back because I haven't paid a ton of attention to preseason training camps, and without preseason games or anything, it's hard to get a read on some things. But even so, I'm willing to put my neck out there and make predictions that almost certainly will go wrong.

2019 AFC Preview

We're just two days away from the start of the 100th NFL season, which means I have to finish up my preview series!

Yesterday I tackled the NFC as I condensed everything down for this season into two posts instead of eight. As I've done in years past, I will still do a little bit of a dive into each team along with my prediction for their season. At the end I will reveal my full playoff picture for the AFC.

You also have a couple days to get into the annual Confessions of a Sportscaster Pigskin Pick 'Em contest! Adam and I are renewing this feature for its sixth year (eighth overall going back to the origins of this), so check back here every week for our picks against the spread!

Without further ado or shameless plugging, let's look at the AFC.

2018 AFC South Preview

Happy Friday! We're onto the second half of my series of NFL previews and beginning the second thousand posts here at Confessions of a Sportscaster!

So far I've covered the North and West divisions in my circle around the country, and we're working through the South now before finishing up out east.

Continuing with my pattern of alternating conferences, we're back in the AFC today as we look at its South division.

2017 AFC South Preview

Happy Labor Day! Come celebrate with another NFL division preview!

I took a break over the weekend, and in the interim I'll be back with a look at college football in the morning, but for now, we're continuing our trip around the country going division by division to preview the entire league. So far, one wild card in each conference has been claimed. We'll see if the second AFC one goes today or not.

With three days until the season starts, you're almost out of time to join in the fun of picking games against the spread. Adam Quinn and I will be doing this weekly, and you can compete against us here.

Without further ado, here are today's predictions.

2016 AFC South Preview

Happy Labor Day! I don't take a ton of holidays when it comes to previews and posts like this, just because sports continue on on holidays. The NFL season is also just three days away. Good thing I only have three more division previews to get to.

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.

2015 AFC South Preview

Another day, another NFL preview. Today we're on to the AFC South. This is probably a better division than the NFC version, but there are some bad teams in the mix in this one.

If you want to read some more in-depth previews for the NFL, you can go check out UKEndZone, where I will once again be contributing this season in addition to my duties here. You can also pick the results of NFL games against the spread with me and Adam in our annual ESPN Pigskin Pick 'Em contest. It's free to join, and while I can't offer anything tangible in the way of reward, bragging rights are fun, too.

Let's take a look at the AFC South.

AFC South

Common opponents on schedule: AFC East, NFC South

1. Indianapolis Colts
2014: 11-5 (1st), lost in AFC Championship Game
The Colts have just gotten better and better since Andrew Luck came to town. In each of the last three seasons, they have improved their position and gotten a step further than the year before. This year, Luck has a definite #2 receiver in Andre Johnson to take pressure off of last year's breakout star in T.Y. Hilton. Adding Frank Gore is a definite improvement on the ground as well, so the Colts will score plenty of points. I think their defense is good enough as well to hold their own. We're looking at a team on the verge of elite status if not already there, and one who will be in contention to play in February.
2015 Prediction: 12-4

2. Houston Texans
2014: 9-7 (2nd), missed playoffs 
Houston's offense is a bit of a question mark. Brian Hoyer is who he is at this point: an average quarterback, though he's got some decent weapons. DeAndre Hopkins and Cecil Shorts are okay at wideout, and I'm not sure what's going to happen at running back with Arian Foster rehabbing from surgery. This defense though... holy crap. I'm interested to see what will happen with Jadeveon Clowney now that he's healthy again, Vince Wilfork is a phenomenal nose tackle, the secondary is pretty good... and they have the best defensive player in the game in J.J. Watt. We'll see this team in January, and they might surprise some people if Hoyer can play well enough.
2015 Prediction: 10-6, Wild Card

3. Tennessee Titans
2014: 2-14 (4th), missed playoffs 
Full disclosure: I think I like Marcus Mariota more than I do Jameis Winston. Winston has the better weapons, but I think I prefer Mariota's raw talent. He's going to have a rough go of it during his rookie year, though. His best weapon might be Bishop Sankey, and when that's the case, it's not good. Their defense is decent though, with a healthy Brian Orakpo leading the way. I just don't think they have enough talent yet to compete, though Mariota is a good start.
2015 Prediction: 4-12

4. Jacksonville Jaguars
2014:3-13 (3rd), missed playoffs
I think Blake Bortles will probably be a decent long-term answer at quarterback for the struggling Jaguars, but he's only going into his sophomore season and doesn't have the best of weapons. The run game is decent, but not great, and even if he's healthy, Julius Thomas will see a downgrade after catching passes from Peyton Manning the last couple years. I'm also not really sold on their defense as a whole. This is a team that has been in flux and near the bottom for quite a while, and I really don't see anything that will change that for 2015.
2015 Prediction: 3-13

This is it for NFL previews for a day or so. Tuesday is the designated day to look at college football schedules, so I will take a break for a day to look at those, and I will be back on Wednesday with a look at the NFC West.

AFC South Preview

We're almost here! I've been kind of anxious for the NFL season to get underway for a while now. I've been wanting to get to preparing for another college football playoff, a process that starts Tuesday, but I'm just as excited for the pro level to begin.

Like in previous years, I'm going division by division to preview how I think teams are going to finish the 2014 campaign. Like last year, I'm ending with the division of the defending champ, so the NFC West will pop up next week.

Also this year, I will be renewing the COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em, and I will be re-instituting picking with a guest writer. He's been excited to join in on this since during the season last year, and I'm excited to have him.

So without further ado, let's dive into the previews, starting with the AFC South.

Common opponents: AFC North, NFC East

1.  Indianapolis Colts
2013: 11-5 (1st), lost in AFC Divisional Round
The schedule gets tougher for this year's Colts after they reclaimed ownership of the division last year. To me for this year, the bigger issue is the offensive line, and how well they do protecting third-year star Andrew Luck. Luck has good weapons at receiver again this year, but I wonder about his running game too. Will Trent Richardson bounce back from an awful year last year? And what about the defense? They've gotten away with it the past couple years in terms of getting to the postseason, but will they hold up against the attacks of teams like Philly, Denver and New England? I think given their overall schedule, they'll be fine.
2014 Prediction: 11-5

2. Houston Texans
2013: 2-14 (4th), missed playoffs
One of the biggest goofs I made last year? Picking the Texans to repeat as division champs. For whatever reason, Matt Schaub turned into a pick-6 machine and Houston couldn't really stop anything. They shored up their defense in the offseason, including drafting Jadeveon Clowney to line up opposite JJ Watt, which is terrifying. Facing a last place schedule, they have some very winnable games. Bill O'Brien proved he's a good coach during his stint at Penn State. But can he get Ryan Fitzpatrick back to the level he was at a few years ago when he got that big contract from Buffalo? If he does, the Texans might contend for a wild card.
2014 Prediction: 7-9

3. Tennessee Titans
2013: 7-9 (2nd), missed playoffs
The keys to the Titan offense have officially been passed to Jake Locker. Looking at his stats, he's actually been a bit better than I would have thought. They made a change at running back too, with Shonn Greene taking over the starting running back role with the departure of Chris Johnson. I'm not too sold on their receiving corps, with Nate Washington as the #1 guy. Defensively, I'm not really sold on these guys either. And Tennessee isn't playing New England, so the Bernard Karmell Pollard curse isn't a factor.
2014 Prediction: 5-11

4. Jacksonville Jaguars
2013: 4-12 (3rd), missed playoffs
This team was bad last year (remember, they were 27.5 point dogs at Denver last year). The advantage of being so bad? They potentially have their franchise quarterback now in Blake Bortles, though we said that about Blaine Gabbert too. Problem is, their starting running back is Toby Gerhart, though he was a good backup to Adrian Peterson in Minnesota. Meanwhile, this is a bad defense that really didn't do a lot to improve. They're on the right track as long as Bortles develops well, but they're not going anywhere this year.
2014 Prediction: 4-12

I'm back to work tomorrow, and I'll switch conferences over to the NFC South.

AFC South Preview

It's rare that I post on a Saturday lately, but in order to make sure that I get everything posted on time for this season, I have to scramble and post today and tomorrow as well as into this next week. College football might also prompt a couple posts on Thursday. We'll see.

As for today, I'm looking into the AFC South, which should be one of the more fun divisions this season. Maybe not to the same extent as it was last year, but it will be a fun battle for the top. And probably also a fun battle for the bottom.

Common opponents on schedule: AFC West, NFC West

1.  Houston Texans
Last year: 12-4 (1st), lost in AFC Divisional Round
The offense largely stood pat, which in the grand scheme of things isn't necessarily a bad thing. As long as Arian Foster can keep putting up good numbers, it takes pressure off Matt Schaub, who is a really good, but not great, quarterback. The defense though... even though he's old, when you add Ed Reed to your secondary you're in good shape. It only helps a defense already anchored by J.J. Watt. People like him are why I didn't play football in high school (and I mean that out of utter respect for his physical skills. Dude's an athletic freak.)
2013 Prediction: 12-4

2. Indianapolis Colts
Last year: 11-5 (2nd), lost in AFC Wild Card
The Colts were the big surprise of the 2012 season, becoming a major storyline with head coach Chuck Pagano being diagnosed with leukemia during their bye week, seeing Bruce Arians fill in and then the Colts stepped it up for their ailing coach, winning games they had no business winning, with any appearances by Pagano or shaving of cheerleaders' heads at the 50 yard line between quarters serving as catalysts for #Chuckstrong magic. That kind of magic isn't something you will see every year, so there's bound to be at least some regression. I don't think there will be too much though; not with Andrew Luck under center. They'll still be good, just maybe not to the same degree.
2013 Prediction: 10-6, Wild Card

3. Tennessee Titans
Last year: 6-10 (3rd), missed playoffs
It's Year 3 of Jake Locker, who is still developing, but the team is his to run now with Matt Hasselbeck having moved on. Chris Johnson can help a little bit, but the question is whether Nate Washington and Kenny Britt If He Stays Healthy can be productive. Defensively... not impressed. The Titans don't play the Patriots, so Simmons doesn't have to worry about Bernard Karmell Pollard.
2013 Prediction: 5-11

4. Jacksonville Jaguars
Last year: 2-14 (4th), missed playoffs
I think they're certainly better than 2-14, if nothing else. Luke Joeckel will help solidify the offensive line, and Denard Robinson can certainly add an element of uncertainty to that offense, but this team isn't going to go anywhere with Blaine Gabbert at quarterback. Chad Henne would be a bit of an improvement, though it's certainly possible that Gabbert can improve in Year 3. I'm not counting on it though.
2013 Prediction: 3-13

Tomorrow is a rare Sunday where I'm not working, but I'll still have a preview post for you as we move to arguably the strongest division in the NFL.

AFC South Preview

For the NFC East preview, click here.
For the AFC East preview, click here.
For the NFC South preview, click here. 

Now that there's something to look forward to pertaining to the NFL season involving Confessions of a Sportscaster, let's get back to work on these previews. As we prepare for the final week of the preseason starting today, we're looking at the AFC South.

AFC South
Common opponents on schedule: AFC East, NFC North

1. Houston Texans
2011 Record: 10-6, lost in AFC Divisional round

The first playoff trip in franchise history was a relatively successful one in that they won their first ever playoff game before bowing out to Baltimore. It's something of a what-if team since they lost Matt Schaub for the playoffs, but the rest of the team more than made up for it. With a healthy Schaub back throwing to Andre Johnson and Owen Daniels while Arian Foster attacks the ground, the Texans are poised to build a mini-dynasty in the division while the Colts reload (see below). The defense also has some good weapons like J.J. Watt and Jonathan Joseph that will help Reliant Stadium host a playoff game for the second straight January.

2. Indianapolis Colts
2011 Record: 2-14, missed playoffs

I'm probably insane for thinking this, given the Colts are a year removed from their worst season in the 21st century, playing a rookie at quarterback (albeit arguably the most talented one fresh out of school since the last guy the Colts picked up in that situation (some Manning kid...), and switching to a 3-4 defense thus moving mainstays Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis to outside linebackers. But Andrew Luck still has decent weapons in Reggie Wayne and brought some teammates from Stanford. It's a tough schedule in this division, but with the 4th place schedule, the Colts could overachieve to 2nd but still have a losing record.

3. Jacksonville Jaguars
2011 Record: 5-11, missed playoffs

I flip-flopped between Tennessee and Jacksonville  here, ultimately deciding on Jacksonville for this spot because I'm not sold on Blaine Gabbert. He does have some good weapons in rookie Justin Blackmon and stud running back Maurice Jones-Drew. There's some decent personnel on defense as well, so I think they can offset any continued struggles by Gabbert. If he shows improvement in his second year, the Jaguars could threaten for 2nd place.

4. Tennessee Titans
2011 Record: 9-7, missed playoffs

The Titans will likely be relying on 2nd year man Jake Locker to run the offense, though I'm sure a lot of the work will fall to Chris Johnson, who I would assume can't possibly have as disappointing a year as he did last year following a holdout. There's some good personnel on defense, and they could overachieve to 2nd in the division above Indy and Jacksonville, but I'm just not sure I see it. For whatever reason I'm not sold on this team. It seemed to work out okay in thinking about the Cleveland Indians this season, but whether it will work here, I don't know.

We're finally at the halfway point of the previews. Look forward to the couple of games tonight before tomorrow's smorgasbord of preseason finales. Just one more week till the start of the regular season!