Latest Afc South Stories
Posted: Nov 16th 2009 10:57 AM ET by Dave Goldberg (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Chargers, Colts, Cowboys, Eagles, Patriots, AFC East, AFC South, NFC East, NFC North, NFL Coaching, NFL Analysis

What Bill Belichick did Sunday night has happened before. It justifiably earned Barry Switzer the nickname "Bozo The Coach'' for failing TWICE on fourth down in the late stages of a tie game. And the Eagles' Andy Reid did the opposite of the New England coach on Sunday, eschewing fourth-and-short twice to kick field goals in what turned out to be an eight-point loss.
Switzer's mistake didn't prevent Dallas from winning its third Super Bowl in four seasons in the early '90s, but it left Switzer at the top of the oft-debated list of worst coaches to win a title.
On Nov. 15, 1995, the Cowboys were playing in Philadelphia and faced a fourth down and 1 on their own 29 with the game tied 17-17 and just over two minutes left. Switzer decided to go for it and sent Emmitt Smith left over the massive Nate Newton.
Posted: Nov 15th 2009 6:05 PM ET by Matt Snyder (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Jaguars, Jets, AFC East, AFC South

After starting the season 3-0, including impressive victories at Houston and against New England, the
Jets have fallen flat on their collective faces. With a home loss to the
Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday -- a team that was previously 1-3 on the road -- the Jets have now lost four of their last five games. They've also lost their last three games at home, against the
Bills,
Dolphins and Jags.
Sunday, the Jets' problems emanated from losing the turnover battle (3-to-1), and their inability to stop
Maurice Jones-Drew. MJD gained 123 yards on 24 carries and also threw in 22 receiving yards for good measure.
Posted: Nov 15th 2009 5:35 PM ET by Matt Snyder (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Bills, Titans, AFC East, AFC South

The
Buffalo Bills and
Tennessee Titans entered the fourth quarter Sunday knotted at 17-all. Considering what happened in the last 15 minutes of the game,
Bills head coach Dick Jauron and his team might have been better served to leave early.
When the dust settled, the Bills headed home with a 41-17 loss. They were also likely saddled with nightmares involving Tennessee running back
Chris Johnson and the rejuvenated
Titans defense.
Posted: Nov 10th 2009 12:40 PM ET by Dan Graziano (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Texans, AFC South, NFL Analysis

Maybe
Texans coach Gary Kubiak was just doing the standard NFL coach non-answer thing. When asked yesterday about his team having interest in just-released
Chiefs malcontent RB
Larry Johnson, Kubiak hemmed and hawed, called Johnson "a good player" and said, "We'll take a look at him." And this might mean nothing, of course. Might mean Kubiak really can't say whether his team is interested, because maybe he doesn't want him but the owner does or vice-versa or something like that. If they do end up pursuing the guy, it won't help negotiations much if the coach is out front saying, "Yeah, we really want him." So Kubiak said basically what he's supposed to say, and reading too much into it is probably a mistake.
But regardless of what's really going on behind the scenes, and regardless of the muddle they have going on right now with
Ryan Moats playing on running downs and
Steve Slaton playing on passing downs or whatever they're trying to with their running backs, I think the Texans ought to take a pass on Larry Johnson. I think they have too much good stuff going on there right now to bring in his kinds of issues.
Posted: Nov 8th 2009 5:38 PM ET by Dan Graziano (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Colts, Texans, AFC South, NFL Quarterbacks, NFL Analysis

INDIANAPOLIS -- You expect the Colts to throw, and throw a lot, but even for
Peyton Manning and his band of merry, pass-happy men this was a little bit nuts. Indy ran nine plays -- eight of them passes -- in the first two minutes of the game, averaging one every 14 seconds, completely disregarding the play clock and leaving their star offensive players more than a little bit tuckered out.
"I wouldn't call it fun," said tight end
Dallas Clark, who caught 11 passes in the first half and 14 -- for 119 yards -- in the game. "When you run 60 plays in the first half, you're going to feel that on Wednesday and Thursday. But the win makes it feel a lot better."
Posted: Nov 5th 2009 7:15 PM ET by Matt Snyder (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Colts, AFC South, NFL Injuries

In what will surely be a big blow to the
Colts' very solid pass defense, Indianapolis starting cornerback
Marlin Jackson confirmed Thursday that
he has torn his ACL and will miss the rest of the season. The unfortunate injury reportedly occurred on the last play of Wednesday's practice -- it's the
second straight year that Jackson's suffered a season-ending ACL injury.
The timing is especially bad for the Colts, as they gear up to face the league's third-ranked passing attack this weekend, in the
Houston Texans. This also further jumbles the situation as to who will guard superstar wideout
Andre Johnson, considering
Kelvin Hayden is also banged up for the Colts.
The timing for Jackson is actually worse than it is for his team. He's scheduled to be a free agent at the conclusion of the 2009-2010 season and he likely won't be healthy enough to prove himself until most teams will have filled their most pressing depth chart needs.
Posted: Nov 3rd 2009 4:30 PM ET by Matt Snyder (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Colts, AFC South

Much has been made about the
Indianapolis Colts and their 7-0 start. As
I pointed out in the power rankings, they are actually 82-21 in the regular season since the beginning of 2003. They are an absolute juggernaut. Thus far this season, we've heard lots of talk about how
Peyton Manning looks better than ever and the
Colts are firing on all cylinders. This week, we're bound to hear a lot about how the Colts are the biggest test yet for a
Houston Texans team looking to visit the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
The funny thing is, in a movement worthy of Bizarro-World status, the
Texans are actually the first big test for the Colts.
Posted: Nov 3rd 2009 8:48 AM ET by JJ Cooper (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Titans, AFC South

Vince Young did everything he needed to do on Sunday to stake a claim to the
Titans' starting job for the rest of the season, but did he really do anything to show he should be around in 2010 and beyond?
Young clearly gave the Titans a spark. In the most important stat of all, Young is 1-0 this season as a starter while
Kerry Collins is 0-6. The inaccuracy that has plagued Young in the past wasn't visible. Young arguably had two bad passes all game, and only one of those -- a near interception on a deep ball to
Justin Gage -- was a true mistake.
But before people start annointing Young as the Titans quarterback of the future again, it's worth noting that Young was 15-of-18 for only 125 yards, and almost all of his passes were of the dump-off variety.