AFC South Review: Week 14

By Joanne Kong

Twitter: @kongfu4u  AFC South

Indianapolis Colts (6-7) & Jacksonville Jaguars (5-8)

Indianapolis Colts (16) @ Jacksonville Jaguars (51)

Believe it or not, a Colts’ playoff berth is still within reach even with the week 14 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Whether the same can be said after week 15 is another story.

In week 15, the Colts play the Houston Texans.  Both teams are currently tied for first place, but clearly only one team will remain there.

The Colts are currently on a 2-week losing streak, and Matt Hasselbeck’s record has gone down to 4-2.  Hasselbeck threw for 252 yards against the Jaguars and zero touchdowns.  The Colts’ only touchdown was from linebacker Robert Mathis with a fumble return.

Up 13-9 at the half, the Colts returned to score only one field goal in the second half.

We can only guess what Gus Bradley said to the Jaguars during halftime.  Whatever he said, Bradley should probably sell it for profit as a motivational tape because the Jaguars returned to scored 42 points in the second half, ultimately dropping a 50-burger on the Colts.

Blake Bortles had 250 passing yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions.  The Jaguars had 2 rushing touchdowns and a punt return for a touchdown by Rashad Greene.

While the Colts offense were frustrated, the Jaguars were able to find the endzone more frequently in two quarters of football than most teams score in two games.  The Colts defense seemed powerless against the offensive drive of the Jaguars as Bortles connected with Allen Hurns, Allen Robinson and Julius Thomas.  While running back T.J Yeldon left Sunday’s game against the Colts with a knee injury, Denard Robinson filled in admirably, adding his own TD run, and Julius Thomas has successfully found a role in the Jaguars offense over the past few weeks, making this ever developing team even more dangerous.

However, the Jaguars will have to demonstrate a little consistency to continue into the post season.

Houston Texans (6-7)

New England Patriots (27) @ Houston Texans (6)

They knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but the Texans didn’t take field thinking they would lose.  As soon as the clock started to run, so did the adrenaline and effort.  But sometimes, you need re than that.  The Patriots announced that Rob Gronkowski would to be limited, but how many of us believe anything the Patriots say anymore?  And, of course, there was no limiting Gronkowski who had 87 yards and a touchdown.

In fact, the Texans were down only 10-6 with minutes left before the half.  Hoyer’s inability to get first downs allowed the Patriots another opportunity to score before the half.  And that’s exactly what they did with the “oh so familiar” Brady to Gronkowski into the endzone.

But 17-6 into the 3rd quarter still didn’t mean defeat for the Texans.

So why did the Texans lose?  There was no offense to be seen.

Don’t let the score fool you.  The Texans defense showed up and played hard.  3 sacks, a forced fumble, 82 total tackles and 47 solo tackles.  The Texans defense did their best to make up for a less than 100% J.J. Watt, who was still being double teamed even while playing with one hand.  The Texans defense held the Patriots to 10-points in the second half, giving the Texans offense every opportunity to score.  The Patriots defense even gave the Texans offense opportunity to score as injury continued to plagued the defensive line.  But not even a depleted Patriots defense could help this Texans offense find the endzone.

It was one disappointing play after another for the Texans offense.  The frustration was evident in the second half of the game for the Texans.  At one point, Brian Hoyer took off his helmet and spiked it on the sideline after being pushed out of bounds.

Hoyer had 155 passing yards, five sacks for a loss of 54 yards and a quarterback rating of 8.8.  Hoyers’ game stats says it all.  The Texans offense had a 189 total yards and 7 first downs, while possessing the ball for 24:46 min and having 2 less penalties than the Patriots.  During the game, more footballs saw the side lines than Texan receivers after leaving Hoyer’s hand.  In short, the Texans were shut out in the second half.

Do you need to know any more?

The good news: the Texans were first place in the division for four-and-a half hours with the Indianapolis Colts loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the early game.  The bad news: with the Texans loss, they are back in second place, but still in the hunt for a post season spot.  So maybe it’s not all bad.  After Sunday’s game, Brian Hoyer was said to have suffered another concussion and T.J. Yates will be practicing (just in case) for week 15 against the Indianapolis Colts.

Tennessee Titans (3-10)

Tennessee Titans (8) @ New York Jets (30)

It’s uncertain how many trick plays Mike Mularkey has in his playbook, but he should have used them all against the Jets in week 14.  The Titans were shut out in the first half of the game, but scored one touchdown, running back Antonio Andrews threw to quarterback Marcius Mariota, in addition to a successful two-point conversion, totaling 8 points in the third quarter.

Marcius Mariota threw for 274 yards, an interception, and took 5 sacks for a loss 47 yards leading to a quarterback rating of 11.7.  The Titans ground game was held to 24 yards, and Mariota was responsible for 3 of them.  What’s harder to believe, is that the Titans’ offense had a total of 315 receiving yards, but scored only 8 points.

Riding the momentum of its first home win of the season in week 13, the Titans (and fans alike) knew it wouldn’t be an easy game to win, but I’m certain they didn’t expect only 1 scoring play.  In week 13, the Titans scored 21-points in the first half.  In week 14, the first half was unwatchable if you were a Titans fan (but exciting if you were a Jets fan).  A discombobulated Titans offense was unable to make a play in the redzone as the Jets defense continued to put pressure on Mariota causing him to force throws and make bad decisions.  The Titans defense had the opposite (but similar) problem, they were unable to stop Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Jets in the redzone, allowing 27 points.

The Titans still have a better 2015 season record than they did this time last year with rookie quarterback Mariota, an astonishing job by tight end Delanie Walker and improving young talents.  But you can’t help wonder, what can be done to improve this unpredictable Titans team to secure a post season in the future?