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2022 Midseason Report: AFC South

After nine weeks of play, the Tennessee Titans are beginning to pull away with the AFC South and hold a two-game lead over the Indianapolis Colts. There was hope after the first quarter that the rest of the AFC was waking up to compete. It turns out it was more of a stirring, and the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans have fallen back on hard times. There remains very little chance that a playoff run is in the cards for any team out of the AFC South.

Let’s check the latest super bowl betting, stats, and injury reports for the 2022 Midseason Report, AFC South.

2022 Midseason Report: AFC South
DeMarcus Walker #95 of the Tennessee Titans - Carmen Mandato/Getty Images/AFP

Titans (5-3)

  • Odds to win AFC South -325
  • Odds to win AFC +1800
  • Odds to win Super Bowl +4000

The Tennessee Titans are the only team on this list that saw their Super Bowl odds get better since our previous update, going from +6000 to +4000. Winning five games in a row has that effect. While the Titans’ winning streak was broken in Week 9, the 20-17 loss came against a very dangerous Kansas City Chiefs. This tells us that the Titans can, in fact, hang with a Super Bowl contender.

The Titans are dominating the division so far with a 2-0 record against the Colts and one win over the Texans. They have yet to play the Jaguars. The next few weeks will paint a better picture of where this team sits with games against the Broncos, Packers, Bengals, and Eagles in consecutive weeks.

Derrick Henry remains the most explosive rusher in the NFL, with league-leading numbers in yards (870) and attempts (183). He ranks second in rushing touchdowns as well. Against the Chiefs, he racked up 115 yards and a pair of scores. Henry now has three multi-touchdown games in eight starts.

The Titans dominated the ground on both sides of the ball. Tennessee ranks second in opponents rushing yards per game (87.6) and first in touchdowns per contest (0.3). With a rush-against rate of 32.82%, teams don’t even bother getting their backs involved much at this point.

The Titans are a safe bet to take the division despite their low value.

Colts (3-5)

The last time we checked up with the Colts, we were still determining if signing Matt Ryan was the right move for this franchise. Now, some weeks later, we have that answer. Ryan was benched a few weeks ago, with Sam Ehlnger taking over. Considering that head coach Frank Reich was fired this week, it appears that was not the right move, either.

The Colts are out of moves for the second half of the season.

The Colts hired interim coach Jeff Saturday out of the broadcast booth to replace Reich, but that move has a massive problem. There is not a single coach on the team with NFL play-calling experience. Saturday has no NFL coaching experience at all, in fact.

With Jonathan Taylor struggling in the backfield, the season will continue to be a struggle for Indy unless some miracle occurs. They have a demanding schedule ahead, with games against the Eagles, Cowboys, Vikings, Chargers, and Giants down the stretch. Stranger things have happened, but we’d be surprised if they pulled things together before the end of the regular season.

Jaguars (3-6)

  • Odds to win AFC South +850
  • Odds to win AFC +6600
  • Odds to win Super Bowl +12500

We talked a lot about the Jaguars being held back because of Trevor Lawrence’s inconsistency under center. The potential “once in a generation” talent came into the league with a ton of hype, only to fall flat. Halfway through his second season, Lawrence is still playing like a guy stumbling around in a dark room looking for the light switch. When he finds it, the Jags may have something special.

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Unfortunately, nothing has changed with the Jaguars’ QB consistency since our quarterly update. He ranks in the top 10 in terms of passing yards, but his passer rating (87.5) ranks him in the bottom half of NFL starters. His TD/INT ratio of 11/6 is not excellent, either. Until Lawrence can string together winning performances, the Jaguars will never be more than the third-worst team in the AFC South.

Texans (1-6-1)

2022 Midseason Report: AFC South
Rex Burkhead #28 of the Houston Texans – Steve Marcus/Getty Images/AFP
  • Odds to win AFC South +10000
  • Odds to win AFC +50000
  • Odds to win Super Bowl +100000

Despite having the worst odds of winning the Super Bowl bet in the NFL, it’s not all bad in Houston. Maybe just 90% bad, so there is hope. Hope, it turns out, has come in the form of rookie running back Dameon Pierce.

The Texans did an A+ job by drafting Pierce, as he looks like the real deal and is a player they can actually build around. Maybe even a rival for fellow AFC South star Derrick Henry. Pierce currently ranks fifth in attempts and sixth in yards in his debut campaign. He only has three touchdowns, but that is a product of how bad the Texans are as a team.

However, besides Pierce, there is little to like about this team. Early on, we were still deciding whether the Texans or Carolina Panthers were the worst teams in the NFL. That question has been answered, and Texas is still an early draft for a work in progress. They are in a near-lock to finish last in the division.

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