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A Quick Look at 2010 Week 1 Around the AFC South
Filed under: Colts, Jaguars, Texans, Titans, AFC South
A Quick Look
Each Tuesday on AOL Fanhouse, AFC South Blogger John Oehser will take a quick look at each game involving a team from the division and break down what the week means to each team. Here’s the quick look at Week 1 . . .
This is the lone game involving two teams from the AFC South this week, and the schedule-makers created a match-up with big drama and intriguing storylines. In this case, most of the drama involves the Texans.
Not that the game isn’t big for the Colts. It is, because they are a team that has thrived throughout this decade on fast starts and establishing early dominance in the division.
But for the Texans, this one is flat-out big – capital letters-type big.
If you don’t believe it, just ask them, because the Texans, from Owner Bob McNair to coach Gary Kubiak to quarterback Matt Schaub, have spent the off-season talking about the Colts and focusing on the season opener.
It makes perfect sense that the Colts are the Titans‘ focus. The Colts have won six of the past seven AFC South titles and they’re the unquestioned favorites in the division, maybe even in the AFC. The Texans know the Colts are the team to beat, and they know from experience how difficult that is. Indianapolis has beaten Houston 15 of 16 times in the all-time series, and they have won the last six games in the series. The Texans have led by 17 points in each of their last two games against the Colts in Houston and lost each time.
The Texans have high hopes for this season. Their 9-7 record last season was the best in franchise history, and the belief in Houston is that was a stage-setter for their first playoff appearance this season. A victory in the opener will set those expectations soaring higher.
The question, though, is what will a loss do? A Week 1 loss in a home game, particularly a game for which the team has so publicly pointed throughout the off-season, could be devastating. On the other hand, it wouldn’t be an upset of historic proportions for the Colts to win.
All in all, it makes for a difficult, pressurized situation for Houston, particularly against team that historically functions well on the road – especially in this venue.
Denver Broncos at Jacksonville Jaguars . . .
This game features a storyline that will be played up all week. The problem is that storyline won’t be all that pertinent come Sunday.
The game marks the return to Jacksonville of Northeast Florida native Tim Tebow who is now a quarterback with the Denver Broncos. But Tebow isn’t expected to play much more than a part-time role not only in the opener but throughout the season.
Many Jacksonville fans clamored for the Jaguars to take the former University of Florida star in the NFL Draft this past April. But the need for defense and apparently not believing Tebow was a franchise-level quarterback led them to bolster the pass rush by selecting defensive tackle Tyson Alualu with the No. 10 overall selection.
But for the short term, that’s not what’s important for the Jaguars Sunday. What’s important is this is a home game against a beatable opponent, one they need to win to get off to a solid start in which many believe will be a rebuilding year.
The Jaguars likely won’t have a huge margin for error much of this season. They have started the last two seasons 0-2, missing the playoffs each season. For a team that lost its last four games last season and spent the offseason hearing national speculation about weak season-ticket sales and potential franchise relocation, getting this one at home could be an important early-season step.
