Big wins by Colts, Titans force Texans to take notice
The Texans watched and possibly learned something about the AFC South on Sunday when two teams showed their teeth and earned some respect for the worst division in NFL history.
While the Texans took the day off, Tennessee and Indianapolis pulled off impressive upsets over New Orleans and Denver, respectively.
The Colts’ 27-24 victory ended a three-game losing streak and left them 4-5 — a half-game ahead of the Texans and 1½ games ahead of Tennessee and Jacksonville.
As for the Jaguars, they lost 28-23 to the New York Jets to remain in familiar
territory at the bottom of the division, tied with Tennessee at 2-6.
The Texans return to the practice field Monday to begin preparations for their Nov. 16 prime-time game against undefeated Cincinnati.
The Bengals are one of the league’s three unbeaten teams, joining New England and Carolina.
The Broncos were favored to beat the Colts, but they suffered their first defeat because they couldn’t stop quarterback Andrew Luck, who appeared to be healthy for the first time this season.
Luck threw two touchdown passes and didn’t seem to be bothered by the rib and shoulder injuries that plagued him earlier this season, which is bad news for the rest of the division.
Luck outplayed Peyton Manning in his return to Lucas Oil Stadium. The Colts seem to have the Broncos’ number. Last season, the Colts eliminated the Broncos from the playoffs by winning in Denver.
Big return for Mariota
This was supposed to be a revenge game for Denver, but it turned out to be another embarrassment for Manning, who threw two interceptions, the last one ruining any chance the Broncos had of tying the score or possibly winning.
The Texans play another five games before their second game against the Colts, who won the first one 27-20. Because the Texans have never won at Indianapolis, a sweep by the Colts seems assured.
The Colts weren’t the only AFC South team to make a good impression Sunday. Usually, the division is ridiculed for being so bad, but Tennessee also put on a sterling performance.
Under interim coach Mike Mularkey, who replaced the fired Ken Whisenhunt last week, the Titans shocked New Orleans at the Superdome.
Rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota returned to the lineup after missing two games with a strained knee ligament and threw for 371 yards and four touchdowns in the 34-28 overtime victory.
The Titans are 2-6, including a victory over Tampa Bay in the season opener. Mariota threw four touchdown passes in each of the two wins.
The Texans were fortunate Mariota was sidelined in their 20-6 victory at NRG Stadium on Nov. 1. The defense sacked quarterback Zach Mettenberger seven times.
Barring another injury, Mariota will play for the first time against the Texans when they visit Nashville on Dec. 27 in their last road game of the season.
The Texans find out Nov. 29 if they can do to the Saints what the Titans did to them. They host New Orleans one week after they entertain the Jets and the week before they visit Buffalo.
3 unbeatens on schedule
The Texans will play or have played the three teams this season that are currently unbeaten. They lost 24-17 at Carolina. A month after the Cincinnati game, they’ll host New England.
As teams struggle to win in the AFC South, it’s interesting to look back at the 2014 season.
The NFC South was awful. Carolina won the division with a 7-8-1 record and upset Arizona at home in the wild-card round.
There weren’t high expectations for the NFC South this season, but the division has been a huge surprise, beginning with the unbeaten Panthers.
Tampa Bay (3-5) has the worst record. If the Buccaneers played in the AFC South, they’d be tied with the Texans for second place instead of five games behind Carolina.
Perhaps the AFC South will follow the NFC South’s lead and make a surprising improvement in 2016.