With the regular season over,
it’s time to take a look at what lies ahead for the two AFC South playoff
teams
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| (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) |
By Jeremy Philipson
After
a wild final three weeks, which saw Houston drop from the #1 seed in the AFC to
barely winning their division, it is (finally) time for the playoffs.
The
Texans, the No. 3 seed in the AFC, come into the playoffs losers of three of
their last four, a far cry from their 11-1 start. After getting embarrassed by
the Patriots on Monday Night Football in Week 14, they won at home vs.
Indianapolis, a win that guaranteed a division crown. But, Houston has lost in
the last two weeks, both to playoff teams, including this past week to an
emotional Colts team at home.
A
win over the Colts would have secured home-field advantage throughout the
playoffs for Houston, which should have been motivation enough. Now, with the
road going through Denver and New England, the Texans might have to play
outdoors in cold weather stadiums, in January, in consecutive weeks.
All
this could have been avoided with a win in 2 of their final 4 games, but
Houston came up short. With a game against a frisky Bengals team set for
Saturday, the Texans need to get back to their early season success, or suffer
a short playoff life.
Prediction: Texans 24, Bengals
20
Indianapolis
rolls into the “second season” with a 5-1 record in their last 6 games, and 9-2
in their last 11. Aided by the return of their head coach Chuck Pagano, who
missed almost the entire season while battling leukemia, the Colts look as
dangerous as any wild card team, even with a rookie quarterback.
The
Colts have a date with the Baltimore Ravens as the early game on Sunday, and
even though the game is in Baltimore, the Colts could have the advantage. The
Ravens have lost 4 of 5 and are 1-2 in their final 3 home games, including
losses to rival Pittsburgh and AFC #1 seed Denver. With a red-hot colts team
coming to town, Baltimore will need to be on their A-game to end Sunday with a
“W.”
Prediction: Colts 17, Ravens
14
What
Andrew Luck has done this year has been nothing short of remarkable. NFL fans
have been spoiled in 2012 with record-breaking seasons (Calvin Johnson), incredible
comeback stories (Adrian Peterson and Peyton Manning), and amazing rookie
performances, including an unheard-of 3 rookie quarterbacks leading their teams
to the playoffs (Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, and Russell Wilson), but what
Luck has done is truly unbelievable. Taking a 2-14 team to 11-5, playing all
but 4 games without his head coach, and becoming the leader of a group full of
veterans shows why everyone was on the Luck bandwagon last year. Even if the
Colts don’t win another game, this season has been everything Colts fans could
have expected, and more.
