The Right to Kick Off Wild Card Weekend (2025 AFC South Preview)

For a long time, I've had a lot of mixed feeling about the AFC South. Part of me wants to say that the division is, well... boring. If I do so, well, I would be completely unfair. The AFC South has had its amazing moments in the past few years. I still remember a Colts/Titans season finale with a playoff spot on the line. There's also the Jaguars shockingly ending the Colts' 2021 season in the final week, and of course, the Jaguars winning the division in the final week of the 2022 season. And there's the Texans going from narrowly losing out on the #1 pick one year, to defeating Indy for a playoff spot the next (that became a division title a day later).

So yeah, the AFC South has its moments, and I think the division deserves respect. Do not dwell on the fact that two of the four teams who haven't been to the Super Bowl are in this division. Do not dwell on the fact that the winner of this division is relegated to leading off the playoffs every year. The AFC South is quite a fun and interesting division, and I think we'll see more of the same in 2025. So let's preview this thing, shall we?

Tennessee Titans (3-14)

I was really happy for the Tennessee Titans for winning the #1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, because it was unexpected. I knew the Titans had problems, but I never thought they'd only win three games in 2024. At least one of the wins was against the Texans, so there's that. The point is, they had the AFC's #1 seed in 2021, and had the AFC South sewn up in 2022, until they totally blew it. They have not been the same since, but at least they got something out of their disaster of a 2024 season, which was the first under head coach Brian Callahan. The Titans used their #1 overall pick to take QB Cam Ward, and regarding this season, they have nowhere else to go but up. They won't do any worse. I say they double their win total from last year.

Jacksonville Jaguars (4-13)

It took a big time disaster for things to finally happen, but the Jacksonville Jaguars finally cleaned house after their four-win 2024 campaign. Head coach Doug Pederson? Gone. General Manager Trent Baalke? Finally gone! The draft saw the Jags trade up to the #2 pick and snag Travis Hunter. Holy moley! Hard to believe that this is Trevor Lawrence's sixth season in the NFL; seems like yesterday that the Jags drafted the star QB from Clemson. The Jags still have that spark they had in 2022, when they shockingly won the AFC South, and in 2023, when they were alive until the final week. I can see the Jags making a lot of noise in 2025, but they really need a strong start out of the gate. If they start 3-2 after five weeks, I think they'll have a shot.

Indianapolis Colts (8-9)

The Indianapolis Colts are an odd bunch. They are good enough to at least reach the playoffs, if not win the division, but they have spent the last few seasons getting in their own way. We all know about 2021; controlled their own destiny for each of the last two weeks of the season, but lost both games--the second to a dead weight Jags team. Terrible 2022 campaign, lost a winner take all battle in the final week of 2023, and 2024 saw them eliminated in the penultimate week when they lost on the road to a Giants team who can't win home games. Indy should be a threat to get into the playoffs in 2025, but will they actually come through in December this time, or will this be yet another nuclear in Indianapolis?

Houston Texans (10-7)

So 2024 ended with the Houston Texans as champions of the AFC South for the second straight year; a division that Houston basically won by default. The Texans have shown that the AFC South is basically theirs until one of the other three teams steps up big time, and I don't expect that time to come in 2025. Houston will win the division yet again, but what will they do with it? The Texans have the indignity of being the only team in this current league to have never reached the Conference Championship, and when they do win the division, they are often the first game of Wild Card Weekend. CJ Stroud, drafted 2nd overall by the Texans in 2023, has proven to be their QB in just a very short time. I see Stroud leading the way again in 2025, another division crown is inevitable. But is a long run on the horizon? We'll see.

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The AFC South is quite the interesting division; much more captivating than it looks. Houston and Indy are always in the thick of it, the Jaguars are always an eye-opening story, and the Titans tend to steal games. I sense a lot of wild moments in the AFC South in 2025.