In this episode we take a look at perhaps the strongest division in football, the AFC South.  While we all agree that the Jaguars and Colts are the clear cut favorites in this division, the entire Sportable staff seems to be real high on the Houston Texas, and their chances for a good year.

Hosts: Kevin, Rich, Ryan, Sonny

 

 AFC South [34:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Dear Pacman,

Hello, old friend. I must confess that the 2007 NFL season was missing some of its luster without your presence. Aside from giving us weekly material to write about, it’s safe to say fans missed your playmaking ability with the Titans. With that out of the way, let’s talk about your recent strip club antics, shall we?

A woman has come forward and claimed you sucker-punched her at an Atlanta strip club. Gee Pac, doesn’t this feel like Deja Vu? No pun intended. I know, I know; innocent until proven guilty. But let’s face it, Pac. We’ve gone through this before. If something comes up involving your sorry ass, people are going to believe it. And if those allegations include strip clubs and violence, hell, it has to be true.

Did you think you were back in TNA Wrestling? Or do you really just not have a clue? Slamming stripper’s heads into a stage was bad enough. But now you’re lunging at women and delivering a right hook to a lady’s eye. Next time, make sure you know who you’re hitting. That woman you slugged wasn’t Pinky, Blinky, Clyde, Inky an employee of the strip club. It was an attorney. Whoops.

This doesn’t exactly bode well for your chances of reinstatement into the NFL. But it’s becoming obvious that you don’t seem to give a shit about the NFL, the Tennessee Titans, or anybody else. If you did, you wouldn’t be caught dead in another strip club. And you definitely wouldn’t be caught assaulting people in said strip club.

San Diego Chargers 17, Tennessee Titans 6: For being criticized all year, 2nd year starter Philip Rivers has sure played well the last few weeks. With LaDainian Tomlinson shut down for much of the afternoon, the Titans made Rivers beat them. He did just that, throwing for 292 yards and a touchdown. It wasn’t pretty, but the proverbial monkey that finally came off the Chargers’ backs should allow them to play more relaxed against the Colts. For as lousy as Norv Turner has been during parts of 2007, his staff never panicked over a halftime deficit. Unlike Marty Schottenheimer’s playoff efforts, the Chargers finally found the discipline needed to close out a playoff game. Can they go into Indy and beat the World Champs? It’s certainly a possibility. The Chargers have beat Indy two of the last three meetings, including the 2005 victory that derailed the Colts’ undefeated season.

Jacksonville Jaguars 31, Pittsburgh Steelers 29: The dream upset scenario of “Jags over Pats” almost didn’t happen, as the Jags squandered a huge lead in the 4th quarter, only to win it with less than 30 seconds left. You have to admire the testicular fortitude of Jags coach Jack Del Rio, who called a quarterback drew on 4th and 2 that put the Jags in position for Josh Scobee’s game winner. So, now we have the next test for the Jaguars: The undefeated Patriots. A win at Gillette Stadium could go down as one of the biggest upsets in the NFL history.

Now that the playoff seeds are set in stone for the AFC, lets take a look at all the teams and see what’s in store for us as the 2007 NFL playoffs are set to kick off.

New England Patriots: The NFL’s first 16-0 team is riding high, having not lost since about this time last year. They’ll be staying put at Gillette throughout the playoffs and will undoubtedly be tough to beat. If the weather starts to turn frightful in New England, however, look for other teams to have a considerable advantage. The Patriots won’t throw the ball 50 times in sleet and snow, so it’ll turn out to be a battle of running games. The AFC has plenty of fine running backs (Fred Taylor, Joseph Addai, LT, Maurice Jones-Drew) that are all considerably better than Laurence Maroney.

Indianapolis Colts: My oh my, look who has returned. The World Champions from a year ago have returned as the number two seed yet again and, unlike last year, have gotten absolutely no hype whatsoever due in part to the whole “Patriots not losing a game” thing. The Colts have been riddled with injuries all year, having to resort to guys like Crasphonso Thorpe (I know, who?) to play wide receiver and guys who I’ve never heard of on their defensive line. The good news is that they’ll be fully healthy (with the exception of Dwight Freeney) come two weeks from now when they host their playoff game in the sterile environment of the RCA Dome. Nobody’s talking about them but look out for Indy. With Bob Sanders back and the always dangerous Peyton Manning the Colts might quietly put the rest of the AFC to shame.

San Diego Chargers: The first seed from last year returns as the number three seed in a season that was riddled with inconsistency and confusion. How good is this team? Nobody really knows. They still have the best running back in the game (sorry Adrian Peterson) and their defense is one of the best in the NFL. In the playoffs it comes down to a team’s ability to establish the run and stop the run; both things the Chargers do well. Thus the pressure will be on second year starter Philip Rivers who hasn’t had a great season but has come on strong as of late. People talk about teams they do and don’t want to play; can we consider the Chargers one of those teams? They’ve won 10 of their last 12 games. Read the rest of this entry »

Hosts: Sonny, Ryan, and Rich.

In this episode, we discussed the AFC South. Can Matt Schaub change the fortunes of the Houston Texans around? Or will a piss-poor offensive line doom him? Can Vince Young avoid the Madden Curse? Because this is our last NFL divisional preview, we also give a brief rundown on our playoff and Super Bowl predictions.

You can find Episode 35 here. (Download mp3)

Hey, did you hear Pacman is coming? He’s a man looking for a redemption (r-e-d-e-m-p-t-i-o-n). In the teaser, Pacman also emphasizes the fact that he’s a team player. Really, Adam? Is that what you were saying when you slammed strippers’ heads into the stage and made it rain? Regardless of what happens, it should be a fun time. And of course, YouTube Sports’ phenom stupid hick Kige Ramsey is all over the news.