It was a bloody Sunday for the AFC South. The only team that didn’t lose was Indianapolis because the Colts didn’t play.
The Titans lost at home by three to the Steelers. The Texans lost at home by 15 to the Packers. The Jaguars lost by 10 at the Chargers. Overall, it was just a pitiful showing.
The Titans lost their first game but still lead the Colts by one game. They play twice in November. After coming out of their open date, the Texans and Jaguars play a telling game at Jacksonville.
Telling for the Dolphins, who have the Texans’ first- and second-round draft choices. Telling for the Jaguars, who’ll be trying to avoid getting swept by the Texans and basically securing last place in the division and threatening the Jets for the Trevor Lawrence pick.
Let’s look at what happened to the three AFC South teams who played Sunday.
Packers 35, Texans 20
No Aaron Jones? No problem. No David Bakhtiari? No problem. The Packers didn’t need their leading rusher and one of the NFL’s premier left tackles — not when they had Aaron Rodgers throwing four touchdown passes and Davante Adams catching 13 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns. The Packers burst out of the gate to lead 21-0 at halftime and 28-7 in the third quarter. While the Texans’ offense was struggling in the red zone, the Packers stretched their lead to 35-13 in the fourth quarter to increase their record to 5-1. The Texans lost cornerback Bradley Roby on the first series with a knee injury, and they didn’t have anyone who could stay close to Adams. Rodgers torched the secondary for 283 yards and a 132.4 rating. The Texans had no running game with David Johnson contributing 42 yards on 14 carries. Deshaun Watson, who ran for 38 yards, completed 29 of 39 for 309 yards and two touchdowns. He didn’t have a turnover and compiled a 114.2 rating. David Johnson and Will Fuller caught the touchdown passes. The offense struggled in the red zone. The Texans couldn’t stop the Packers in the red zone.
Record: 1-6.
Next game: Open date.
Steelers 27, Titans 24
In a battle between the only undefeated teams in the AFC, the Steelers jumped to a 14-0 lead, led 24-7 at halftime and 27-7 in the third quarter. They dominated the Titans up to that point and appeared headed for an easy victory. Then the Titans came storming back. Ryan Tannehill’s 73-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Brown, Stephen Gostkowski’s 51-yard field goal and Derrick Henry’s 1-yard run pulled them within three with 14 seconds left. Gostkowski’s 45-yard field goal would have forced overtime, but he missed it, making the Steelers 6-0 and the Titans 5-1. The Steelers limited Henry to 75 yards rushing. Tannehill was 18 of 30 for 220 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. He was sacked twice. Brown had six catches for 153 yards. The Titans usually control the ball by running Henry, but the Steelers turned the tables on them with a 36:37 to 23:23 advantage in time of possession. The Titans mounted their comeback when Ben Roethlisberger threw three interceptions after having one in the first five games.
Record: 5-1
Next game: at Bengals.
Chargers 39, Jaguars 29
There’s a lot of speculation in Jacksonville that Doug Marrone may have coached his last game. The Jaguars suffered their sixth consecutive loss and tied an NFL record by allowing at least 30 points in six games in a row. After their open date, they host the Texans, who scored 30 points against them in their only victory. In their last 35 games, the Jaguars are 9-26, and they’ve suffered 16 losses by double figures. Against the Chargers, Marrone attempted three two-point conversions. He went for it on fourth down four times. Gardner Minshew II was outplayed by Chargers’ rookie Justin Herbert. Minshew threw for 173 yards and two touchdowns. Herbert completed 27 of 43 for 347 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. His rating was 111.3. He also led the Chargers with 66 yards rushing and ran for a touchdown. James Robinson led the Jaguars with 119 yards rushing. Their leading receiver was rookie Laviska Shenault Jr., who had three catches for 44 yards. DJ Chark, who’s usually Minshew’s favorite receiver, had one catch.
Record: 1-6
Next game: Open date.
October 26, 2020 at 08:00PM
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/texas-sports-nation/john-mcclain/article/2020-AFC-South-Week-7-rewind-15674464.php
John McClain's AFC South week 7 rewind: A weekend to forget - Houston Chronicle
https://news.google.com/search?q=forget&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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