Indianapolis Colts
Love - Great Expectations
It sure didn't take long for this Colts team to get fans back in the seats at Lucas Oil Stadium after a disastrous 2011. In one of the greatest turnarounds in NFL history, Indianapolis improved its win total from 2 to 11 in two years with a new coach, quarterback, and really, a brand new roster altogether. Whereas Andrew Luck and Chuck Pagano had to recapture fans' trust and excitement from scratch this time last year, they'll start off 2013 healthier and with more experience to keep moving up the AFC food chain.
Don't get me wrong - Andrew Luck has proven himself to be a worthy No. 1 draft pick after a successful and courageous rookie year. But this team's performance in 2012 reminded me more than a little bit of the 2011 Detroit Lions who went from 10 - 6 and a wild card bid to a 4 - 12 slump in 2012. The Colts had a lot of things go right for them this past year that are unlikely to repeat in full in 2013. First off, they were the only 2012 playoff team to have a negative point differential in the regular season, and 9 of their 11 wins were by a margin of one possession. That suggests that the arbitrary flow of the game clock (and yes, Luck's many insane 4th quarter drives) helped out a whole lot. Further, this success means that Indy's schedule in 2013 isn't going to be nearly as soft as it was a year ago. The Colts will face five teams this year that made the 2012 playoffs (49ers, Seahawks, Broncos, Texans, Bengals) as well as the high-potential Dolphins, Rams, and Bruce Arians-led Cardinals. That's a tall order for a young team who will just now have a full season with the new coach.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Love - Um, New Uniforms?
Apparently this year's new Jaguars uniforms are slightly different from last year's. Isn't the mascot's tongue a little bluer or something? Maybe it'll result in a little extra revenue for this struggling franchise if all of those apparel completists in Jacksonville absolutely must have an electric blue Jaguar-tongue Blaine Gabbert jersey. I'm really struggling here...
Hate - Unending Despair and Hopelessness
Heck, the Cleveland Browns look like a veritable dynasty compared to the Jacksonville Jaguars of the past few years. Say what you will about feeling for pathetically bad franchises, these jerks deserve it. How ridiculous it must look in retrospect for this front office to have dumped returning Pro Bowl QB David Garrard less than a week before the 2011 season to give--yes, really--Luke McCown/Blaine Gabbert the starting job. The Jags are now on their third coach in as many years, their perennially high draft picks have been nothing but busts since Maurice Jones-Drew, and now even MoJo is starting to trend toward Pacman Jones territory off the field.
Houston Texans
Love - An All-Star Defense
It's hard to say whether new safety acquisition Ed Reed still has fuel in the tank to play at a high level at this point in his career. But DC Wade Phillips need not panic - he's got a fantastic squad he's already developed on his own that will be healthier than they were by the end of last season and ready to pick up where Houston left off. J.J. Watt returns as one of the first defensive MVP candidates we've seen in a long time because of the way he redefined the DE role in 2012. Jonathan Joseph will complement Reed well in the secondary and Brian Cushing/Brooks Reed will be back at 100% in September to control the middle of the field. Houston's going to need all the defensive muster it can stand this year in facing Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck, Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson and Alex Smith. 2013 will be a trial by fire for the elite Texans D.
Hate - Matt Schaub's Plateau
Now that Matt Schaub has finally made it through an entire season without a Hoveround, it's becoming obvious that his 2009 season of 4,700+ passing yards and 68% completion rate may have been more of an outlier and a function of WR Andre Johnson's productivity than of the QB. To be fair, there are many franchises in the league who would probably kill for a guy like Schaub under center, but he has basically become a lost cause in situations where Johnson is in double coverage and opposing defenses sell out to stuff Arian Foster at the line of scrimmage. In fact, that was pretty much the entire second half of the 2012 season and playoffs for the Texans. If Schaub can't take some pressure off of his top-notch skill players, the Texans will be hard pressed to take the reins in the AFC yet again with a very tough schedule ahead.
Tennessee Titans
Love - Track Meet Potential
The Titans didn't have a lot to write home about last season between Jake Locker's regression and a slide from nine wins in 2011 to just six in 2012. A bright spot, however, was finding some real diamonds in the rough on special teams that ought to have a more prominent offensive role going forward for pennies on the dollar. Darius Reynaud stands out in particular - the return receiver was a January 2012 castoff of the Giants who ended up with three return TDs with the Titans by December after the capable Marc Mariani went down. Maybe there's a future John Harbaugh on that special teams coaching staff too since Tennessee led the league in total return TDs this past year.
Hate - The Return of Greggggg Williams
It was only a matter of time before the Lord Voldemort of the modern NFL returned after being suspended "indefinitely" for Bountygate by the league office. I must admit, however, that I'm stunned that 1) Goodell the Hammer would lift Williams' suspension after just a year; and 2) that any team would snatched up this highly questionable fellow so quickly since in additional to being evil, Williams wasn't really ever that great of a coach or coordinator anyway. Leave it to so-old-I-don't-give-a-crap Titans owner Bud Adams to look past things resembling "ethics" to put Williams back in a position of authority so quickly. You better believe more than a few Titans' opponents are going to remember Gregg's reputation when they take the field this year. Conversely, he has surely met his player match in new Titan Bernard Pollard, who's already known for ending key players' seasons and who appears to be fitting right in as a bounty cheerleader in the Tennessee locker room.
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