The AFC South division has been anything but as expected through the first two weeks of the season.
The Houston Texans have started the season 0-1-1, but that doesn’t have them in the cellar of the AFC South early. In fact, Houston is only a half game behind the first place Jacksonville Jaguars.
While you may have snickered at the Jaguars being in first place, they are fresh off a 24-0 shutout victory over the Indianapolis Colts (maybe it wasn’t all Carson Wentz’s fault?) Sunday. Yes, that would be the same Colts team that put up 17 in the fourth quarter Week 1 against the Texans. The Titans, meanwhile, lost a close game to the New York Giants and got obliterated by the Buffalo Bills Monday night. There really hasn’t been any kind of separation, and the two teams expected to be at the top of the division are both coming off bad losses.
So where exactly do the Texans fit in the hierarchy of the division? DL Jon Greenard said Tuesday he thinks the division is anyone’s to take right now:
“It’s the beginning of the season, we’re all kind of at that level playing field. Obviously, we tied first week so it didn’t hurt us, but it didn’t help us. At the same time, we also understand that in this division, anybody can get beat on any given Sunday. It’s always up for grabs, just have to make sure to bring it. As we’ve seen, Jacksonville just put a goose egg on Indy (Indianapolis Colts). Just simple things that like, how the roles switch like that, that switch the AFC south can be. We’re going to bring it and that’s what we’ve got to do every single week because you never know.”
Greenard believes the Texans have the personnel to compete for the division, but they have to execute:
“At this point, that’s what you practice for. You go and find it every single day. Understand that this game is all about steadily evolving and being innovative with your craft. I think we have the talent, it’s just a matter of finishing those plays and understanding we have to find it. There’s not magic to it. We literally have to just put our heads down to work. That’s what every other team does. There’s no magical sauce to it. You see them just make plays whenever it comes their way. I think we’ve got the guys to do it. We’ve got to the scheme to do it, the coaches and the staff to do it. It’s just a matter of doing it now, honestly. We’re going to continue to do our best and that’s all that we can try to do from our standpoint.”