THE AFC SOUTH REPORT
Foles injury proves costly as AFC South gets off to mixed start
Sep 9, 2019, 5:32 am
THE AFC SOUTH REPORT
Nick Foles.
A look at how Week 1 shaped up for the AFC South:
Jacoby Brissett is exactly what I thought he would be in his first game starting for the Colts. Nothing special, will not be asked to do too much, and it will be a wait and see situation as we go along in the season. Even though they lose the first game of the season to the Chargers, there were a few positive signs. First and foremost there was not a drop in production from TY Hilton. He had 8 catches for 87 yards and 2 touchdowns. This was by far the most important thing to watch as a Texans fan from this game because TY has given the Texans fits over the past few years. My second and biggest observation is the running game looks very legitimate. Marlon Mack followed up his impressive year last season with a strong first game, piling up 174 yards on the ground on 25 carries. While they definitely do take a drop-offwithout Andrew Luck this season, I think there are a lot of things to be scared of about this team as a Texans fan.As for the Chargers, this is a very solid win to start the season. Offensively this team is a machine at times and I still thin that Phillip Rivers is one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the league. They will be a very serious threat in the AFC this season.
I came into this season questioning who would be the second biggest threat to the Texans this season. Would it be the Colts or the Jaguars? Jacksonville finally has a quality quarterback who has shown consistency over the course of his career and has also proven to be a very clutch quarterback when it matters. The Nick Foles injury stinks for Jags fans. It just sucks. There's no other way to put it because the defense is back and healthy and there were high hopes that this team could get back to where they were two years ago. This is a big win for Texans fans, but it still stinks whenever a player gets hurt. If anybody was wondering if the Chiefs would take a step back after a masterful first year from Patrick Mahomes, those doubts should be tossed aside. This team is great and Mahomes is going to be something special to watch for years to come. My big key to watch in this game would be if the Jaguars front seven could fluster Mahomes. The answer was no, and Mahomes had just eight incomplete passes on the day. LeSean McCoy looks to be an excellent addition to the team, and it makes sense as he has played for Andy Reid when he was with the Eagles.
Tennessee I gave no shot to win the AFC South this year. I will not overreact to Sunday's win over the Browns, but there certainly were plenty of positive signs to look at if you are a Titans fan. Any time you put up 43 points that is something everybody is going to look at. With a new offensive coordinator, Marcus Mariotta looked more comfortable in play design and statistically he fired three touchdown passes, which is a category he had been lacking in for his entire career. My biggest problem with Tennesse is their lack of weapons and playmakers. Did Derrick Henry pile up a good chunk of rushing yards (84 plus a touchdown), Yes. But will we see this kind of effort from this team on a game to game basis? That is still left to be determined, and I am a doubter. I think the bigger story from this game is Cleveland. Under a new head coach (whom many people believed to be underqualified for the job to begin with) this team committed 15 penalties. Baker Mayfield threw three interceptions as well. The lesson to be learned from this game is let's pump the breaks on what we think we know. Tennesse may be better than we thought initially and the Browns may not be Super Bowl contenders or even playoff ready at this very moment. On paper this team is solid and flashy, but it takes a working system for success to occur.
Jacob deGrom went eight innings to win his fourth consecutive start for the Texas Rangers, who got Jake Burger's solo home run off Hunter Brown in a 1-0 win over the Houston Astros on Thursday night in an anticipated pitchers' duel that certainly lived up to expectations.
Two-time Cy Young Award winner deGrom (4-1) is having quite a comeback after missing most of the last two seasons following Tommy John surgery. The 36-year-old right-hander struck out seven, two of those to end innings with two runners on base, while walking one and giving up five hits.
Brown (6-2), who is 10 years younger that deGrom, struck out nine without a walk while scattering three hits in his first career complete game. The righty was tied for the major league lead in wins and retired the first 12 batters he faced before Adolis García lined a double to left to start the fifth.
Shawn Armstrong worked around a two-out walk in the ninth for his second save.
Burger went deep leading off the sixth, a 394-foot drive into the Texas bullpen in right-center for his fourth homer of the season.
Rangers right fielder García made a sliding catch of a sinking liner by Mauricio Dubón for the final out of the seventh when Houston had a runner at second base. García had several nice plays, including a sliding catch near the line after running a long way to open the fourth.
Bruce Bochy got his 2,195th career win to break a tie with Sparky Anderson for the sixth-most by an MLB manager. Bochy, who turned 70 last month, is in his 28th season as a manager, his third in Texas.
Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 1.78 ERA) goes into Friday night having allowed only two earned runs over 25 innings in his last four starts (3-0). Right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. (0-1, 15.75) makes only his third start for Houston since the 2022 World Series.