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I have never been overly crazy about bye weeks.

 

Even though a well timed bye week can benefit a banged up team, the fact is, I go through a bit of withdrawal when my Jaguars aren't playing.

 

Nevertheless, football goes on even during the bye weeks, and there seems no shortage of drama within the division.

 

Houston gave up 41 points in the first half...FIRST HALF..against the resurgent fish.  While it wasn't as fiery as the exchange between Sean Payton and Rob Ryan, it was a sign things are not going well for the Houston defense, which has surrendered 40 points or more twice in the last four weeks.  Then there were reports of a power struggle between Texans' GM Rick Smith and coach Bill O'Brien over whether to cut QB Ryan Mallet, who has been inconsistent for the Texans, both in overall production and professionalism.  The final straw for the Texans was Mallet waking late and missing the team flight to Miami.  Apparently O'Brien won the struggle and cut Mallet.  Finally for Houston, they lost their best RB for the year (and maybe his career) when Arian Foster blew out his achilles tendon.  An unfortunate injury for a talented RB.  But on the bright side for Houston, Clowney registered his first career sack.

 

Speaking of power struggles between coach and GM, Colts' GM Ryan Grigson and head coach Chuck Pagano supposedly got into a heated argument after the Colts' loss to the Saints last Sunday.  It seems they have been sniping at each other all year long, and boiled over after the game.  I read another report indicating Colts owner Irsay also got into it with Grigson.  It seems that if the Colts level of play continues, neither Pagano nor Grigson will win this power struggle, as both may be on the streets.

 

Meanwhile in Tennessee, the Titans represent stability in comparison to Houston and Indy.  I've seen no reports of any squabbling between coach and GM there.  They are dealing with an injured Mariota who missed the last game with a knee injury.

 

Finally in Jacksonville, the Jaguars got the best news of all of the division teams, being the only team that won last week.  But even then, the team couldn't close out, and won almost in spite of themselves.

 

Last week: 2-2

Overall:  14-9

 

Thanks again to astrorenegade for his compilation of the standings.  That isn't easy, especially starting out. You also handled the issue of late starting posters very well.

 

My picks:

 

Tennessee (1-5) at Houston (2-5)
  I think Tennessee will win this game despite possibly missing Mariota again this week.  Tennessee is playing pretty decent defense.  Meanwhile, despite having JJ Watt, Houston didn't stop Miami at all in the first half last week.  Tennessee wins 20-17.

 

Indy (3-4) at Carolina (6-0)-All preseason, I viewed the Carolina game as a winnable one for the Jaguars.  After the Jaguars lost to Carolina to open the season, I was upset because I thought it was a winnable game.  But perhaps it's time for me to revisit that, considering after 6 games, Carolina is undefeated.  They are running the ball well and playing good defense.  Meanwhile, Indy has not played well.  The older free agent pickups, while much ballyhooed, have had almost no positive impact for the Colts, and draft misses continue to haunt this team.  Even Andrew Luck has not played well.  Carolina wins 24-20.