A lot has been said about the 2026 Indianapolis Colts, and rightfully so. Given how things ended last season, head coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard's seats might be getting a little hotter by the day.
With a tough schedule and Daniel Jones coming off a major, season-ending injury, pressure will mount quickly in Circle City. As such, getting ahead in the divisional race might be the best way to ease the waters.
Notably, the AFC South has gotten significantly tougher in recent years, and the Colts will have their work cut out for them from the jump. Even so, every divisional rival has a weakness they should be able to exploit to take them down. Here, we'll break them down.
The Indianapolis Colts have an advantage over every AFC South team
Tennessee Titans: Coaching
The Tennessee Titans hired Robert Saleh to build a winning culture. That's like hiring Colonel Sanders to lose some weight. He coached the New York Jets to a 20-36 record, and while subpar quarterback play was an issue, his decision-making often left plenty to be desired.
Saleh's incendiary ways are a ticking time bomb, and things can get tense in the locker room when his team doesn't do well. Spoiler alert: It rarely does, and with another volatile and hot-headed coach like Brian Daboll also there, this is a disaster in the making.
Granted, the Titans made big additions this offseason, but they don't have the right guys leading the way. They should be better on defense, but not good enough to pose a legitimate threat in the division.
Houston Texans: Quarterback
C.J. Stroud has usually done well against the Colts. In six games, he's passed for 1,612 yards with eight scores and just one interception. He has a 5-1 record and a 103.2 passer rating. That said, only one of those wins came against Daniel Jones or a starting-caliber guy.
The Houston Texans may have the best defense in the league, but the offense is a different story. They can't run the ball, and putting the ball in Stroud's hand to win games has rarely gotten them anywhere.
They know he's the weakest link. Otherwise, they would've given him an extension already. If the Colts can shut down the run, it will be just a matter of time before Stroud makes a head-scratching mistake and costs them the game.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Run defense
The Jacksonville Jaguars took a big leap in the first year under Liam Coen, though the bar wasn't particularly high. Trevor Lawrence was efficient, and the defense showed up, even with their flaws in the secondary.
But now that they've lost Travis Etienne and didn't do anything to replace him, they may have a tough time finding the offensive balance that helped their quarterback keep the mistakes to a minimum last season.
The Jaguars' running back corps consists of Bhayshul Tuten, Chris Rodriguez Jr., LeQuint Allen Jr., and Ameer Abdullah. That won't cut it against a Colts' run defense that gave up the seventh-fewest rushing yards per game (101.9) and the second-fewest yards per carry (3.9 last season).
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