Breaking down 2020 AFC South odds to make playoffs

DraftKings Sportsbook has gone ahead and released the odds for each team to earn a playoff berth at the end of the 2020 season. The most significant part of NFL free agency is wrapped up, and while there are still some big names left to sign, much of the NFL is focusing on the upcoming NFL Draft. With that in mind, we’ll take a look at each team’s odds to make the 2021 NFL playoffs — breaking it down by division. Today, we look at the AFC South.

Indianapolis Colts: Yes (-152), No (+125)

This division is one of the tighter races in the league, but the Colts have become the odds on favorite after acquiring Philip Rivers while the Texans traded away DeAndre Hopkins, one of the best wide receivers in the league. The Colts are set up well with one of the better offensive lines in the game, a strong running back in Marlon Mack and top-flight receiver in T.Y. Hilton. They also added CB Xavier Rhodes and re-signed their left tackle Anthony Castonzo. But coach Frank Reich makes this team a contender every time they get on the field. If Rivers has anything left in the tank, they should be in the mix for the playoffs after missing out last year, in large part, to QB Jacoby Brissett’s second half slide.

Tennessee Titans: Yes (-139), No (+115)

The Titans are a tough team to gauge, as they had everything come together last season when Ryan Tannehill replaced Marcus Mariota and went on a tear and Derrick Henry was unstoppable on the ground. Tannehill had his best season by far and was rewarded with a long term contract while Henry received the franchise tag. The question going into this season is if they can continue to be as efficient through the air and as dominant on the ground. It will hard for Tannehill to live up to his 2019 season, but he should still be a good fit leading the offense, but will need the run game to continue playing well. The loss of their best run blocking lineman, Jack Conklin, to the Browns is a tough one, as Pro Football Focus had him rated as their ninth best run blocker. It will be tough for them to put up the points they did last season.

Houston Texans: Yes (+149), No (-182)

Bill O’Brien should fire himself after making one of the worst trades ever when he sent WR DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals for RB David Johnson. Hopkins has been a Top-3 receiver for the last seven seasons and with Antonio Brown out of the league, he’s been a Top-2 receiver while David Johnson continues to deal with injuries and has seen his yards per carry dip below four the last two seasons while losing his starting job to Kenyan Drake last season.

QB Deshaun Watson is still one of the best in the league and is worth more wins than Hopkins in a season, but it’s still a big hit to their chances. They added Randall Cobb to give them a decent starting receiver group if they can stay healthy, but we’ve yet to see Will Fuller stay healthy and they’ll need him for a chance to make a run for the playoffs this season.

Jacksonville Jaguars: Yes (+725), No (-1250)

The Jaguars have unloaded a bunch of strong to great defensive players over the last year or two and defense was the Jaguars calling card and reason for making the AFC Championship game in 2017. That team is gone and even though Jacksonville has remained active in free agency, they don’t have the horses to compete this season. Gardner Minshew played well as a rookie but he’s not going to take this team on his back with so few weapons. D.J. Chark and Leonard Fournette are good players, but not enough to overcome a weak defense in 2020.

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