Source: tennessean.com

We are just days away from the summer and if this were an ordinary year, our minds would soon be turning to training camp battles with the pre-season just 2 months away. But this year is everything but ordinary, due to the lockout and the labor unrest. Right now the players who were drafted in April cannot practice with their new teams (95% of them doesn’t even got their own playbook yet) and undrafted (college players) and veteran free agency hasn’t even started yet. It seems the solution is still weeks away, which gave me an idea. Let’s see how much the lockout and its consequences impact the teams of the AFC South – who is in big trouble and who has an advantage from the labor situation?

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Source: espn.com

1. It turns out that the long-term gains from the Oakland game had some short-term consequences. Though the Jaguars benefited from a hard-fought win, it became apparent against the Colts that the Raiders game may have drained the team mentally and physically. The players were certainly excited and focused for the game in Indy, but it was obvious by the way the Colts manhandled the Jags on both lines that our team was out of character. When the Colts run for that much and the Jags run for that little, there is a piece of the story missing from the box score.

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Source: jaguars.com

• 1.  The Jaguars are going to be the 2010 AFC South champions. Despite the surprising one-game lead the Jags currently hold over Indianapolis, the Colts will be division champs if they win out. This makes the December 19th game in Indy absolutely pivotal for both teams, as it has effectively become the AFC South championship game, which of course means hosting at least one home playoff game. And I like the Jaguars’ chances; despite a tough loss in New York, the Jaguars are undeniably firing on all cylinders. The offense is balanced and efficient and the defense is playing aggressively, while minimizing the egregious breakdowns in coverage and form we saw early in the season. The Colts are embarrassingly one-dimensional on offense and defense, with no running game or run defense to speak of. This will allow the Jags to exert their will on offense, control the clock, and focus all of their defensive efforts on stopping Picksix Manning and his receivers in the limited opportunities they will have the ball in their hands. If the Jaguars can limit Manning (or force him to limit himself, as has been the case recently), they should walk away from Lucas Oil Stadium as division champs.  The Colts are an indoor, undersized, finesse (read: WEAK) team – they are NOT looking forward to playing the Jacksonville squad they saw brutalize the Titans, who were supposed to be the tough guys in the division.

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