The eighth week of the NFL season is in the books. It’s time to look at each team in the AFC South and grade their offense, defense, and coaching, and give out final grades on the latest games.
Indianapolis Colts
Oct 19, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor (28) takes a selfie after the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Offense: A+
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Daniel Jones completed over 72% of his passes, threw for 272 yards, three touchdowns, and didn’t have a turnover. Surprisingly, he was sacked three times, which was the most in a game this season. However, it didn’t change the efficiency of the offense with Jonathan Taylor rushing for 150 yards in a game for the second time this season and recording three touchdowns for the fourth time in the last six games. It’s been a dynamic offense that keeps on trucking.
Defense: A
The defense totaled eight TFLs, four sacks, and recorded an interception. Indy gave up a 41-yard rush to Tyjae Spears, but he only had 18 yards on his other eight carries on the day. They did allow Chimere Dike to produce at will with seven receptions on eight targets for 93 yards. They kept Cam Ward under 58% completion in this game after he had set career-highs the previous two weeks in that area.
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Coaching: A+
The Colts only had three penalties for the second straight week. It’s the fifth time in eight games in which they have had five or fewer penalties in a game. They have the defense playing together and as a complete unit, with the offense doing the same. They’ve been a complete team this year, leading them to the best record in the NFL.
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Overall: A+
In a season in which there have been surprises almost weekly and teams have had let-down games, the Colts have blown out the bad teams and competed against the good teams. It was another complete team win this week, and now, after an easy first half of the season schedule-wise, they’ll head into the tougher part of their schedule over the second half of the season.
Houston Texans
Oct 20, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) throws a pass during the first quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Ng-Imagn Images
Offense: A-
C.J. Stroud played some of his best ball of the year and spread it around to all of his weapons, with five players recording 4+ catches, including three rookies. He played great despite being without his top receiving option, Nico Collins. He’s also missing Christian Kirk, and Tank Dell hasn’t played all year after his severe injury in 2024. The running game got going with Woody Marks averaging 5.6 yards per carry. Marks had a complete game with a 23-yard rush and a 50-yard reception. The only thing keeping this from being an “A+” game is due to the Texans still struggling in the red zone, going 1 for 5 in a game that they dominated between the 20s.
Defense: A+
The Texans held Christian McCaffrey to a season low in rush attempts (8), rushing yards (25), receptions (3), and receiving yards (43). The receptions were half of his previous low in a game in 2025. McCaffrey had been the engine of the San Francisco offense this year, mostly as a receiving option. The 49ers car was left sitting on four flats with McCaffrey as a non-factor. Houston’s defense was so dominant that it was almost a bye week for the unit, as they only saw the field for 18 minutes and 38 seconds. It’s the third time in their last four games where they held the opposing offense to less than 24 minutes in time of possession.
Coaching: B+
It was a great team win, but Houston still didn’t have their offense ready to perform in the red zone, made questionable personnel decisions on that side of the bal,l and had eight penalties. The Texans have had 6+ penalties in every game this year except one. The 18 penalties over their last two games are their most in back-to-back games this season.
Overall: A-
It was a dominant win by the Texans, but the special teams hurt Houston in this one by allowing a big return on a kickoff, combined with a facemask that allowed San Francisco to make this one a game right before the half. To start the second half, Ka’imi Faribairn came up short of the landing zone, allowing San Francisco to start the drive at their own 40-yard line. The continued redzone woes and personnel decisions on offense, and the team’s penalties keep this from being an A+ across the board.
Tennessee Titans
Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward (1) takes the field before the game against the Los Angeles Rams at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn.
Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward (1) takes the field before the game against the Los Angeles Rams at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn – Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Offense: D-
Cam Ward saw his completion percentage drop back down to where he was in the first five weeks of the season. Ward was sacked four more times to increase his league-leading total to 34. He’s thrown an interception in six straight games and has still not had a game with more than one touchdown. The top two backs for Tennessee rushed for 103 yards, but 41 of those came on one Spears rush. Their other 19 rushes only totaled 62 yards (3.3 ypc). Dike was the bright spot on offense with him catching all but one of his eight targets for a career-high 93 yards. Tennessee didn’t get anything out of their veteran receiver Van Jefferson, who only caught one of eight targets for six yards.
Defense: D
The positive is that the Titans sacked Daniel Jones (3) more times than any other team this season. They also had five TFLs, but that’s where the positive ends, as the Colts had their way with Tennessee through the air and on the ground all day, with three scoring drives to start the game, including two touchdowns and three touchdown drives to start the second half.
Coaching: C
I can’t put this on the coaching; Tennessee is in sell-off mode and playing a team with the best record in the NFL. The Titans only had three penalties as a team for the second week in a row. Ward has thrown for 250+ yards in back-to-back games and in three of their last four, albeit he’s had 38+ pass attempts in three games during that span. While there’s not tremendous growth in the reduction of sacks, and his completion percentage dropped back down this week, Tennessee is playing with the talent of the football version of a split-squad, like what you see in spring training for MLB.
Overall: D
They are a bad team that lacks talent, that were facing the team with the best record in football. The game went exactly how you’d expect it to go. The team will be developing their youth this year and selling off their tradable pieces that the Titans don’t see in their long-term plans.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Oct 19, 2025; London, United Kingdom; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) passes the ball against the Los Angeles Rams during the first half of an NFL International Series game at Wembley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Offense: N/A
Jacksonville was on a bye, and they needed it to find out how to get back to doing what they were doing well earlier this season. That involved having Brenton Strange at tight end. During the bye week, the Jaguars needed to be making calls around the league to see if they could add a talented option with receiving ability at the position to get the Jags back on track. The good news for them is that it appears that the tight end position may have more available, good options at that position than any other in the league. I’d expect a move to be made.
Defense: N/A
On defense, the Jags were turning over the ball well in their first five games, which was setting the offense up for success. Losing Devin Lloyd from the lineup took a toll on the unit. Even before the Lloyd injury, they were still struggling to get to the quarterback. They’ll be looking to make an addition in their front seven with the emphasis on bringing in a guy on the defensive line who can get after the quarterback.
Coaching: N/A
Hopefully, Jacksonville did a lot of self-scouting to find out why they’re dropping as many passes as they have. They also need to focus on exactly the best way to utilize Travis Hunter over the second half of the season to maximize his value to the team. If they don’t trade Brian Thomas Jr., then a meeting needs to be had to find out what’s going on with him this year and how to best get him on the same page with his quarterback, Trevor Lawrence.
Overall: N/A
Before the bye, the Jaguars were a team with the arrow pointing down, after their hot start to the season. The NFL trade deadline hits two days following their upcoming game. They’ll need to be active if they’re hoping to stay in the playoff hunt with divisional rival, the Texans, nipping at their heels, and a showdown in Houston in two weeks. If they stay status quo on their roster, this could end up as a failed season for one of the most hyped teams in September.
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