The eleventh 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.
Houston Texans
Nico Collins
Oct 6, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins (12) makes a reception for a touchdown during the first quarter against the Buffalo Bills at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
Offense: C
Advertisement
Against the worst team in the NFL, Houston barely pulled out a last-second win. They struggled on third downs, in the red zone, and goal-to-go as they had all season long. The running game was mostly shut down, with the exception of a few plays. Davis Mills converted some key third downs, and Nico Collins was exceptional, but as a whole, it was a disappointing showing for a team that needed to use this as a tune-up game before a pivotal three-game stretch.
Defense: A
Houston held the Titans running backs, Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears, to a combined 14 carries for 25 yards. The Texans gave up a 39-yard reception to Chig Okonkwo late in the game, but other than that, no other player had more than 31 receiving yards in the game. Elic Ayomanor and Van Jefferson only caught five passes on 13 targets for 33 yards and a touchdown. Houston sacked Cam Ward three times, with Will Anderson Jr. also forcing and recovering a fumble. While Ward completed 65% of his passes, they were mostly quick passes to get the ball out and lived off of creating yards after the catch.
Advertisement
Coaching: C
It wasn’t a bad showing from the Texans coaching staff, but they did seem to play with the purpose of not losing, rather than going out and dominating in a win. The offense, defense, and special teams were all just “okay” with no one playing exceptionally, with the exceptions of the Texans most elite players in Nico Collins, Will Anderson Jr., and Danielle Hunter. The players won this game more than the coaching staff.
Advertisement
Overall: B-
The Texans beat the Titans earlier this season, 26-0, when they faced them in Houston. They went into that first matchup as a 0-3 team that had its back against the wall and couldn’t afford to lose. In this game, they played as a team that didn’t want to make a mistake that could cost them a win. The conservativeness almost cost them their season.
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: A-
After the complete fourth-quarter meltdown last week against the Texans, it appeared that Jacksonville could fall out of the playoff race. Instead, they responded with a dominant ground game. Trevor Lawrence wasn’t sacked in this game after being sacked 5+ times in three of his last four games. He had a passing and rushing touchdown. Travis Etienne Jr. and Bhayshul Tuten each rushed for touchdowns and 70+ yards, with LeQuint Allen Jr. chipping in 36 rushing yards on 4.5 yards per carry.
Defense: A+
Defensively, Jacksonville sacked Justin Herbert and Trey Lance three times combined and held them to 13/26 passing for 118 yards and an interception. Keenan Allen caught a 30-yard pass, and Oronde Gadsden hauled in a 28-yard gain. The Jags defense only gave up 60 passing yards total on the Chargers QB’s other 24 passes. The run game was shut down so much that Herbert led all Chargers in rushing yards with 21 yards. The rest of the team combined for 13 carries for 21 yards on the ground.
Coaching: A+
The team could have quit on themselves and the coaches after last week’s collapse; instead, they responded with their most complete effort all season. Jacksonville had committed 9+ penalties in seven of their first nine games without any games with fewer than four penalties. The Jags only had one penalty for five yards against the Chargers. It was a complete team win.
Overall: A+
The Jags scored at least one touchdown in every quarter, didn’t punt one time in the game, only had one penalty, and owned the time of possession with 37:55 to the Chargers 22:05. Against a team that entered the game at 7-3, the Jags couldn’t have asked for a better response to move past Week 10.
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+
Tennessee didn’t have a running game to speak of. Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears combined for 14 carries for 25 yards with a long of seven yards. The offense just focused on getting the ball out early and relied on their players to create after the catch. The Titans had two plays that went for more than 15 yards. Cam Ward had a 20-yard rush and completed a pass for 39 yards to Chig Okonkwo. Ward was sacked three times, including fumbling and losing possession once. Tennessee hung around in this game, but never felt like they were going to be able to secure the win.
Defense: B+
The Titans sacked Davis Mills four times in this game, which is the most a Texans quarterback has been sacked in a game this year. They held Woody Marks to only 44 rushing yards on 18 carries (2.4 ypc), but didn’t have an answer for Nico Collins when he went over the middle of the field. Collins finished the game catching nine of 10 targets for 92 yards and a touchdown. While unable to force a turnover, Tennessee did total 8 TFLs, 8 QBs, and 9 PDs in addition to their sacks.
Coaching: B-
The coaching staff had a plan to neutralize the Texans pass rush by getting the ball out quickly. Defensively, Jeffery Simmons was fired up and, in combination with T’Vondre Sweat, limited what Houston could do on offense. It was the first full game that Simmons and Sweat played together all season. It was a good showing for a team that is lacking in talent throughout their roster and could have easily mailed this game in.
Overall: C+
The Titans did lose the turnover battle and had more than eight penalties in a game for the first time since Week 2. However, this felt like a game in which Tennessee fought and played above their level. In a game in which their opponent needed to win, the Titans almost played spoiler and didn’t quit.
Indianapolis Colts
Nov 9, 2025; Berlin, Germany; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones (17) runs the ball against the Atlanta Falcons during the NFL Berlin Game at Olympic Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Offense: N/A
Indy was on a bye this week, so we’ll look at what they need to focus on in each area of interest. Offensively, it’s simple: get Daniel Jones back on track. As the schedule gets tougher, Jonathan Taylor isn’t going to be able to continue to take the entire team on his back. They’ll need Jones to play more like he did at the beginning of the season.
Defense: N/A
After DeForest Buckner went on IR, the Colts defense needs someone to become the heart of the unit. Second-year pass rusher Laiatu Latu seems like the closest to being able to level up. Latu has been dominant in bringing pressure, but will have to get home more consistently as his playing time increases due to injuries, not only to Buckner but at the defensive end position as well.
Coaching: N/A
The coaches will factor heavily into how successfully the offense and defense succeed on their improvement. They have to best put Jones in a position to succeed by knowing his strengths and limitations. On the defensive side, the injuries have piled up. The addition of Sauce Gardner and the growth of Latu could bump this unit up. Gardner has had added time with the bye to get caught up and needs to play to the level that the Colts paid to acquire his services.
Overall: N/A
As a team, they need to silence the doubters who have questions about their legitimacy based on the beginning of their schedule. They’ll get a great test coming out of the bye with a road trip to take on a Kansas City Chiefs team that has their backs against the wall as they’re currently sitting outside of the playoff picture.
Check out all of our NFL articles:https://www.thebiglead.com/category/nfl/