ESPN sees Texans edging Jaguars in AFC South
· Yahoo Sports
The Jacksonville Jaguars won the AFC South in 2025, with only the Houston Texans coming close to challenging the Jags for the division championship. As both teams head into 2026, it is assumed that the AFC South race will again be between Jacksonville and Houston, as neither the Indianapolis Colts nor the Tennessee Titans are expected to be legitimate contenders.
ESPN's AFC South reporters — D.J. Bien-Aime (Texans), Michael DiRocco (Jaguars), Turron Davenport (Titans) and Stephen Holder (Colts) — are looking at what is ahead for the division, and specifically, if the Jaguars can be back-to-back champions. Unfortunately, ESPN is predicting that the Texans will come out ahead of the Jags in 2026.
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The Texans received three first-place votes, while the Jaguars received only one. Tennessee and Indianapolis did not receive any.
Interestingly, ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI) predicted win total is almost identical. The Texans barely edge ahead, with 9.2 wins to the Jaguars' 9. This is further noteworthy considering Houston has a slightly easier strength of schedule than that of the Jaguars.
If anything, this only reinforces how narrow the gap is believed to be between the AFC South's top two teams, setting the stage for another tightly contested race. However, there is good reason to believe the Jaguars will still end up on top in 2026.
While there is no denying that Houston's defense is among the best in the league, there are unknowns with their offense, whereas Jacksonville arguably has a more well-rounded team that poses a threat on both sides of the ball.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: ESPN sees Texans edging Jaguars in AFC South