10 NFL teams doomed to be worse in 2016

As in years past, the AFC South remains one of the most difficult divisions to pin down. Indeed, one could argue that all four teams have as good of a shot to win the division as any other — including the perennially shaky and hole-ridden Indianapolis Colts.

Still, simply having a healthy Andrew Luck at quarterback should pay immediate and lasting dividends for Indy. Jacksonville, meanwhile, boasts a strong passing game (highlighted by Blake Bortles and Allen Robinson) and should be slightly improved after an impressive draft and myriad offseason moves from general manager David Caldwell. And don’t sleep on the Titans, who will be expecting big things from second-year stud Marcus Mariota, while the ageless wonder that is Dick LeBeau calls the shots on defense.

So where, exactly, does this leave last season’s AFC South Champions, the Houston Texans? Admittedly, Houston does have the best defense in the defense — not to mention arguably the best head coach in Bill O’Brien. They could also easily have one of the worst offenses in the AFC, why with Brock Osweiler still an unproven commodity Lamar Miller shouldering much of the backfield load following the departure of Arian Foster.

The brief contract holdout of star wideout DeAndre Hopkins certainly didn’t help the training-camp acclimation process, either. Ditto not having franchise cornerstone J.J. Watt — who anchors one of the best defensive fronts in all of football — for any part of it.

Houston won’t be bad, but the rest of the AFC South should be better. The Texans largely took advantage of a terrible year in the division last fall only to be boat raced by the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Wild Card Round. Houston could go 10-6 just as easily as it could go 6-10.

Next: 1. Denver Broncos.