AFC South Week 3 power rankings: Colts have a hard time keeping up

No. 1 team in the AFC South ahead of Week 3: The Jacksonville Jaguars

Nobody should really be surprised the Jacksonville Jaguars are currently the best team in the AFC South. Then again, that doesn’t say much when you consider that the division as a whole has gone 1-5-2 over the last two weeks, with the Jags getting the only win of the bunch.

Having said that, the Jaguars have several things going for them. For starters, Trevor Lawrence has improved considerably since the end of the 2021 season. The former Clemson Tiger completed 83.3 percent of his passes with two touchdowns and no interceptions against the Colts in Week 2. This was only the second time in his young NFL career that he scored more than two passing touchdowns and threw no interceptions, and there’s a reason to think that the best is yet to come.

Moreover, the Jaguars have a couple of dynamic running backs in Travis Etienne and James Robinson. Even though the Colts made it difficult for them to run the ball, they kept feeding Robinson the ball, a decision that paid off when he broke off a 37-yard touchdown run.

Then, there’s the fact that Jacksonville has enjoyed a clean bill of health. It’s very rare for clubs to report no injuries and the Jags have done it for two straight weeks. In a sport as violent as football, this gives them a considerable advantage.

The Jaguars will fly to the West Coast to take on the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 3. They’re a 7-point underdog but they have a top 5 defense and enough firepower on offense to go toe-to-toe against the Bolts and extend their lead in the AFC South.