Standings watch: AFC South up for grabs

Four weeks into the season, all four teams have identical records

Jason Getz/USA Today Sports

Through the first quarter of the season there is no question that the AFC South is the NFL’s most competitive division.

Maybe it is not the best. After all, none of the four teams have a winning record.

No team, however, has established that it is any better or any worse than the others. The Tennessee Titans’ 24-10 victory at Atlanta on Sunday combined with losses by Indianapolis and Houston and a last-second victory by Jacksonville has created a four-way tie with each at 2-2.

If you were to break the tie, as was the case a week ago, the Titans would be the last-place team based on their division record (0-2). Their 1-2 mark against AFC teams and their strength of schedule (two down-the-line tiebreakers) also are tied with Indianapolis for the division’s worst, which means they have work to do over the remaining 12 contests.

Still, things could be worse.

“If you’re 1-3, you’re really climbing uphill,” quarterback Marcus Mariota said. “I think 2-2 is a good spot, and we’re looking forward to changing that some more.”

A look at the current AFC South standings:

Team	Record	vs. Division	vs. Conference
Houston	2-2	1-0	2-0
Indianapolis	2-2	1-0	1-2
Jacksonville	2-2	1-1	2-2
Tennessee	2-2	0-2	1-2

Sunday’s results

· Tennessee 24, Atlanta 10

· Oakland 31, Indianapolis 24

· Carolina 16, Houston 10

· Jacksonville 26, Denver 24

This week’s game

· Tennessee vs. Buffalo

· Indianapolis at Kansas City

· Jacksonville at Carolina

· Houston vs. Atlanta

In stark contrast, five of the other seven divisions have an outright leader through four games. The other two, the AFC North and NFC North, have two teams tied for the top spot. The NFC North is the only other one in which no team has a losing record. There, the Minnesota Vikings – at 2-2 – trail Green Bay (3-1), Chicago (3-1) and Detroit (2-1-1).

The Titans’ next three are all against AFC opponents and three of the next four are at home. They will not play another division game until Nov. 24.

“We’re 2-2,” coach Mike Vrabel said. “[We’ve] had some good snaps and some bad snaps and ones that we’d like to have back. But it felt great to get a win [Sunday]. … [We need to] continue to try to improve and then come back home and try to keep going where we’re at.”