Big Cat Country
The most important thing Jaguars fans need to know heading into this Week 18 matchup against the Titans is that Jacksonville still has a path to the AFC’s top seed.
The Jags are currently on top of the AFC South and penciled into the third seed in the AFC, but the Texans are hot on their heels at 11-5. Jacksonville’s a game behind the top two seeds, the first-place Broncos and the Patriots, and their very narrow path to the top AFC seed includes a win against the Titans, plus a Broncos loss to the Chargers (currently a seven-seed in the AFC) and a Patriots loss to the Dolphins. Anything can happen, and in division games the possibility for chaos is often turned up to 11, but Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert won’t be playing this week. If the Jags beat the Titans but either the Chargers or Patriots win, the second seed is also a possibility, and if the Jags, Patriots, and Broncos all win, the seeding stays where it is currently.
And if the Jaguars don’t beat the Titans despite being an objectively better team, and the Texans win, the Jags could still lose the AFC South and land in a Wild Card spot. The Titans don’t want to be on the receiving end of the Jaguars’ division-clinching celebration, and they’ll surely do whatever they can to prevent it — but we are talking about the Titans, and the Jags are double-digit favorites. The Texans face the Colts at home, and instead of literal grandpa Philip Rivers, Indianapolis will go in an entirely different direction and roll with rookie Riley Leonard, a sixth-round pick who played for Duke and Notre Dame and will be making his first NFL start.
A win against the Titans would be the Jaguars’ eighth in a row.
Here are the latest standings ahead of Week 18.
