The AFC South-leading Jacksonville Jaguars (9-7) will play the Tennessee Titans (5-11) at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn on Sunday.
If the Jaguars – who snapped a four-game losing streak with a 26-0 victory over the Carolina Panthers at EverBank Stadium Sunday – win, they will win a second consecutive AFC South title.
If they lose, they cannot win the South – though they could make the playoffs as a wild card if the Baltimore Ravens beat the Pittsburgh Steelers Saturday and if the Denver Broncos lose to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Jaguars coach Doug Pederson is well aware that the team controls its own destiny, and he’s not having his guys run from the challenge, according to John Oehser of Jaguars.com:
“‘We embrace it,’ Head Coach Doug Pederson said Monday. “We could’ve done better in a few games here recently and we wouldn’t be in this situation, but we are. We own it, we’re looking forward to the opportunity Sunday.”‘
The Jaguars played last week without quarterback Trevor Lawrence due to a shoulder injury, but the odds are good that he makes his return for the Week 18 matchup with the Titans. Jacksonville reportedly plans to use Lawrence in their final regular season game in Week 18 against the Titans if they need to win to reach the playoffs. Lawrence’s absence in Week 17 was the first missed game of his NFL career.
In 15 games this season, Lawrence has thrown for 3,736 yards, with 19 touchdowns to 12 interceptions.
It’s not all good news on the injury front for the Jaguars, unfortunately. Jacksonville lost their star kick returner Jamal Agnew to a leg injury that will end up holding him out for the rest of the season.
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