This week’s game might be the Jacksonville Jaguars’ most important game of the season so far. And it’s against the Carolina Panthers.
Four weeks ago, the Jaguars were in contention for the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC. Now, they’re sitting just over .500 and barely holding onto the AFC South lead.
Jacksonville had a golden opportunity to put some space between itself and Indianapolis and Houston, but a blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made the team’s Week 17 game against Carolina even more important.
According to NFL.com, a win against the Panthers would give the Jaguars an 81 percent chance at making the playoffs. A loss would drop that number all the way to 38 percent.
Here are five Jaguars players to watch against the Panthers in Week 17: