The Jacksonville Jaguars are 12 games into the Doug Pederson era, but the head coach hasn’t yet faced off against the team’s biggest rival: the Tennessee Titans.
It’s the only franchise that has been in the same division as the Jaguars for the latter’s entire history, and no team has played against the Jaguars more times than the Titans.
Pederson doesn’t want to dwell on that history ahead of the Week 14 matchup in Nashville, though.
“We can’t get caught up in the rivalry and the hooplah, we’ve got to be business as usual,” Pederson said Monday. “We’ve got a lot of mistakes that we’ve got to fix and correct, and that’s kind of what this week is going to be about, making sure that we’re on track that way and getting back to fundamentals, details and focusing on that within a game plan.
“We know they’re obviously top of the division. They let one slip away [Sunday] just like we did. You’ve got two teams that are kind of licking their wounds this week, and we’ve got to travel again, on the road, and we’ve got to be able to have a great week of preparation and practice.”
The Titans fell to 7-5 with their back-to-back losses — including a 35-10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday — but would be on the verge of clinching the AFC South if they beat the Jaguars in Week 14.
A loss would eliminate Jacksonville, while a win would keep alive the team’s slim chances at a division title.
Tennessee has a 34-21 lead in the all-time series against Jacksonville and have won nine out of the last 10 meetings. The last time the Jaguars won a game in Nashville was in November 2013.