The Jacksonville Jaguars only need to beat the reeling Tennessee Titans on Saturday to earn the AFC South title. But the Jaguars are also three Sunday results away from a postseason berth, even if they lose against the Titans
If the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, and Cleveland Browns all win in Week 18 — beating the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and Pittsburgh Steelers, respectively — the Jaguars would be in line for a wild card berth
With those three results, every team in the AFC East other than the Bills would finish with matching 8-9 records. The Pittsburgh Steelers would also drop to 8-9 on the year.
If the Jaguars slipped up against the Titans and finished with an 8-9 record, they’d have the tiebreaker over any other team thanks to their superior record in games against AFC opponents.
Jacksonville’s Week 17 road game against the Houston Texans was largely billed as meaningless with Doug Pederson explaining his decision not to rest starters. Now the 31-3 win has the Jaguars with multiple paths to the postseason.
Of course, the much less stressful way into the playoffs is to take out the Joshua Dobbs-led Titans on Saturday.