Jaguars are in prime position to take over AFC South this season and beyond
The Jacksonville Jaguars are suddenly looking like the favorites to not only win the AFC South this season, but potentially take over the division for the foreseeable future.
It is a sudden turnaround for a franchise that had the worst record in the league the previous two seasons and started this season 2-6 through the first eight game.
Thanks to a rapid development from second-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the presence of a real NFL coach in Doug Pederson, and a weak division surrounding them they enter Thursday’s game against the New York Jets in a prime position to make a serious push for a home playoff game this season.
It has been the perfect storm of events to put them in this position.
Lawrence’s rapid development over the past two months has been the biggest driving force behind the Jaguars’ sudden turnaround. But it’s not the only factor involved.
The Tennessee Titans falling back to the pack with a four-game losing streak has also helped close that gap, and things are not looking any better for the Titans as they not only play the tougher remaining schedule, they also might be without starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill for the remainder of the regular season. The Titans offense has already stalled out over the past few weeks, but they looked completely incapable of moving the football in rookie Malik Willis’ only start of the season.
So, let’s look at this path for the Jaguars.
The simplest way for them to get in the playoffs: Just win out. If they win their three remaining games, including a Week 18 game against Tennessee they win the South outright. And the schedule is not exactly daunting. After playing a Zach Wilson led Jets team on Thursday, they follow that up with matchups against the one-win Houston Texans and a home game against a fading Titans team likely playing its backup quarterback.
Even if the Jaguars should happen to lose to the Jets on Thursday, they would still not be eliminated or removed from contention.
All they would need is for the Titans to lose one of the next two games (either Saturday against Houston or the following week against Dallas) and then win their own remaining two games (Houston and Tennessee).
Both paths are very manageable.
Even if it does not work out for the Jaguars this season, you have to like their long-term potential in the South. They not only look to have the best quarterback situation in the division, they have also been shockingly close in pretty much every game they have played this season. Six of their eight losses have been by a single possession and have been one or two plays away from going in a different direction.
The rest of the South is also a collection of mediocrity. The Titans have several flaws offensively, the Colts seem to be a mess with no direction, and the Texans are knee deep into a massive rebuild and seem at least a couple of years from contention.
The Jaguars not only seem to be well positioned to be favorites in their next three games this season, but they might also be the AFC South favorites heading into next year.
