Five Questions Ahead of Titans' Season Finale vs. Jaguars

The Tennessee Titans are playing their final game of the regular season on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 18.

To learn more about the AFC South through their current state of affairs, we spoke with Jacksonville Jaguars On SI reporter John Shipley.

The Jags win the AFC South with a victory. What has led them to getting into first place?

Liam Coen has been a legit coach of the year-level impact. Coen has completely turned around the culture of the franchise and elevated the unit into one of the best offense’s in franchise history, led by the rapid improvement of Trevor Lawrence.

Lawrence is playing the best football of his career and Coen has him getting better at a consistent clip, which has helped the offense take off. Add in a much-improved defense that has 30 takeaways this season and the Jaguars are a tough out for any team.

Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward is sacked by Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen. | Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The team looked a little suspect against the Indianapolis Colts. What happened in Week 17 that nearly led to a loss?

Red-zone turnovers. The Jaguars turned the ball over twice in the red-zone — once due to a fumbled hook and ladder and once due to Trevor Lawrence’s first interception in a month. The Jaguars then went for a fourth-down attempt in FG range before turning the ball over on downs.

Add in two bad kickoffs that set up short fields for 10 Colts points, and those are the only five plays that kept this from being a blowout.

Is this a trap game for the Jaguars?

Every game is a trap game when you’re a playoff team, but the Jaguars have taken care of business this year. They only have four losses on the entire season, and only one of those losses came against a team not in the playoffs. That loss had some wacky moments, too, including a blown DPI call on Travis Hunter on fourth down.

Otherwise, the Jaguars have taken care of business against lower-rated teams.

How high is the Jags' ceiling going into the playoffs?

There is no big bad wolf in the AFC this year. I truly believe everything but the Pittsburgh Steelers and probably the Baltimore Ravens have a shot to run the table and make a run at the playoffs. The Jaguars are one of those teams after getting hot at just the right time.

What’s your prediction for the game?

Jaguars 27, Titans 16. I think the Titans show some fight, but the Jaguars close this thing out the right way and win the AFC South for the first time since 2022.

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