NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans have one thing in common going into their regular-season finale.
Nobody is looking past Sunday.
The Jaguars (9-7) can win back-to-back AFC South titles for the first time since 1998-99, and a fourth straight victory over their oldest division rival is the simplest playoff math. They kept Tennessee from winning the division for a third consecutive year in the season finale a year ago at Jacksonville.
Coach Doug Pederson refuses to even share other scenarios that could earn his Jaguars a playoff berth beyond just beating Tennessee.
“I’m not going to cloud their mind with stuff,” Pederson said. “Obviously, our focus is trying to beat Tennessee and regardless of records and who’s playing and who’s not playing, this is always a really good football game and it’s a four-quarter game. That’s our focus right now.”
The Titans (5-11) have known their season ends Sunday since being eliminated well before the finale for the first time in coach Mike Vrabel’s six seasons. This also is the final game for two-time NFL rushing champ Derrick Henry and veteran quarterback Ryan Tannehill under their current deals.
“It’s definitely going to be a moment,” Henry said. “The last game of the season, and I’ll be a free agent after this year. Been here eight years, so I’m just be grateful to whoever shows up and I know the fans will come out and, hopefully we put on a show, be able to finish strong.”
Tannehill lost his job as the starter after a sprained ankle in mid-October to rookie Will Levis. But Levis was knocked out of his second game in three weeks after a defender stepped on his right foot in last week’s 26-3 loss in Houston. Tannehill and Henry are 32-20 when starting together.
Levis’ injury giving Tannehill a chance to start has kept the veteran focused on this game and not his future.
“We have a chance to go out on the right foot,” Tannehill said. “We want to go out and play well and come up with a win.”
The Jaguars routed the visiting Titans with Levis starting on Nov. 19. Wide receiver Christian Kirk, who has missed four games with a groin injury, remembers the Jaguars and Titans battling to the final minutes a year ago.
“Thankfully we have a lot of veteran leadership and guys that were there that were able to experience that,” Kirk said. “So now … we can kind of bring that sense of urgency and that intensity and what to expect going into Sunday.”
TURNING 30
Henry turned 30 on Thursday, and the now four-time Pro Bowler ranks fifth in the NFL with 1,014 rushing yards. He also keeps climbing the all-time charts with each rushing touchdown. The 6-foot-3, 247-pound running back already has changed his diet to eliminate gluten, dairy and artificial sweeteners.
Asked about wanting to disprove critics who point to 30 as the point where NFL running backs drop off, Henry smiled and said, “We’ll see. Stay tuned. We’ll see.”
Henry needs 105 yards rushing to pass Shaun Alexander (9,453 yards in nine seasons) and become the NFL’s all-time leading rusher from the University of Alabama.
TURNOVER-FREE FOOTBALL
The Jaguars played turnover-free for only the eighth time in Pederson’s two seasons last week while snapping a four-game skid by beating Carolina 26-0. Not coincidentally, they are 6-2 in those games.
Ball security became a rallying cry for Pederson during the losing streak, and players finally responded against Carolina. Jacksonville hasn’t had consecutive games without a giveaway since early in the 2022 season.
Watching from afar could benefit Trevor Lawrence, who turned the ball over eight times during the skid. He sat out that game after hurting his right, throwing shoulder, and he now has an injured finger on his left hand.
“It definitely helps a guy like Trevor, your quarterback,” Pederson said. “You’re seeing the game a little bit calmer, that 30,000-foot perspective. … There’s definitely things that I think he took away that he can definitely use the next time he gets an opportunity.”
THOUSAND-YARD WATCH
Both Jaguars running back Travis Etienne and receiver Calvin Ridley could surpass the 1,000-yard mark against the Titans.
Etienne has 951 yards rushing, and Ridley has 910 yards receiving. Both anticipated being well past the milestone by now, though they’ve exceeded expectations in scoring. Etienne has 11 rushing TDs and another receiving. Ridley has a team-high seven TD receptions.
The duo has combined for more than half of Jacksonville’s 37 offensive touchdowns this season.
___
AP Pro Football Writer Mark Long contributed to this report.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
