Opinion
The NFL is on the doorstep of the always-exciting post season, however there is still plenty of business to be dealt with in the regular season.
Before I dive into one of the must-watch games this week, I’d like to pay my respects to Damar Hamlin and his family, after Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest during the most recent edition of Monday Night Football.
Hamlin reportedly remains in critical condition, although thankfully is showing signs of improvement.
The Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans will face off in a fight for the AFC South championship, as the loser goes home and the winner advances to the playoffs.
The Titans were a part of a surprisingly close game last week on Thursday night football against the Cowboys.
That game did not reflect how much of a bore fest the selected Thursday night football games have been this season.
The Titans rested many of their starters, as well as being riddled with injuries. They fought strongly, however were defeated 27-13. The reason that selected players were rested was due to the bizarre factor that they would have to beat Jacksonville this week, no matter what happened against Dallas.
This might be a struggle for NRL and AFL fans to wrap their heads around. The reason they didn’t have to win, and losing wasn’t too much of a consequence, was because they held the exact same record as the Jaguars entering last week (7-8) and they had beat Jacksonville earlier on in the season.
Therefore, they held the tie break advantage over them.
The Jaguars were able to win last week’s fixture, which means they have a record (8-8) which is one-game better than the Titans, who currently stand at 7-9.
One scenario is the Titans win this week’s fixture, which as I explained before would book their ticket to the post-season.
If Jacksonville win, then they will have the better record. This would gift them a playoff berth.
These are obviously the two most likely scenarios, however if it somehow ends in a tie, then Jacksonville progress, due to obviously having eight games won, rather than the Titans being victorious seven times this season.
To sum it up, the Jaguars need to win or draw. Tennessee must win and cannot settle for a tie.
The Titans seemed to have the division locked up, however they’re on a six-game losing streak and have significantly collapsed.
This streak included an embarrassing loss against the Texans in Week 16. What could go wrong for Tennessee, did go wrong as the only team that had the chance to contest for their division-leading position was the Jaguars and they’ve won five of their past six games.
From what looked like a cruise home for Mike Vrabel’s team, has turned into a do or die situation in the final week.
Trevor Lawrence will lead his team out to a rare Saturday night matchup as strong favourites, which is not surprising as the Titans remain flooded with injuries.
Two of the guys which are at the centre of attention on the injury list are Treylon Burks and quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
Burks status is currently questionable and was limited at Wednesday’s practice. On the other hand, Tannehill has no chance of returning.
The man who will replace Ryan is undecided, as Malik Willis has been the back-up quarterback all season, however Josh Dobbs made his NFL debut against Dallas and put up some quality numbers.
Dobbs completed 20 of 39 passes and threw for 232 yards. This is only two yards short of Malik Willis’ total yards from three starts combined.
The game could certainly be closer than many people think, in fact it could be a divisional classic, as both teams have everything to play for and its not just a playoff spot on the line, but theirs also a division title to play for.
Score prediction: 20-17 for Jacksonville
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