Unlike many teams in the NFL, the Jacksonville Jaguars still have a lot to play for in Week 18. They’ll likely need to notch their eighth win in a row to clinch the AFC South and ensure that they host a playoff game this season. That means that Trevor Lawrence and the rest of the starters can’t afford to take the day off like stars on some of the other Super Bowl contenders around the league.
Beating the Tennessee Titans in the regular-season finale wouldn’t just give Jacksonville the division. The Jaguars could grab the two seed or even No. 1 with a win if things break their way in a couple of the other games around the NFL. They shouldn’t have any problem dispatching the 3-13 Titans, but they can’t go into this one too casually and let it turn into a trap game.
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) and Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward (1) embrace after the game at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. | Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Titans expected to put up a fight
The Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans have trended in opposite directions all season. While Jacksonville was able to retool the roster, rebuild its coaching staff, and go from four wins in 2024 to legitimate title contenders in one year, the Titans are just starting their new era with rookie quarterback Cam Ward.
They’ve already fired his first head coach, Brian Callahan, after a disappointing start to the campaign for both the quarterback and the team overall. Interim Mike McCoy, who coincidentally is Trevor Lawrence’s former quarterbacks coach, has engineered a strong push from Ward in the second half of the season.
Mike McCoy said the biggest lesson he learned from working with Trevor Lawrence that he’s applied to Cam Ward is positive reinforcement. It’s been a week to week process. pic.twitter.com/lrCeG3SasS
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) December 31, 2025
The Jaguars are favored by nearly two touchdowns in this game, but NFL.com’s panel of editors is expecting a closer affair. All five picked Jacksonville to win, but only by an average margin of 10.4 points. Gennaro Filice is predicting a 27-16 loss for the Titans: “In the final game of a trying rookie season, Cam Ward won’t have to look far for hope — it will be quarterbacking the opposing team. Like Ward, Trevor Lawrence was a No. 1 overall pick, and also like Ward, Lawrence suffered through a rough debut campaign that included the midseason firing of his head coach.”
“After an unremarkable first few months under new coach Liam Coen, Lawrence has been on an absolute tear since Thanksgiving, with 16 total touchdowns and one turnover over the last five Sundays. The man’s playing the best football of his career, winning fantasy leagues and putting Jacksonville in position to take the AFC South with a home victory over a three-win team. This feels like Trev’s moment.”
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