JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Worst to first.
Laughingstock to the real deal.
Home for the playoffs to hosting a playoff game.
The Jaguars — yes, the Jaguars! — are champions of the AFC South and headed to the postseason for the first time since 2017.
Jacksonville dug itself out of an early deficit and beat the loathed rival Titans 20-16 at a rocking, sold-out crowd at TIAA Bank Field on Saturday night. For the first 57 minutes, that didn’t look possible. Tennessee controlled the pace and dragged the Jaguars into a game of field position and field goals before defense delivered the clincher.
Rayshawn Jenkins came untouched on a safety blitz and walloped Titans quarterback Joshua Dobbs to knock the ball loose. It one-hopped into the hands of Josh Allen, who went 37 yards for the clinching touchdown with 3 minutes and 1 second to play that left the crowd of 70,050 on its feet and screaming for more.
And they’ll get it. The No. 4-seed Jaguars will host the No. 5 Chargers in the wild-card round of the playoffs on Saturday at 8:15 p.m. The Jaguars hammered Los Angeles 38-10 in Week 3.
The win gives the Jaguars (9-8) the AFC South title, completing a worst-to-first flip that didn’t seem realistic in a rebuilding year under coach Doug Pederson.
Pederson even reinforced the word patience at his introductory press conference, saying that reconstructing a franchise that had back-to-back No. 1 picks in the draft would take time.
That time arrived on Saturday night.
“It’s like I told the guys a second ago, that this game tonight kind of symbolizes our season. There were some struggles. There were some highs, some lows, but in the end we had the victory,” Pederson said. “I’m so proud of the guys for the way they have just all season long just hung together and, you know, through the face of adversity at times and even through some of the high moments, you know, we just stayed the same. Just stayed the same. We just kept trusting in each other, kept building on what we do.”
That didn’t look possible, not on Saturday night and certainly not near the midway point of the season. The Jaguars were dead in the water after eight games, sitting at just 2-6 and careening towards another high pick in the draft. The light came on after that.
Jacksonville won seven of its final nine games, including its first five-game winning streak since the 2005 season. The Jaguars will be the No. 4 seed in the AFC playoffs and host a first-round game either Saturday, Sunday or Monday. According to ESPN, the Jaguars are just the fifth team since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 to go from worst in the league to division winner in a season.
“To see the stadium packed tonight was awesome,” said quarterback Trevor Lawrence. “One of the best game environments I’ve been in, honestly. It was special. They were loud all game. It was really, really cool. It was a cool experience. I’ll always remember that, so hopefully we do the same thing next week. We’re going to need it. It will be fun.”
My, how things changed in the course of a season.
In Week 18 last year, fans protested Jacksonville’s miserable season and the decision to retain general manager Trent Baalke by uniting to wear clown noses for the finale against the Colts. This time around, the Jaguars sold out their Week 18 game and had their biggest crowd in years front and center.
The Titans (7-10) tried to quash that feel-good story with a relatively blasé game plan that worked with an energy-sapping efficiency that drained the electricity from TIAA Bank Field early.
This time, it was the defense shouldering the load as Lawrence the offense had one of their worst games of the season.
Tyson Campbell picked off a Dobbs pass and took it back deep into Tennessee territory. Lawrence and the offense stalled out but Riley Patterson booted a 36-yard field goal to get Jacksonville within 16-13 one play into the fourth quarter.
The story of the night was the offense’s inability to deliver.
Twice on drives that ended with excellent defensive plays in the final quarter — a sack and then a stop on that forced Tennessee to punt from its own 15 — Jacksonville withered. The Jaguars went three and out on both. Lawrence finished 20 of 32 passing for 212 yards and a touchdown. The ground game was nonexistent (14 carries, 19 yards).
Then came the play that will be on loop throughout highlight shows for years to come.
“It’s the break we needed. I mean, again, it’s just how the defense — I think defense and special teams won this football game for us, and that’s OK. It’s OK. We found a way,” Pederson said. ”That was a great play. We needed it. We needed to find a way.”
Jenkins came untouched on a safety blitz and crushed Dobbs just as he was about to release the ball. The timing was perfect. Dobbs had been able to pick Jacksonville’s defense apart with intermediate passes and short throws all game long and nearly got that throw off.
“I always dream about making big plays. Especially when my number is called,” Jenkins said. “Especially if my coaches have the trust to call my number on a play, I take that very personal.”
It bounced and one-hopped to Allen, who scooped it up and covered 37 yards to put Jacksonville in front and touch off a wild celebration in Jacksonville. The Titans got one last shot but the Jaguars denied them on downs near midfield.
“Y’all got to watch that tape. He cut that corner so clean. I just seen it too, brother. It was clean,” Allen said of Jenkins’ blitz. “But, again, sense of urgency. It’s the playing for one another. It’s the knowing if he does his part, I’m going to do my part, and we’re going to win this game. I swear, when we came into the halftime, like, we knew we was going to win. It was just something about it. We talked about we were going to win, but it was just the feel. We were down, but we weren’t out of the fight.”
The Titans went up 10-0 with just over five minutes to play in the second quarter. Dobbs hit Chig Okonkwo on a 21-yard touchdown strike to hush the crowd. That drive was set up by a bad pitch from Lawrence to Jamal Agnew that Tennessee recovered.
The Jaguars responded in a hurry. Agnew returned the ensuing kickoff to midfield and Lawrence hit Christian Kirk on a 25-yard touchdown with 2:43 before the break.
The Titans played the type of game they needed to play.
Tennessee slowed things down and employed a ball control-style of football. Dobbs worked short and intermediate passes and did well on third down. The Titans countered Jacksonville’s touchdown drive with Bullock’s second field goal of the game, a 39-yarder as time expired, to take a 13-7 lead into the break.
Lawrence and the offense labored to do much against Tennessee. The Jaguars had a shot to take the lead on the opening drive of the third quarter but Lawrence overthrew a wide-open Zay Jones in the back of the end zone. Jacksonville was forced to settle for a 26-yard field goal from Patterson to get within 13-10. The Titans responded with a 10-play drive that Bullock ended with a 41-yard field goal.
“I mean, I think it means everything for these guys that have been here. You know, they were at an ultimate low coming off of last season obviously, and right now they’re at an ultimate high with more football to play,” Pederson said. “That’s really the roller coaster of emotion that is a football season can bring. But, you know, the guys that have been here, you can see it in their faces just how excited and proud and — it’s not relief, but it’s enthusiasm, and it means everything to them.”