At 22-39, the AFC South has the worst cumulative record in football, including interdivisional games. But the AFC East and NFC South are in the race.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jaguars are in this position for the 834,765th time. Do you want to win or do you want to draft top 5?
Wherever you are, rest assured: Jags fans will brave the weather today to watch this team.
It reminds me of the existential questions at the heart of “Cowboy Bebop”: Why I watch this team (the closeness and joy of 2017 and 2022); Why do I keep cleaning things only for them to get dirty again? (Clean things are beautiful). Why do I have to wear clothes in public? (Public pressure; please wear clothes anyway).
Similar to the 1998 anime, the Jags are just three bounty hunters drifting in a cruel world solely focused on results. They settle their scores and the Titans do the business. There has been so much tension between these teams over the last decade. They are not friends.
Do you want to beat the Tennessee Titans, the Jaguars’ perennial foil, or do you want to draft Travis Hunter? Hunter played well last night at the Alamo Bowl but I’m sure he won’t be Laviska Shenault 2.0 when Press Taylor THE NAME OF THE FUTURE OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR HERE is integrated.
The Jaguars’ draft position is precarious. The New York Football Giants are on two wins, the New England Patriots (3-13) have already suffered their 40-7 defeat this week and four other teams including the Jags are on three wins. Three teams are on four victories. The Saints are at five. That’s 10 football teams and draft spots.
At 22-39, the AFC South has the worst cumulative record in football, including interdivisional games. But the AFC East and NFC South are in the race. These are two terrible teams and two OK teams. The Texans seem destined for a Wild Card exit.
The Titans are still bad. It’s a rebuilding year for the Titans, even if the top brass didn’t expect the post-Mike Vrabel era to disintegrate like this. They were dropped by the Colts 38-7 before rallying late for a close loss last week. You almost always come away with a bad first year as a head coach.
Instead of struggling Will Levis, they’ll rely on Mason Rudolph at QB, who you probably remember best for Myles Garrett trying to decapitate him with a helmet. Rudolph was one of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first quarterbacks after Big Ben and his play reminded this franchise of the urgency of finding a capable successor like an aging Russell Wilson.
The Jags’ loss to the error-prone Raiders last week was another reminder of this adrift ghost ship of a season. The Jaguars have played like a three-win team in the top 5. I don’t know how far you can envision a 10-6 win in Week 13. Tank Bigsby and Brian Thomas Jr. are playing well. The offense and defense have alternated between terrible performances, so you never know what you’re going to get.
This is the last home game of the season and the year. It’s like a Viking funeral.
