'For all the marbles': Jaguars look to take AFC South under the lights Saturday vs. Titans

The stage is set and the Jacksonville Jaguars (8-8) are looking to take care of business against the Tennessee Titans (7-9) Saturday night at 8:15 p.m. at TIAA Bank Field.

The game will decide who takes home the AFC South division title and a spot in the playoffs.

If the Jaguars can do it, they would win the division for just the second time since the NFL's realignment brought the AFC South into the picture in 2002.

Jacksonville is looking to extend a four-game winning streak while the Titans hope to break their six-game.

Saturday night's game will be broadcast in front of a national audience on ESPN, and simulcast on ABC. It marks the first time since 2011 the Jaguars will appear on the ESPN prime time slot. The game will be called by Joe Buck and Troy Aikman with Lisa Salters as the sideline reporter.

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“We understand that’s the nature of this game. It’s win and you’re in. Both teams are in the same situation. Guys have been great this week. They’ve handled it well," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said Thursday.

A win Saturday would give Jacksonville its first sweep of the Titans in divisional play since 2005. Jacksonville defeated Tennessee 36-22 earlier this year. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence completed 30-of-42 passes for 368 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for a TD.

According to SportRadar, with a win, the Jaguars would become just the fifth team in league history (since the 1970 merger) to lose five-straight games and win five-straight games in a single season and make the playoffs.

The other four teams are the 1970 Bengals, 1986 Jets, 1997 Vikings and, most recently, the 2015 Chiefs. Pederson was the Chiefs' offensive coordinator during that year.

Oddly enough, if the Dolphins make the playoffs, they'll join that group as they won five in a row before losing five in a row heading into this week.

This is a game the Jaguars have anticipated for weeks.

"They were three, four games ahead of everybody there for a long time, and I just had to make sure that our guys understood that everything is still in front of us," Pederson said. "We’ve got to play one game at a time and just focus on that one week. If we did that, it would give us an opportunity to be in Week 18 for all the marbles.”

Excitement surrounding Jaguars-Titans is palpable

There's no question fans and players are excited about Saturday's game.

According to TicketIQ, primary face-value tickets for the game were virtually sold out as of Thursday morning with only 18 listings in section 433 available on Ticketmaster.

The average secondary market list price for the game is $717, making it the most expensive game on the Week 18 schedule and the most expensive regular season game in Jacksonville that the site has ever tracked. The cheapest ticket for the game, at the time, was $183 for seats in section 403, Row Y.

It's the biggest regular-season contest in Jaguars history dating back to at least 1996 when the team was in a similar position to win and make the playoffs during the final week of the season. Essentially, Saturday's matchup is a playoff game, win and in for either team, though Jacksonville has an outside chance at a wild card bid.

Fans are expected to pack "The Bank" and the team will hand out teal "It was always the Jags" rally towels to the first 60,000 fans that make their way into the stadium prior to kickoff.

"We need them to be loud. We need them to be into the game. We're gonna make it an exciting one," Jaguars outside linebacker Josh Allen said Thursday. "We gonna do all the hard work, just go out there and enjoy the game."

Money on the line for WR Christian Kirk and Zay Jones

Jaguars wide receiver Christian Kirk enjoyed his first-career 1,000-yard season this year in Jacksonville.

But, aside from the personal milestone, Kirk is playing for something more, too. Cold hard cash.

According to Albert Breer of SI.com, Kirk has $500,000 incentives at 80, 90 and 100 catches and 1,000, 1,100 and 1,200 yards — a total of $3 million in incentives.

Kirk currently sits at 78 receptions for 1,009 yards and seven touchdowns this season.

He's already earned one of the incentives and has an opportunity for at least two more Saturday if he can catch just two passes and go for at least 91 receiving yards. With 12 catches, he can hit another incentive.

According to Breer, Jones has a $500,000 incentive for getting to 70 catches and can get $250,000 more for 80, then another $250,000 for 90. He also can get $500,000 for getting to 900 yards and another $250,000 at 1,000 and 1,100 yards.

Jones sits at 78 receptions for 802 yards and five touchdowns this season. So, he has already made $500,000 extra this year.

Jaguars get ready for Titans' Joshua Dobbs

Jacksonville's primary target Saturday will be Titans RB Derrick Henry. But, the team will have to be prepared for new starting QB Joshua Dobbs, who takes the place of rookie QB Malik Willis (who took the place of injured QB Ryan Tannehill).

Dobbs joined the Titans just 17 days ago as of Saturday and will be making his second career start. Against the Dallas Cowboys last Thursday, Dobbs completed 20-of-39 passes for 232 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Since being drafted in 2017, Dobbs has appeared in seven regular-season games.

Jaguars look to keep pre-game energy low, avoid burnout

With so much time to kill before suiting up Saturday, the Jaguars are looking to keep their energy as low as possible throughout the day to avoid burning out just a few plays into the contest.

"I don't think you have to do anything in particular," Allen said. "I know I'm not gonna be out there 'rah rah rah,' but I am gonna be focused on what I need to do."

With the excitement surrounding the game and what's at stake, it can be easy to get a bit too amped up and inevitably fall flat.

But, Jaguars receiver Marvin Jones doesn't believe this game is much different than the others Jacksonville has played considering they've needed to go on the 4-0 run in order to be in this position in the first place.

"We don't win those games, we're not sitting here talking about it, so, I think those games were just as important," Jones said Wednesday. "And we knew that, so we're treating every game like a playoff game, trying to dig ourselves out of the hole."

Teal out: Jaguars going all teal for Week 18

Earlier this week, the Jaguars announced the team would be sporting all-teal uniforms for the game against Tennessee.

On Thursday, Jacksonville announced it would also be painting the end zones teal. It will be the first time since 2020 against the Miami Dolphins the end zones were painted teal.

Jaguars list seven, Titans list five as questionable

The Jaguars will enter Saturday's matchup with seven players listed as questionable.

That includes quarterback Trevor Lawrence (toe), safeties Andrew Wingard (shoulder) and Rayshawn Jenkins (shoulder), long snapper Ross Matiscik (back), guard Brandon Scherff (abdominal and ankle), outside linebacker Travon Walker (ankle) and defensive lineman Foley Fatukasi (ankle).

All seven players are expected to suit up. Only Jenkins is listed that wasn't listed a week prior.

For the Titans, the team listed five players as questionable on its game-status report Thursday, including LB Dylan Cole (ankle), cornerback Kristian Fulton (groin), safety Amai Hooker (knee) and tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere (ankle).

The only player listed as OUT for Tennessee is CB Devontae Harris (hamstring).

Bonus: Jaguars trio has an opportunity to make history

The trio of receivers Kirk, Zay Jones and tight end Evan Engram can become the second trio in NFL history to have three newcomers top 800 yards receiving and the first since Miami in 1993.

Engram needs 61 receiving yards. He currently sits at 739 receiving yards this season. All three players were brought to the team in free agency earlier this year.

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on Twitter at @Demetrius82.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Preview: Jaguars set to host Titans in de facto AFC South title game