Showdown at The Bank: Jaguars game against Dallas sold out, with the playoffs on the line

Sunday's game between the Jaguars and the Dallas Cowboys at TIAA Bank Field has all the elements for a meaningful late-season NFL game.

And from the Jaguars' standpoint, who would have thought that was possible, one year after Urban Meyer was fired?

The franchise still has a long way to go. The Jaguars are 5-8 and fortunate to be in a division where that puts them two games off the lead held by the Tennessee Titans (7-6) with four games to play — one of them a home game against the Titans on Jan. 8.

Had the Jags not lost inexplicably at home to Houston (it's still the Texans' only victory of the season) and blown golden opportunities to beat Denver in London, Indianapolis on the road and the New York Giants at home, their record might be as good as 9-4, which would have put them in command of the AFC South.

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But that was October and this is now. The math says the Jaguars can still win their division and that quest can get a huge boost on Sunday if the Jags can upset the Cowboys (10-3) in front of what could be the largest crowd since 69,442 watched a 10-3 playoff victory over Buffalo on Jan. 8, 2018.

The game is sold out and a limited number of standing-room-only tickets are being sold. Tickets can only be found on the secondary markets.

"I want our guys to experience these moments," coach Doug Pederson said. "These are moments that you want to be in and see where your team actually is against really good opponents.”

Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, arguably the hottest player behind center in the NFL in the past month, said no explanations are necessary to a team that hasn't faced a game like this since the 2017 playoff run.

"I think we all understand how important this game is," he said. "Every game is important, but especially with where we’re at ... backs up against the wall, and we’ve got to fight our way out, and I think we’ve got the perfect group to do it."

Game is huge on several levels

If the Jaguars do reach the playoffs, it would be a run on the level of the 1996 team, which had to win its last five games to reach the playoffs as a wild card.

Here's some stage-setting for why the game is the most important during a regular season since the Jaguars beat New England 31-20 in week two of 2018:

• The Jaguars are in the playoff conversation one week before Christmas Day.

• Dallas can clinch a playoff berth with a victory.

• The Cowboys are playing in Jacksonville for only the second time in franchise history and the first time in more than 16 years since losing 24-17 to the Jaguars to open the 2006 season.

• It will be perfect football weather: sunny skies and temperatures in the high-50s.

The ticket supply is tight, to say the least. The cheapest tickets found Thursday on StubHub, the NFL's official secondary ticket market partner, were around $200 for the upper decks, $300 to $400 for the end zone sections, as high as $600 for the middle deck areas and up to $800 for club seats.

The highest number of tickets distributed for a Jaguars home game so far this season was 65,644 for the New York Giants. The Jags are certainly on pace to beat that and threaten the crowd of 68,527 that watched the 2018 game against New England, the highest regular-season figure since the team stopped using tarps after the 2017 regular season.

Jaguars chief operating officer Chad Johnson said beating Tennesse 36-22 last Sunday sparked even more demand for the tickets.

“Notable wins have always built great engagement among our fanbase and Sunday’s victory over the Titans was no exception," Johnson said. "And now — thanks to a scheduling sequence — we combine that convincing win over a divisional foe with a rare visit from the Cowboys, which has elevated the anticipation in our market to unprecedented levels."

Cowboys fans will show up

When the NFL schedule was released in May and Jaguar and Cowboys fans knew the game wouldn't be in London, demand was already healthy.

"This is a game that Jaguars fans have long circled on their calendars," Johnson said. "We’re really excited to host a December matchup like this, especially one with postseason implications for both teams. It’s setting up to be a Sunday to remember.”

Of course, there will be a strong contingent of Cowboys fans at the game. Dallas has long been among the handful of NFL teams that is a national brand and the Jaguars will be faced with the task of taking them out of the game early.

"It's going to be an electric atmosphere," said Pederson, who was 4-6 against the Cowboys as Philadelphia's coach from 2016-20. "I know the Cowboys travel well. I've been a part of these games for a while. It should be fun."

Defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell pointed out that as long as visiting fans are able to purchase Jaguars tickets in large amounts, crowd noise from opposing fans will be an issue.

“We understand that the Cowboys travel well, and it’s going to be a little different at our stadium," he said. "But our fans will be there, and they’re going to be pulling for us. We understand that we go out there, we play for our fans, but we play for ourselves also. We’re playing for those 53 guys that are out there. We’ll go out there, and we’ll be that tight-knit group, and go out there and cheer for each other.”

The Jaguars won't be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs if they lose, but there's no margin for error after that. And regardless of the outcome, the Jags will need to have a shorter memory than normal with a road trip to play the New York Jets next Thursday.

"I think for us pretty much every game is going to be a playoff atmosphere for us because of what's at stake," said Marvin Jones Jr. "But the Cowboys coming here ... it will be hype."

Crowding The Bank

The top-10 attended Jaguars games at TIAA Bank Field since the team discontinued the use of tarps after the 2017 regular season:

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars vs. Cowboys: In late December, a meaningful home game with a sell-out crowd