The Tennessee Titans are gearing up for a trip to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars in Week 17. This will be the second and final meeting between the division rivals in the 2024 season.
In the first matchup, these teams put on performances that nobody who’s not a fan or media member willingly watched. The game featured rain and just one touchdown, with the Jaguars winning, 10-6.
At BetMGM, the Jaguars are favored by just 1 point over the Titans. Now, let’s identify five things to know ahead of this matchup.
First meeting was an offensive abomination
These teams met at the beginning of December and it was not easy on the eyes. Neither team reached 300 yards of offense and only one touchdown was scored.
Unfortunately for the Titans, one touchdown was all it took to give the team another loss. Will Levis played badly, and the play-calling was equally atrocious. There were almost no positives to take from this matchup.
Will the rematch be any better? It can’t possibly be worse.
Rudolph’s first shot at the Jaguars as a Titan
Mason Rudolph will be starting for the Titans at quarterback this go-round. As mentioned above, the offense can’t possibly be worse with Rudolph than it was with Levis against this defense.
Rudolph did play against the Jaguars once previously in his career. That game was in 2020 and Rudolph came in the game just to kneel a few times. The Steelers won that game, 27-3, so here’s to hoping for a similar result this weekend.
Titans seeking to avoid being swept by Jaguars for just 4th time ever
Since moving to Tennessee, the Titans have only been swept in the season series with the Jaguars three times. The most recent time was during the 2022 season.
In most seasons, the Titans can rely on picking up at least one win against their division rival. Even when the Titans went 2-14 in 2014, one of those wins was against the Jaguars.
Getting swept by a bad Jaguars team would show just how putrid this version of the Titans is.
2025 NFL draft implications
If the season ended on Thursday, the Titans would have the No. 4 pick while the Jaguars would have the No. 3 pick.
With another loss to the Jaguars, however, the Titans would leap their rivals for the No. 3 pick. This could be crucial considering the Titans need a quarterback, as do the New York Giants who currently have the No. 1 pick.
Everybody will want to beat the Jaguars, but losing doesn’t sound so bad if it gets you closer to a potential franchise quarterback.
Can the Titans stop Mac Jones?
Mac Jones didn’t exactly light up the stat sheet in the first meeting, but he did enough to win. Getting swept by the Jaguars is embarrassing enough, but getting swept by Jones is one of the most embarrassing things I can imagine.
The Titans did force Jones to throw two interceptions in the last game, but couldn’t prevent the quarterback from driving down the field for a game-winning score. That can’t be the case again.
