Brian Thomas Jr. Powers Jaguars to a Sweep of Bitter Rival Titans

The Jacksonville Jaguars left their home finale with yet another win over the Tennessee Titans.

Dec 29, 2024; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr (7) catches the ball against Tennessee Titans cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr. (29) in the second quarter at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images / Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images

Things do not get much bleaker than the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans clash in Week 17.

A barely-filled stadium of faithful fans sat in hopes for a rare Jaguars victory in 2024, braving harsh rain conditions before kickoff and even harsher football conditions between two 3-12 teams led by veteran backup quarterbacks.

Still, someone had to leave EverBank Stadium with a win.

The Jaguars flexed their 2024 dominance over the Titans, with Sunday's win giving Jacksonville a sweep of Tennessee on the season and their fifth win against the Titans over the last two seasons thanks to a 20-13 win.

With nothing left to play for in the 2024 season, the Jaguars can at least take solace that there is an AFC South team in worse shape than they are, and it just happens to be their fiercest rival.

The player whose performance most pushed the Jaguars to victory was star receiver Brian Thomas Jr., who caught an 11-yard touchdown with 7:05 left to give the Jaguars a 20-10 lead.

Thomas finished the game with seven catches for 91 yards and a touchdown, continuing a dominant rookie season that has seen him take over games week in and week out.

Jacksonville took an early lead on a 48-yard Cam Little field goal, the result of a nine-play, 38-yard drive that saw Mac Jones hit a few key third-downs.

After getting backed up in their own end zone on the following drive, a 15-yard run and a 26-yard catch by Travis Etienne set the Jaguars up near midfield. The Jaguars' ineffective running game, which had runs go for two yards or less on six of the first nine carries, would doom the drive before a third down sack of Jones.

Jacksonville would go on to outplay the Titans throughout the first half despite the slow first quarter, however. After rookie defensive tackle Jordan Jefferson deflected a Mason Rudolph pass at the line of scrimmage, linebacker Devin Lloyd recorded his first interception of the season.

The turnover was then followed by a 17-yard catch-and-run and an 18-yard gain on a reverse by star Jaguars rookie receiver Brian Thomas Jr., setting up a two-yard touchdown pass to Parker Washington to give the Jaguars a 10-0 lead. Thomas finished the first half with five catches for 71 yards, along with an 18-yard run.

Thomas continued to beat up on the Titans secondary, catching a 31-yard pass on the following drive to get the Jaguars into field goal territory. After a 44-yard field goal from Little to make it 13-0, the Titans finally got into scoring range of their own thanks a to a 4th-and-3 conversion from Rudolph, leading to a chip-shot field goal going into halftime.

Tennessee managed to double-dip on the scoring drives, scoring on their first drive after halftime thanks to a healthy dose of Tyjae Spears and Calvin Ridley. Eventually, the Titans scored their first touchdown of the day after Rudolph found tight end Nick Vannett on an eight-yard pass to make it 13-10.

Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen took over the game on the following drive, singlehandedly forcing a Titans punt thanks to a tackle for loss, a sack and a third-down tackle on back-to-back-back plays. Hines-Allen's eighth sack of the year officially marked him as 2.5 sacks away from the franchise all-time sack record.

The Titans attempted to crawl back in the game with a 28-yard field goal from Ex-Jaguars kicker Matthew Wright with two minutes left in the game, but an Antonio Johnson pass breakup on fourth down ended the game on the final drive.

The Jaguars will improve to 4-12. Next week, they finish their season vs. the Indianapolis Colts.

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