Titans-Jaguars Showdown Set for Saturday Night

The matchup to determine first place in the AFC South will be the second half of an ESPN doubleheader that kicks off the final week of the 2022 NFL season.

Jasen Vinlove/USA Today Sports

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Titans won’t have too much time to think about what’s at stake when they face the Jacksonville Jaguars in their final game of the 2022 season.

That’s because the NFL announced Sunday night that the matchup to determine first place in the AFC South will take place at 7:15 p.m. (CST) on Saturday at Jacksonville.

It will be the second half of an ESPN doubleheader of NFL games that day. The first game will be an AFC West matchup between Kansas City and Las Vegas.

The complete Week 18 schedule (the remaining 14 games will take place on Sunday) will be released Monday, but the first-place Jaguars (8-8) and second-place Titans (7-9) can get started on preparations for one of the final weekend’s most meaningful contests.

“This is about going out there and performing,” coach Mike Vrabel said Friday. “The players that go out there have to perform and have to do their job. They have to do their job well, not just show up and walk out there. That won't be enough.”

If Tennessee wins, the teams will finish with identical overall records and a split of the season series. The Titans will finish first by virtue of the better division record. Both teams are currently 3-2 against their rivals.

If Jacksonville wins, it will finish two games ahead of Tennessee and capture its second AFC South title. The only other time the Jaguars finished on top of the division that was created in 2002 was five years ago (2017).

Tennessee has finished first each of the last two seasons and was in control of the division in this one until a losing streak that reached six games with Thursday’s 27-13 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Jacksonville has finished last each of the past four seasons and five of the last six. Four straight wins beginning with a 36-22 triumph over the Titans on Dec. 11, has put the Jaguars in sole possession of first place and a chance to close it out.

“Everything that happened, everything that everybody is saying, the good, the bad, none of it matters,” Vrabel said. “The only thing that matters is how prepared we are and how ready we are to go down there to execute. Then ultimately how we perform on gameday with a lot on the line.”