The Jacksonville Jaguars have not only placed themselves in the playoff race, but have opportunities to move up in week 11.
It’s the middle of November, and the tides have turned in Jacksonville in 2017. Jaguars fans are no longer looking ahead to the offseason and draft order, but instead focusing in on playoff positioning.
And for good reason.
With a hard-fought comeback win over the Los Angeles Chargers, Jacksonville has won three in a row and currently sits at 6-3. With the team doing the things necessary to win games, and having the most manageable schedule remaining in the league, the playoffs are no longer a pipe dream and are well in reach for the Jaguars.
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With the Jaguars on the playoff prowl, let’s take a look at how the playoff picture looks in week 11, and what this week’s games could mean for Jacksonville.
Here’s what the AFC playoff standings look like as we stand right now:
Division Leaders
1. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-2)
2. New England Patriots (7-2)
3. Kansas City Chiefs (6-3)
4. Tennessee Titans (6-3)
Wild Card
5. Jacksonville Jaguars (6-3)
6. Buffalo Bills (5-4)
If the playoffs started tomorrow, the Jaguars would be the five seed as the first wild card entry. If the standings did, in fact, shake out this way, Jacksonville would travel to Tennessee back-to-back weeks to play the Titans in week 17 and the first round of the playoffs.
But there is still a long road ahead, and things will change.
Here is what week 11 could do for the Jaguars:
The Titans currently own the tiebreaker in the AFC South over the Jaguars due to their week two win over Jacksonville. But obviously, a tiebreaker would only come into play if the teams finish with the same record.
Tennessee travels to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers for Thursday Night Football. A Pittsburgh win would momentarily give the Jaguars a 1/2 game lead in the division, and a win on Sunday against the Browns would push that to a full one game lead. If Tennessee pulls out a big road win, then Jacksonville would need the win over the Browns to keep pace with the Titans.
So in the two AFC South vs. AFC North matchups this week, the Jaguars could find themselves staying put in the five seed, or leaping the Titans and Chiefs into the three seed as division leader.
One more game on note- the current six seed, the Buffalo Bills, travel to take on the Los Angeles Chargers. If the Chargers win, Jacksonville with a win over Cleveland would hold at least a two game lead over every non-division leader in the AFC. That would change if the Jaguars become the leader in the AFC South and bump the Titans to the five seed, but Jacksonville at the very least would still be safe in the wild card by two full games.
There is still a lot of football left, but we have reached the point of the season that the results of these games each week matter immensely for a team like Jacksonville in the playoff hunt.