Despite red zone issues, Jags are a win from AFC South title

indianapolis-the jacksonville jaguars Didn’t celebrate making the playoffs after clinching a spot last Monday night san francisco 49ersvictory over indianapolis colts,

He did not talk about this at all. “There are a lot of other things to worry about,” coach Liam Coen said.

“We haven’t really talked a ton about goals, about division playoffs, conference, Super Bowl,” Coen said after the Jaguars. win 23-17 Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

“As a team we haven’t had any of those conversations. Not really intentionally, more just because you’re really trying to focus on getting better because there’s so much for us to train for every week. And even after a lot of wins, we’ve been able to train a lot of things and pretty much keep the mentality at 1-0 each week.”

But this week they have to think about the future as the Jaguars are one win away from winning the AFC South. Green tennessee titans in Week 18 at EverBank Stadium and the franchise claimed their third AFC South title in franchise history.

The Jaguars (12-4) not only have a chance to win the division, but there’s also a chance they can clinch the AFC’s No. 1 seed, and even a first-round bye. If the Jaguars beat the Titans, los angeles chargers Green denver broncosand this miami dolphins Green new England PatriotsThe Jaguars will have home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

However before they even think about the playoffs, there are two issues that showed up in the win over the Colts that the Jaguars will need to fix if they have a chance to make a deep run: red zone turnovers and closing games on offense.

The Jaguars turned it over twice in the red zone – one with a fumble. travis etienne jrand an end-zone interception by the quarterback trevor lawrence – and lost at least six points as a result. Etienne’s fumble occurred on a trick play (he failed to secure the pitch from the receiver Jakobi Meyers) and Lawrence made a bad throw trying to take advantage of a linebacker covering a slot receiver parker washington,

“We faked it in the red zone a few times,” Coen said. “So, frustrating. Can’t do it.”

The Jaguars have been one of the NFL’s best red zone teams over the past four games, scoring touchdowns on 72.2% of their red zone trips, which was tied for third best in the league in Weeks 13–16. The two red zone turnovers Sunday were the Jaguars’ first since Week 12 against Arizona and gave the Jaguars a league-high six this season.

“I should have made a better throw and hit Parker for the touchdown, but you give up three points there, give them some momentum,” Lawrence said. “So, there’s a lot of things we need to clean up, and I know we will.”

The Jaguars failed to even have a chance to break a 17-17 tie with less than 10 minutes to play. Coen opted to go on fourth-and-1 from the Indianapolis 24-yard line rather than kick a field goal, but Lawrence was stopped for no gain.

Jaguars bailed out cornerback jarian jones‘ interception, which caused cam little42-yard field goal for a 20–17 lead with 6:58 to play. He converted another fourth-and-1 from the Indy 39-yard line on the first play after the two-minute warning, but the drive backed off after a 5-yard loss by Washington on second down and Little kicked a 53-yard field goal with 18 seconds to play.

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Jaguars win AFC South with Week 18 win over Titans

Michael DiRocco breaks down the scenario for the Jaguars to win the AFC South title after their Week 17 win over the Colts.

It’s not the first time the Jaguars have struggled in that situation. They failed on fourth-and-1 from the Arizona 24-yard line late in the fourth quarter, in a game they were leading 24–21. The Cardinals tied the game with six seconds remaining and the Jaguars ultimately won 27–24 in overtime.

“To take the necessary steps aggressively, we have to be able to gain a freaking yard,” Coen said. “And it’s a little aggravating and I’m frustrated with myself because you’re saying, ‘Okay, they were struggling. There was a little bit of speed on defense. Hindsight, maybe kick it, force them to be a little more aggressive and knowing that they were struggling to push it down the field a little bit.’

“But, yeah, I want to teach these guys how to finish games on offense.”

The Jaguars were able to win their seventh consecutive game, which Etienne called the highlight from Sunday’s game.

“I feel like we came here to win the game and we did that,” Etienne said. “We know we have a lot of ground that needs to be cleaned up, but you can’t be disappointed when you go out there, win games and play hard.”

And then they can start talking about the playoffs.