Michael Dixon
Regardless of what happens in Week 17, the Jacksonville Jaguars will head into the AFC Playoffs as the No. 3 seed. But despite having nothing to lose or gain, coach Doug Marrone is planning on playing the starters against the Tennessee Titans.
Per John Oehser of Jaguars.com, Marrone noted that he thinks it’s “the right thing to do for this team.”
“I want to see us play well in all three phases,” Marrone said, via Oesher. “That’s the same mentality I had going in. The last time we played this team they kicked our butt. … I want to see a lot of things. I want to see how we respond to last week. I want to see how we respond from the second week of the season. I want to see where we’re going.”
Indeed, the Jaguars have to bad memories to get out of their heads. In Week 2, the Titans marched into Jacksonville and handily won, 37-16. Additionally, the Jaguars most-recent game was a 44-33 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
What’s interesting is that while Jacksonville can’t help or hurt its seeding, it can influence who it plays on Wild Card Weekend. If Tennessee and the Baltimore Ravens win on Sunday, the Jaguars will host the Titans in a Wild Card game. But should Tennessee lose, it would likely miss the playoffs.
Other teams in a similar position are taking a different route from Jacksonville. The Kansas City Chiefs — who are locked in to the AFC’s No. 4 spot, will start Patrick Mahomes at quarterback in place of Alex Smith. Similarly, the Los Angeles Rams are opting to rest their starters, even if it costs them playoff seeding.
