Gene Frenette: Legacy-minded Jaguars can't let chance to win 2nd straight AFC South pass them by
Whether it’s about individual accomplishments or the Jacksonville Jaguars’ success in general, Josh Allen attaches a great deal of importance to the idea of legacy.
Judging by how often he interjects that "L" word into interviews, it’s easy to see the impact the Jaguars’ single-season sack leader leaves behind matters more to him than most players.
After he broke former teammate and mentor Calais Campbell’s record last week by pushing his sack total to 16.5, Allen acknowledged that, saying: “For me to be in the history books, it’s huge. I’m a legacy type of guy. I want to leave a legacy everywhere I go.”
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Toward that end, if the 2023 Jaguars want to positively add to their existing legacy under coach Doug Pederson, then they can’t walk out of the Tennessee Titans’ Nissan Stadium on Sunday without a second consecutive AFC South championship.
Win or lose, this is undeniably a legacy game. It will be remembered fondly for the favored Jaguars defeating a bitter rival to capture back-to-back division titles for the first time since 1999.
However, there’s also the risk of it being a nightmarish memory if the Jaguars were to suffer quite possibly the biggest regular-season loss in franchise history.
Unless the Jaguars (9-7) lose and still back-door their way into the NFL postseason as a wild-card entry, there’s no in-between about this game’s ramifications.
They can continue the franchise turnaround Pederson’s team ignited in 2022 by winning six straight games to reach the AFC playoff division round. Or potentially waste this year’s 8-3 start and hand the AFC South crown to the winner of the Houston Texans-Indianapolis Colts game.
“You can only have a legacy when you win,” Allen said. “In order to continue a legacy, you have to win. If we win, we can continue something we’re building on together.
“If we can get this one, keep building that momentum into the playoffs and keep going off that. We’ll hit the stride we need to.”
Do Jaguars have Tennessee’s number?
When the Jaguars encountered a beat-the-Titans-or-go-home scenario in Week 18 last season, they pulled out a 20-16 victory at EverBank Stadium. Thanks to a Rayshawn Jenkins strip-sack of quarterback Josh Dobbs and Allen’s 37-yard fumble return touchdown with 2:51 remaining, the Jaguars had a season worth celebrating.
That one play pretty much ended Tennessee’s reign as a two-time defending AFC South champion. The slumping Titans (5-11) still haven’t recovered from losing seven consecutive games to end 2022 and find themselves transitioning toward a substantial rebuild.
In what could be the last game for Tennessee legendary running back and Yulee High product Derrick Henry, as well as fifth-year quarterback Ryan Tannehill, the Titans face a daunting task to try and reclaim their former exalted standing in the division.
The Jaguars are in a different place. Now the pressure is all on Jacksonville to go into the enemy’s house and make sure the Titans don’t play spoiler.
Tennessee used to have the Jaguars’ number, dominating various parts of a bitter division rivalry that dates back to 1995 when the team formerly known as the Houston Oilers were part of the old AFC Central division.
Jacksonville lost nine of 10 meetings to the Titans from 2017-21, but things began to change last year with a Jaguars sweep and then a 34-14 rout in November when Henry (10 carries, 38 yards) was a complete non-factor.
Still, it doesn’t begin to equalize the payback many black-and-teal supporters feel their team owes the Titans. The most painful memory of losing the 1999 AFC Championship game at home to Tennessee, which handed the Jaguars all three losses that season, was not erased by last year’s scintillating Week 18 victory.
That’s how deep the ‘99 wound remains for Jaguars fans, because it was the hated rival who administered it. So the last thing the current players want to deal with is the gut punch of Tennessee keeping them out of the playoffs.
The Jaguars are 5.5-point favorites and have to extend the Titans’ misery, if for no other reason than the satisfaction of winning back-to-back AFC South crowns for the first time and the unprecedented feat of making Tennessee winless in the division.
On Wednesday, receiver Zay Jones preferred to downplay the enormous stakes attached to the Titans’ matchup. He wanted the team to focus on simply getting better every day leading up to the game.
“I think there’s some validity to that, yes,” Jones said of the consequences of losing to Tennessee. “I don’t know if I want to look at that quite yet. I’m not discrediting the question. I just know if we place that burden and responsibility on this game right now, we can start falling into traps of thinking, ‘Oh, yes,’ …
“Yes, we can do something special, but we just got to be right here in the moment and do the best we can to be present. Ultimately, that’s going to help us get to where we want to go.”
Avoiding one-and-done fate
In 2018, another Jaguars team that raised an AFC South banner and won in the playoffs the previous season was aiming to repeat. It started out so well, getting out of the gate 3-1 and avenging the AFC Championship loss to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Week 2.
Then, like a tornado with no forewarning, it all crumbled. Virtually the same team that came within an eyelash of going to the Super Bowl — with Blake Bortles at quarterback and the NFL’s most fearsome defense — returned, but whatever magic they had disappeared.
The Jaguars lost every game in October and November. Injuries took their toll. Left tackle Cam Robinson missed nearly the entire season with a torn ACL. Center Brandon Linder’s knee injury forced him out of the last seven games. Running back Leonard Fournette lost half of his season with hamstring and neck issues.
Bortles was benched for Cody Kessler, coinciding with head coach Doug Marrone firing his good friend and offensive coordinator Nate Hackett after a seventh straight loss at Buffalo.
The feel-good story of the ‘17 Jaguars quickly evaporated. They were one and done.
That’s what makes this season-ending matchup with Tennessee so monumental. The ‘23 Jaguars don’t want the same thing to happen to them.
After Pederson’s leadership transformed the Jaguars into contenders in his first season, the last thing Jacksonville needs is to squander that momentum.
“I think no one wanted to come in and just have one good year,” said Jones. “We wanted to build a reputation of having sustained longevity.”
Looking back at how that ‘18 season unraveled, one anonymous Jaguars coach says it’s a reminder that you can never take winning for granted.
“It was real surprising,” said the coach, part of a Marrone staff where all had been retained from the 2017 season. “We obviously thought going in that we had a heckuva team, but you get injuries in this league, they’re hard to overcome in certain spots.
“The other thing is when you’re on a run like we were in 2017, there’s a little bit of selfishness and complacency that can creep into a team [the next year]. Not talking just players, but coaches, too. You got to alleviate that as much as you can.”
Pederson a steadying hand
The biggest reason these Jaguars have a better shot at sustained success, other than the skill set of quarterback Trevor Lawrence, is Pederson has a proven blueprint to pull it off.
During his five-year tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles, he went from 7-9 in his first season to a Super Bowl title win with a backup quarterback, Nick Foles, outdueling Brady’s Patriots in a shootout victory.
It didn’t stop there. Pederson’s team was one turnover away from getting back to the NFC Championship game in 2018, but a Foles pass at the New Orleans Saints’ 19 went off the hands of receiver Alshon Jeffery and was intercepted in the final minute of a 20-14 loss.
A year later, the Eagles reached the playoffs a third consecutive time before bowing out in the first round.
The point being, Pederson’s team kept giving themselves a chance to chase the Lombardi trophy. His No. 1 priority is to do the same for the Jaguars.
Winning another showdown with Tennessee to punch their playoff ticket would be further validation that the Pederson culture is working. It’s easier for the players to get behind a leader who has already guided a team down that Super Bowl path.
“Well, when you’re talking about our team and our players, I think they see that from me,” said Pederson. “The places that I’ve been, so there’s credibility in the locker room with the guys. When you say certain things, you’re speaking from experience.
“I think that can go a long way with these guys. We’ve got a young team eager to win. All of that can just help us this year, next year and however long that goes.”
Pederson’s steady hand has kept the Jaguars from letting a season slip away. They got to the postseason last year despite a five-game losing streak. After dropping four consecutive games in December and losing quarterback Trevor Lawrence to a shoulder injury, the Jaguars rebounded with a 26-0 rout of the Carolina Panthers to stay in control of their playoff destiny.
In 21 seasons since NFL realignment, every team in the AFC South has put together multiple playoff runs except Jacksonville. Pederson aims to change that.
"You look at the history of the AFC South and it’s been dominated by Tennessee of late," said Pederson. "Houston has had their run, Indy back in the Peyton [Manning] days when they had their run of AFC South and I think the Jags have only had two [dvision titles]. We’re trying to make our mark, obviously."
Whether the Jaguars attempt to go back-to-back with Lawrence returning or they have to go again with C.J. Beathard against his hometown team, they believe now is their time. They want to show the NFL this franchise’s days as a contender are here to stay for a while.
“I think that’s part of it,” Robinson said. “That’s not the end-all, be-all, but that’s a huge part of it. We want to be climbing. We want to keep building. We don’t want to be a playoff team one year, not a playoff team the next
“We want to consistently be one of the better teams in the league. We want to be viewed as one of the best organizations in the NFL. This game is a big game for us to keep taking those steps in the right direction.”
It’s the Titans. It’s a legacy game.
For the Jaguars, losing this one is unthinkable.
Gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540; Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @genefrenette
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars must win AFC South at Titans' expense for legacy's sake
