NFL Week 18 schedule: Jaguars-Titans game day, time set with AFC South title on the line

The Jacksonville Jaguars will face off against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, Jan. 7, at 1 p.m., the NFL announced shortly following the league's final matchup of Week 17.

The NFL reserves Week 18 for Saturday or Sunday matchups with the majority of the league's games taking place Sunday and some of the best matchups slotted on Saturday or in the late, more nationally broadcast Sunday slots.

Jacksonville's playoff implications for Week 18 are simple if they win.

If the Jaguars defeat the Titans on Sunday, they'll win the AFC South.

The implications if they lose are a bit more complicated.

Who should Jaguars fans root for? Here's why Steelers-Ravens and Broncos-Raiders are so important to the Jags' playoff chances

Both the Indianapolis Colts and the Houston Texans are tied with the Jaguars at 9-7 through 16 games. The Colts and Texans will face off Saturday night, with the winner of that game claiming the AFC South if the Jaguars lose to the Titans the following day.

The Jaguars own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Colts by sweeping them earlier this year and they own the tiebreaker over the Texans with a better division record.

Jaguars Week 18 wild card, divisional playoff scenarios

According to nflplayoffscenarios.com, the Jaguars can clinch the AFC South with a win or with a tie against the Titans and a tie between the Colts and Texans next weekend.

The Jaguars can clinch a playoff birth with a tie and a Pittsburgh Steelers loss or tie. They can also clinch a playoff birth with a Steelers loss, a Broncos loss or tie and a Texans loss or a Steelers loss, Broncos loss or tie and a Colts loss.

With a three-way tie, the Jaguars, Steelers and Broncos would be scrutinized according to the Strength of Victory (SOV) tiebreaker. Among the three teams, the Steelers would own the SOV tiebreaker regardless of next week's outcomes.

The Steelers will face the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The Texans and Colts face each other on Saturday at 8:15, while the Broncos will face the Raiders at 4:25 on Sunday.

As Jaguars linebacker Foye Oluokun said Sunday after the team's shutout win over the Carolina Panthers: "The world doesn't really reward losers so might as well win if you want to get in."

Jacksonville will have the opportunity to do just that next Sunday.

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82.

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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars playoff scenarios: What Jags need to clinch division, wild card