Only one AFC South team will play its final game of the 2024 regular season coming off a win: the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars were the lone AFC South team to win in Week 17, beating the Tennessee Titans 20-13 on Sunday. The Houston Texans lost to the Baltimore Ravens, 31-2, on Christmas Day.
Jaguars play clean football in win over Titans
In the Jaguars' regular season home finale on Sunday, quarterback Mac Jones got his first career win at EverBank Stadium in his third career start in the stadium. Jones, a Jacksonville native, completed 15 of 22 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns in the Jaguars' 20-13 win over the Titans.
After throwing seven interceptions across his first five starts for the Jaguars, Jones has now had back-to-back starts with no interceptions. He has also thrown five touchdowns across his last three games.
"I thought Mac played one of his better games today," head coach Doug Pederson said. "I thought he did a great job just putting the ball in play and taking what the defense gave him. He had some really good scrambles early in the game...he just did things we asked him to do. He's one of many guys who had a hand in this game."
Jones and the Jaguars set the tone early, scoring on three of their first four possessions to take a 13-0 lead. The Titans struggled to find a rhythm, and despite outgaining the Jaguars with 337 total yards to Jacksonville's 295 and with 23 first downs to 18, quarterback Mason Rudolph and his offense couldn't mount a comeback as the Titans fell to 3-13 on the season.
"They all feel terrible, to be honest," head coach Brian Callahan said. "It sucks, it's terrible. There is no joy in this process, there is no fun in this. I feel it every day when I walk into work. Nothing is enjoyable about this.
"But our job is to try and fix it and do whatever we can to fix whatever problems we have to fix, to add any players we have to add, and to make sure we have a better football team moving forward."
Rudolph completed 19 of 31 passes for 193 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The interception came in the second quarter, as Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd snagged the football and handed the ball back to his offense, who took the ball down the field for their first touchdown of the game.
Jaguars rookie wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. continued his stellar season on Sunday, with seven receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown to put Jacksonville up 20-10 in the third quarter. Thomas already holds franchise records for rookie single-season receptions, yards and touchdowns.
"The way he works, the way he handles himself as a young kid...very impressive," Pederson said.
The Jaguars, now 4-12 on the season, will travel to Lucas Oil Stadium to play the Colts in the final game of the regular season.
Texans suffer blowout loss to Ravens on Christmas Day
The Texans already have a playoff spot locked up, and have for a few weeks now, as the AFC South champions. But their 31-2 loss to the Ravens on Christmas day showed everyone in the organization that there's still work to do, and no one can expect to coast to victory.
Houston's only points came off a safety, as they struggled on both sides of the ball throughout the game. Quarterback C.J. Stroud was sacked five times and threw one interception, whereas Lamar Jackson and Ravens flourished, finishing with a total of 432 offensive yards and four touchdowns. The Ravens totaled more rushing yards (251) than the Texans did total yards (211).
Stroud completed 17 of 31 passes for 185 yards and finished with a passer rating of 59.2; Jackson was 10-of-15 for 168 yards and two touchdowns, and a passer rating of 143.9. The Texans struggled to even make it to the red zone, forced to continually punt the ball away without even crossing the 50-yard line.
"I told all our guys just check themselves, right," head coach DeMeco Ryans said. "Starting with coaches and players, you got to check yourself. And are you getting it done or not? You come back fired up and you come back showing that's not who we are. Because at the end of the day, that's not who we are. That's not what we represent, what we put out there and on the field."
Wide receiver Nico Collins had just three receptions for 59 yards and running back Joe Mixon rushed for 26 yards on nine carries. Luckily for the Texans, they are guaranteed to host a wild card game in two weeks. They will conclude the regular season with a home game against the Tennessee Titans, with 11 days in between games.
"It's all about how you respond," Stroud said. "You hit rock bottom. The only way is up. We still have a lot of hope. Got to finish this year the right way against Tennessee. Hopefully, by that time we're in a groove and rolling when the playoffs come."
