If the Pittsburgh Steelers win or lose Saturday against the Baltimore Ravens, all eyes in the city will shift toward Jacksonville on Sunday. With the Jaguars a key team in the help the Steelers need to determine their playoff fate, it sounds like Jacksonville will have better odds of dispatching the Tennessee Titans this weekend.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, QB Trevor Lawrence could return to the lineup after missing Sunday’s game due to a shoulder injury. Rapoport says the Jaguars are “hopeful” he will suit up.
“There is a real chance that he is out on the field for the Jaguars in a game they gotta have to get to the playoffs,” Rapoport said Monday on NFL Total Access.
Lawrence suffered the injury in Week 16, landing hard on his shoulder after being knocked out of bounds on a scramble. Despite early-week optimism heading into Week 17 that Lawrence would try to play, he sat out practice and was ruled out for yesterday’s game against the Carolina Panthers. Backup C.J. Beathard got the start, and Jacksonville did enough against the hapless Carolina Panthers, winning 26-0.
In addition to Lawrence, Rapoport notes WR Christian Kirk could return to practice after spending the last month on IR due to a core muscle injury. His reporting indicates Kirk is less likely to actually play, but given the importance of this game, that can’t be discounted. If Jacksonville wins, they take the AFC South crown.
For Pittsburgh, Jacksonville will be a key player in determining the Steelers’ playoff fate. If Pittsburgh beats Baltimore in Week 18, their simplest path to the postseason requires a Jaguars or Buffalo Bills loss. If one of those two teams falls in the finale, Pittsburgh becomes the seventh seed.
Even if the Steelers lose to the Ravens, there’s still a possible path to Wild Card weekend, one that isn’t all that improbable. But it would mean the Jaguars must lose to the Titans, the Denver Broncos must beat the Las Vegas Raiders, and the Indianapolis Colts/Houston Texans game can’t end in a tie (which sounds like a layup, but Steelers’ fans have been down this road before), forcing a tiebreaker Pittsburgh would win out.
Jacksonville and Tennessee kick off at 1 PM/EST on Sunday.
