JACKSONVILLE – The opportunity is real, immediate and significant.

The task now is to take advantage.

The Jaguars (12-4), winners of seven consecutive games, can clinch their first AFC South title since 2022 with a victory or tie against the Tennessee Titans (3-13) in the 2025 regular-season finale at EverBank Stadium Sunday at 1 p.m. They also can clinch the title if the second-place Houston Texans (11-5) tie or lose against the Indianapolis Colts (8-8) in Houston at 1 p.m.

This marks the third time in four seasons the Jaguars have entered Week 18 with a chance to clinch the South. It's the third time in four seasons the opponent in that game has been the Titans.

The Titans are a struggling team this season, but they have played better in recent weeks. They feature perhaps the NFL's best interior defensive lineman – tackle Jeffery Simmons — and improving, talented rookie quarterback Cam Ward.

The Jaguars beat the Titans, 25-3, in Nashville, in Week 13, but beating a division rival twice in a short period is never easy – as evidenced by the Jaguars' 23-17 road victory over the Colts last Sunday three weeks after beating the Colts in one-sided fashion, 36-19, in Jacksonville.

And make no mistake:

• The Titans-Jaguars rivalry is real. The Jaguars knocked the Titans from the postseason in the 2022 regular-season finale by clinching the AFC South with a 20-16 victory over the Titans in Jacksonville. The Titans were out of the playoffs by Week 18 the following season, but eliminated the Jaguars from that season's postseason with a 28-20 victory over the Jaguars in Nashville.

History doesn't matter for the Jaguars Sunday. Neither does their seven-game winning streak doesn't matter. Only winning matters. Here are 10 things the Jaguars must to do that:

1. Run. This will be tough against Simmons and a strong Titans interior. Tough or not, the Jaguars are a run-centric team and establishing the run will be a priority.
2. Be physical. When the Jaguars have been the most physical team this season, they usually have won. This has been, is and will remain this team's identity.
3. Keep letting it rip. Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence is playing with confidence and that has meant he has been increasingly better in recent weeks. He's ascending into elite status. He must continue playing free and lose even if it means the occasional interception.
4. Block Simmons. He and the rest of a talented Titans interior can disrupt offenses enough to give an otherwise struggling team a chance. The Jaguars' interior offensive line may not be able to win this matchup, but it can't let Simmons and this group dominate the game.
5. Pressure Ward. He's playing better in recent weeks and he's a poised, talented player with a bright future. Let that future be in the future. The Jaguars are second in the NFL in takeaways and pressuring Ward will allow them to play that strength.
6. Remember Week 17 … The Colts entered last Sunday's game on a five-game losing streak and the Jaguars entered on a six-game winning streak. The Jaguars needed to rally from a 10-point first-half deficit, then rally again with three second-half field goals to win. Second division games are tricky. Sunday could be very tricky.
7. … and remember 2023.The Jaguars traveled to Nashville in Week 18in '23 needing to beat a struggling Titans team to snap a late-season slide and win the South. They never gained control of the game and lost to an eliminated Titans team. Division rivals don't give you division titles. The Jaguars have earned their way to a victory of clinching. They must earn the final step, too.
8. Start fast. The formula for beating a struggling team late in the season is to get ahead early and diminish the struggling team's belief. It's difficult for such a team to rally against a good team. The Jaguars never could get a double-digit lead against the Colts and the game wasn't decided until the final play. The Jaguars need to avoid repeating that.
9. Keep spreading the ball around. The Jaguars' improved passing game has been a remarkable story this season. They have gone from a struggling group to a balanced group with multiple reliable, dangerous options. Wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., wide receiver Parker Washington, wide receiver Tim Patrick and wide receiver Jakobi Meyers are all dangerous. So is tight end Brenton Strange. Lawrence is at his best when he's distributing the ball organically to all of those dangerous receivers.
10. .Just win. Few will remember the score Sunday. Everyone involved will remember being division champions. Just win. However it looks.