JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Steve from San Marco
We played Denver last season in Denver and won by a convincing 14 points. Why are we scheduled to play in Denver again for next season? Shouldn't it alternate between home and away?
The NFL doesn't determine regular-season opponents or sites based on sites or results from the previous season, instead scheduling on a rotation system determined years in advance and allowing little-to-no flexibility. All teams play three division opponents home and away each regular season, then all teams play four teams in a division from their conference and four teams from a division from the other conference – rotating home and away in each "cycle." The Jaguars, for example, played four AFC West teams this past season and will play four AFC North teams in 2027 and four AFC East teams in 2028. They played at Denver in the 2025 rotation and will play host to the Broncos when the AFC South/AFC West play again in 2028. The final three games in the 17-game schedule are determined by how teams finished the previous season. The 2025 AFC South winner in 2026 will play at the 2025 AFC West winner and will play host to the 2025 AFC East winner, which is why the AFC South Champion Jaguars will visit the AFC West Champion Broncos in 2026 and play host to the AFC East Champion New England Patriots. Those would have been the pairings no matter the specific teams involved. We're at 16 games for those bothering to do the math and still reading. The Jaguars' 17th game is an interconference matchup at the 2025 NFC North Champion Chicago Bears – also determined by rotation years in advance.
Paul from Jax
What teams will we play next year and won't we have a harder schedule due to winning the division compared to our 2025 schedule?
AFC South opponents (home and road): Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans. AFC North opponents: Pittsburgh Steelers (home), Cleveland Browns (home), Cincinnati Bengals (road) and Baltimore Ravens (road). NFC East opponents: Washington Commanders (home), Philadelphia Eagles (home), Dallas Cowboys (road) and New York Giants (road). First-place opponents: Broncos (AFC West, road), Patriots (AFC East, home) and Bears (NFC North, home). And yes … because the schedule includes three first-place teams – Patriots, Bears and Broncos – decided based on the 2025 AFC South Championship, it's a more difficult schedule than otherwise would have been the case.
Don from Marshall, NC
If NFL referees tried to cheat, then Vegas would know and so would the NFL. They wouldn't get away with it. These guys are amazing to me how they even keep up with the speed of the game. Not only that they scrutinize every call after games. It's easy sometimes to think a guy is shady when it goes against your team. Myles Jack was not down! You just have to deal with it. Go Jaguars!
When it comes to viewing the NFL with a foot squarely planted in the ground of reality and common sense, Don not unexpectedly – and strikingly reassuringly – remains "all in."
Jon from Arcanum, OH
Is Devin Lloyd's likely departure more of cap casualty situation or a positional value thing? I cannot understand why any general manager would use first-round draft capital on a position that would not make sense financially to keep around if the player became All-Pro because of position value. Let alone trade up into the first-round to do it.
I can't speak for why former Jaguars General Manager Trent Baalke selected Lloyd No. 27 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft. If Lloyd, a Pro Bowl selection this past season scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in March, doesn't return to the Jaguars next season it would be a combination of positional value and salary-cap ramifications – i.e., it being tough under the salary cap to pay a linebacker the contract that the fifth-year veteran almost certainly will command.
James from Titusville, NJ
You mean to tell me that Roger Goodell doesn't know where to find you?! How is this possible? Everyone else seems to know.
Fair.
Chris from Mandarin
Given the Jaguars stadium renovation plans in 2026, do you think it is more likely that any prime- time games are played in an opponent's stadium as opposed to here? I don't recall the Chargers playing any home prime-time games when they played in the 25,000-seat soccer stadium prior to the opening of Sofi Stadium, but maybe I'm misremembering.
I expect the Jaguars to have a prime-time home game next season and I've heard nothing to indicate EverBank Stadium's reduced 2026 capacity will prevent that from happening. The Los Angeles Chargers played in a reduced capacity home stadium from 2017-2019 and played two prime-time home games there in 2019.
Josh from Atlanta, GA
Is it wrong for me to still be insanely salty that we aren't playing Sunday? We damned sure should be. Do I think we would be able to beat the Seahawks? It's just a tough matchup for us, as it is for any team in the league. They are loaded. But I for darned sure believe we should be having the chance. In another galaxy and another time, what say you if we were playing them again? Could I fancy you for a Super Bowl score prediction with Liam and Co playing the Seahawks?
The Jaguars absolutely were capable of playing in Super Bowl LX Sunday, though it's hard for me to say they "should" be playing in the game. Had they beaten the Buffalo Bills in an AFC Wild Card Playoff game, they absolutely could have beaten the Patriots in an AFC Divisional Playoff Game. Had they won that game, I think they would have won the AFC Championship Game in Denver the following week. The Jaguars were as good as the Bills, Patriots and Broncos and they could have navigated the AFC. They also – like most of the AFC field – were not so much better than any of the other playoff teams that they rightfully could be called the favorites. Such was the even nature of the field this season. As for how the Jaguars would have fared in the Super Bowl, I absolutely agree that it would have been tough for them to win. I expect the Seattle Seahawks to beat the Patriots Sunday and it wouldn't surprise if it's a double-digit margin of victory. I'm not sure the Jaguars would have fared much better. The Seahawks from this view are the NFL's best team – and I'm not sure any AFC representative in the Super Bowl would have proved otherwise.
4-Putt from Jax
No question. But I just finished watching "Miracle: The Boys from 1980" about the 1980 Olympic hockey team. Makes me want to run thru a brick wall. This is what sports are all about. Fantastic movie! Go Jags!
You're referencing the Netflix documentary on the '80 Miracle on Ice team. I, like anyone remotely following sports at the time, remember it well because it was as unforgettable a sports memory as there could be in mine or any lifetime. What I mostly remember is the game being played in the afternoon and not knowing the score until well after the game was played. Ah, the innocence of life before the internet and mobile phones. I'm looking forward to watching the documentary. Please don't spoil the end. Don't tell me who won.
Dorf from ATL
Something that I think is being overlooked about potentially not re-signing linebacker Lloyd and running back Travis Etienne Jr. is that it will likely net two third-round compensatory picks. Not really a question, but I think it's important for people to know we won't just lose them, there is some return when they leave thanks to the (convoluted) compensatory pick program.
This remains to be seen. Because Lloyd and Etienne are unrestricted free agents, their departures – if indeed they depart – indeed would figure into the NFL's compensatory draft selection formula for the Jaguars for the 2027 offseason. But the compensatory also factors in unrestricted free-agent additions. How many compensatory selections the Jaguars receive in '27 – if any – will depend on who they sign in addition to who they lose.
Bob from Weaverville
Alright, I'm over the playoff loss. It was a "good" loss, all things considered. After crawling from under my rock, how in the world is Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders in the Pro Bowl, and Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence not? I haven't been this upset since the Bills loss in the playoffs, and I feel 10 times more disrespected from this than the Bills loss. I already know I'm rightfully upset, so I don't even have a question. I'll try to think of one through my unbelievable anger.
Friendly advice: Don't worry about the Pro Bowl. It will only lead to difficult and uncontrollable emotions, and those can be tough to deal with without going to extremes …
Bob from Weaverville
Joe Flacco, too?!!?!?!?!?!?! I'm going back under my rock.
… see?
