The NFL regular season is coming to an end sooner rather than later. With just four weeks left, many divisions are up for grabs. While some teams are getting hot at the right time, a few playoff teams are getting cold at the worst time. In this article, we’ll dive into a few teams that desperately need a victory.
NFL Team #1. Jacksonville Jaguars
The AFC south in recent weeks has become incredibly competitive. The formerly 8-3 Jaguars have lost two straight games, plummeting their record to 8-5. With both the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans sitting at 7-6, Jacksonville could be in trouble. Those two teams will play much easier opponents, relative to the Jaguars, in the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tennessee Titans. The conference-leading Ravens will be coming to Jacksonville this week for Sunday Night Football.
Not only does Jacksonville need to win this game to sure up their lead in the AFC South, but they need to prove to the league that they can still hang with the big dogs. Just last year, Trevor Lawrence led them to an unbelieveable comeback victory at home against Baltimore. They’ll be hoping that he can play just as well this week, although it’ll be without top slot receiver, Christian Kirk.
NFL Team #2. Philadelphia Eagles
After getting completely dominated last Sunday 13-33, the Eagles lost control of the NFC East. They’ll still easily make the playoffs at 10-3, however won’t have home field advantage as it currently stands. Instead, if the playoffs ended today they’d be the 5th seed in the conference. That would mean having to travel to Tampa Bay where Jalen Hurts looked pedestrian in a two possession win earlier this season, throwing two interceptions.
This week, the Eagles will have to travel to Seattle for Monday Night Football. Seattle’s 6-7 record may not look pretty, but they’ve looked extremely dangerous at times this season. Geno Smith should be able to have his way against Philadelphia’s 32nd ranked pass defense. Seattle’s excellent run defense should force some issues for D’Andre Swift and company. This will be a tough primetime challenge, but one they must win if they want to keep pace with the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East.
NFL Team #3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The leader in the league’s worst division will have to stay on their toes if they want to sniff the 4th seed the NFC, or the playoffs for that matter. After a tough losing streak, the Bucs have seemed to regain their identity in the last couple weeks and now stand at 6-7. A game winning 2-minunte drill from Baker Mayfield last week has kept Tampa Bay in the divsion’s drivers seat, for now.
The bad news for the Bucs is that two of their divison rivals, New Orleans and Atlanta, are also at 6-7. A Tampa Bay loss this week and a win for either of those two teams could dramatically change the current standings. Tampa will be traveling to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field to play the Packers. It’s proven to be a tough place to win, even for the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs. Baker and the boys will need to create a well-designed game plan to protect against an above average and to defeat the weather.