NFL Week 18 Jaguars vs. Titans predictions: Odds preview, game and player props, betting tips

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A second-successive AFC South title is within reach for the Jacksonville Jaguars on the final day of the NFL regular season. All they need to do is to reach out and grab it. The Jags swing into Nashville on Sunday to take on the Tennessee Titans knowing that a win crowns them divisional champs. Here, we preview the clash and detail some best bets and prop picks for the game.

After a recent rough stretch, the 9-7 Jaguars have a chance to win the AFC South for the second straight season when they face the 5-win Titans. It would be the first time they have been crowned back-to-back divisional champions since 1998-99.

Jacksonville headed into Week 18 atop the AFC South but slipped to second after the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans faced off on Saturday. The Jags will be intent on ensuring the summit seat was just being kept warm for them overnight. They hold the tiebreakers over both the Colts and the Texans, so a W in Nashville does the job.

And they come in with renewed confidence after snapping a four-game losing skid by shutting out the hopeless Carolina Panthers even without Trevor Lawrence, who missed the first NFL game of his career. Lawrence is thought to be on track to play on Sunday.

The visitors face a Titans team who have long been eliminated from postseason contention. They slipped to an 11th loss of the season last week, the most they’ve suffered in one campaign since 2015, putting up just three points in a 26-3 defeat to the Texans.

One subplot here is that this could be the last time we see two-time running champion Derrick Henry and veteran quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who is expected to start in place of injured Will Levis, in a Titans uniform.

The Jaguars pasted the visiting Titans with Levis at QB on Nov. 19. They’d certainly love a repeat.

Kickoff at Nissan Stadium in Nashville is at noon CT live on CBS. The Jags are 3.5-point favorites.

The lines opened with the Titans as a 5-point underdog and that might have tempted me to take them on the +5 spread. After all, Mike Vrabel’s men thrive against the spread at home, going 7-2-2 in such circumstances over the last three seasons.

But with the spread now thinning and Tennessee’s offense stuttering (they have managed 36 points in total over the last three weeks), I feel the Jags are the way to go here. They have the motivation, the momentum, and Lawrence back in the saddle. Even if the QB’s not at 100%, it should all be enough.

Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. will have his eyes on a big game to close out his stellar regular season. He has 1,397 yards and 12 touchdowns heading into the final week of the year, split into 951 yards (59.4 average) and 11 TDs rushing and 53 catches for 446 yards (27.9 per game) and one TD in the air.

And he’s dialled in, seemingly taking his Pro Bowl snub personally and using it to fuel his fire. Last week, he scored twice, including once on the longest run of his pro career, a 62-yard dash against Carolina. Among NFL running backs, he’s now fourth in total yards from scrimmage and tied for fifth in total touchdowns. He won’t find the Titans’ middling defense as porous as the Panthers’ dreadful rearguard, but between the ground and the air, he’s a good bet to run up the numbers.

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