As the stadium in Jacksonville undergoes renovations, the Jaguars will play only six games there in 2026. They could end up playing two more in January.
At 3-1 through four games and with wins over the otherwise 3-0 Browns, the 2-1 Patriots, and 2-1 Bengals, the Jaguars are in position to eventually secure the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
They still have six games in the division, where the Colts, Texans, and Titans are a combined 2-10.
The Jaguars play the next two in London, against the injury-riddled Eagles and the disappointing Texans. Some stiff tests remain (at Baltimore, at Chicago, at Dallas), but most of the remaining games are winnable, especially given the current quality of the team.
For now, the Jaguars have the best odds of any team to win its division (-250). The question is whether, among the four AFC division winners, the Jags finish with the best record.
If they do, there could be a pair of postseason games with only 42,000 fans in attendance. Which won’t be conducive to maximizing ticket revenues (or crowd noise) for the games, but that’s one of the realities of actively renovating a stadium while the team is still playing there.
And it’s still far better for the Jaguars than playing in Buffalo or Kansas City or Baltimore or Cleveland or wherever.
The bottom line is this. In their 32nd season in the NFL, the Jaguars may eventually have the best chance they’ve ever had to get to their first Super Bowl. There’s still a lot of football to be played, but it’s clear that the Jaguars are an elite team. And their playoff games could be played before an intimate crowd, relative to the capacities of other NFL venues.