The Jaguars offense found its footing on their second possession of Sunday’s game.
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence was 5-of-5 for 60 yards to drive the Jags to their first points of the afternoon. They came on a 23-yard strike to wide receiver Parker Washington and it is now 7-7 with 6:02 left in the first quarter.
The Jaguars win the AFC South with a victory in Sunday’s game. They will also take the division if the Texans lose to the Colts.
Titans quarterback Cam Ward led the Titans to a touchdown to open the game. Ward then went to the locker room with a right shoulder injury and Brandon Allen has taken over for the Titans on their second possession. Ward is called questionable to return.
The Titans’ bid to spoil the Jaguars’ attempt to win the AFC South is off to a mixed start.
A Jeffery Simmons sack on first down set up a three-and-out for the Jaguars offense and rookie quarterback drove his team right down the field. Ward hit fellow rookie Elic Ayomanor for a 39-yard gain on an early third down and then ran the ball in for a seven-yard touchdown a short time later.
It was Ward’s second rushing touchdown of the season and it put the Titans up 7-0 with 10:09 to play. Ward took a big hit at the end of the run and returned to the locker room after being checked out in the sideline medical tent.
Brandon Allen is the Titans’ backup and he will have a major role in who winds up as the AFC South champs if Ward is unable to return. The Jags need a win or a Texans loss to clinch the division crown.
The Falcons had a handful of key players listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Saints, but the Panthers will be glad to hear that all of them are in the lineup.
Wide receiver Drake London, tight end Kyle Pitts, wide receiver Darnell Mooney, and cornerback A.J. Terrell will all play in Atlanta’s final game of the season. London, Pitts, and Mooney have knee injuries while Terrell was added to the report on Saturday with an illness.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins, defensive lineman David Onyemata, and linebacker Ronnie Harrison were also added to the report due to illness on Sunday. Harrison is the only one who will miss the game.
The result of the Falcons-Saints game will determine the NFC South champion. A Falcons win gives the Panthers the title while a Saints road victory will give the Bucs their fourth straight division crown.
Saints at Falcons
Saints: S Ugo Amadi, QB Spencer Rattler, WR Chris Olave, RB Alvin Kamara, OT Xavier Truss, DT Bryan Bresee, DT Nathan Shepherd
Falcons: P Trenton Gill, LB Ronnie Harrison, DL Brandon Dorlus, OL Michael Jerrell, WR Casey Washington, WR Malik Heath
Colts at Texans
Colts: CB Sauce Gardner, DT Eric Johnson, S Reuben Lowery, TE Will Mallory, S George Odum, QB Philip Rivers
Texans: WR Nico Collins, OT Trent Brown, RB Nick Chubb, WR Braxton Berrios, QB Graham Mertz, LB Jamal Hill, CB Kamari Lassiter
Cowboys at Giants
Cowboys: LB DeMarvion Overshown, CB Shavon Revel, S Alijah Clark, DT Jay Toia, DT Perrion Winfrey
Giants: S Jevon Holland, WR Ryan Miller, WR Jalin Hyatt, RB Dante Miller, LB Caleb Murphy, TE Theo Johnson, QB Russell Wilson
Browns at Bengals
Browns: TE Harold Fannin Jr., OT Jeremiah Byers, C Kingsley Eguakun, WR Jamari Thrash, TE David Njoku, DT Sam Kamara
Bengals: QB Jake Browning, WR Charlie Jones, CB Josh Newton, S Daijahn Anthony, DE Joseph Ossai, TE Cam Grandy, DT Jordan Jefferson
Packers at Vikings
Packers: QB Malik Willis, LB Quay Walker, RB Josh Jacobs, WR Dontayvion Wicks, S Xavier McKinney, OT Zach Tom, LB Edgerrin Cooper
Vikings: WR Myles Price, QB John Wolford, CB Dwight McGlothern, QB Brett Rypien, RB Aaron Jones, OL Walter Rouse, TE T.J. Hockenson
Titans at Jaguars
Titans: S Amani Hooker, EDGE Arden Key, OL Drew Moss, OL Garrett Dellinger, OL Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, TE Gunnar Helm
Jaguars: CB Keith Taylor, OL Patrick Mekari, TE Hunter Long, TE Patrick Herbert, DL Emmanuel Ogbah, DT Maason Smith
No one knows how many NFL head-coaching jobs will be open in the coming days, beyond the two that already are.
When the Titans, Giants, and whoever else will be looking for new coaches make their decisions, there’s a decent chance that assistants with no head-coaching experience at the college or pro level will get few if any of the openings.
That’s the current vibe as teams that contemplate making a change consider the even more important question: Who’s next?
There’s no Ben Johnson in the current cycle. No Liam Coen, either. No coordinator without head-coaching experience who seems to be destined to have one or more offers waiting for him.
Among the coordinators with no head-coaching experience, the potential candidates include (and any such effort inevitably will leave someone out, so I’ll apologize in advance) Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, Jaguars defensive Anthony Campanile, Giants offensive coordinator and interim coach Mike Kafka, Broncos passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Davis Webb, Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula, Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, and Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke.
As usual, there will be more candidates than there are jobs. For now, we don’t know how many jobs there will be. When it’s time to fill them, it could be that only candidates with head-coaching experience at the pro or college level will get the offers.
Curt Cignetti is an overnight success who was years in the making. In his second season at Indiana, the former IUP, Elon, and James Madison head coach has taken the Hoosiers to unprecedented football success.
Thursday’s blowout of Alabama has unlocked a clause in Cignetti’s contract that requires a “fair market review” within 120 days of the final game. Via Alex Schiffer of FrontOfficeSports.com, failure to offer Cignetti a contract that puts him in the top three in annual value among all college coaches would allow him to leave without a buyout.
For now, the buyout is $15 million. Which raises the question of whether an NFL team would consider paying it — and paying Cignetti — to get him to do for it what he has done for Indiana.
His name has not yet emerged as a serious candidate for any of the current vacancies. For now, there are only two: Titans and Giants. It remains to be seen how many other franchises will make a change.
In a year that lacks a clear-cut, no-brainer, “A” list of replacements, could Cignetti become a candidate?
One high-level source with a team that could be looking for a new coach opined to PFT on Saturday that Cignetti likely won’t be in play. Another source from a team that likely will be scanning the options at the college level pointed out that a team would need to be fully convicted to the notion of Cignetti as the next coach, if a recommendation will be made to ownership to pay the buyout. And then to pay Cignetti.
Cignetti is currently making $11.6 million per year. Indiana could be bumping him to $13 million or more. He surely wouldn’t leave Indiana for a pay cut in the NFL.
It would be a bold move for an NFL team to make a run at Cignetti. He’s 64. He has never coached at the NFL level. He has two seasons of head-coaching experience in big-time college football.
Still, Cignetti has shown that he knows how to win; he’s 25-2 at Indiana. And NFL owners have money to burn, even if many prefer hoarding it.
If the Raiders are thinking about making Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 draft, why not think about pairing him with Cignetti? In the 23 seasons since the Raiders appeared in Super Bowl XXXVII, they have had two playoff appearances and no postseason wins. They could do a lot worse than Cignetti, because they have.
With Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman signing a new deal to stay put in South Bend, Cignetti becomes the most intriguing college option in the coming cycle.
