When I visited Jacksonville in the summer, I was reporting on another new dawn for the hometown Jaguars and I must admit I was a bit sceptical. Rookie head coach Liam Coen came in looking to change a culture and looking to turn around a team that won just four games in 2024 and he has done just that in emphatic fashion.
The Jaguars clinched the AFC South with a 41-7 thrashing of the Tennessee Titans on Sunday night, taking their record for the season to 13-4. The Jags are just the third team in NFL history to lose 13 games in one season and win 13 the next.
Coen worked exclusively and extensively with quarterback Trevor Lawrence – who threw another three touchdown passes and no interceptions on Sunday - and he tidied up his game bringing out the best in the first overall pick from the 2021 NFL Draft and now the Jags have everything in front of them and a chance to make a real run in the AFC playoff race.
This team has won eight games in a row and they are playing their best football at exactly the right time of year. That's certainly the case for Lawrence who rolled through head coaches early in his career before settling with Coen and early in 2025 it was tough for the talented and athletic passer. Coen demanded excellence, he wanted his quarterback's game to be cleaned up and while Coen was setting a good culture in Jacksonville, he was also pushing Lawrence hard and raising standards.
When I spoke to the quarterback in the summer Lawrence told me that it was often uncomfortable in terms of the situations Coen was putting him in, but they've worked through those bumps and lumps and this is an incredible turnaround in Jacksonville. Lawrence has never played better and looks like one of the very best quarterbacks in the game today.
The Jags are for real and this is a team full of belief, full of swagger and filled with confidence. That is incredible from where they were in recent years. It is one of the most stunning turnarounds in recent NFL history and Coen, I believe, coached himself to the NFL Coach of the Year award on Sunday.
Not that he will care one iota about that… the culture in Jacksonville is very much about winning as a team, not about such individual prizes. The bar has been raised about as high as we have seen in Duval County in quite some time.
Who's Hot…
The Seattle Seahawks' defense… For the second week in a row, the Seattle Seahawks were able to start slow and actually play slow for much of the game on offense because of the outstanding form of their bruisers on the defensive side of the ball. Seattle scored just one offensive touchdown in Saturday's 13-3 win over the San Francisco 49ers, but that was enough to clinch the number one seed in the NFC. There was a real old-school feeling to Seattle in this victory. They bullied Brock Purdy into submission, recording three sacks, intercepting him once, stopping the 49ers on fourth down, and almost knocking the quarterback into the middle of next week on the final play of the game. Seattle did rush for 180 yards and that one touchdown to provide the physicality needed to get past the 49ers. And quarterback Sam Darnold largely stayed out of the way, playing a clean game, and that was enough for the huge win.
The New England Patriots… The Pats may not be the number one seed in the AFC but they are one of the form teams in the league heading into the playoffs as winners of 13 of their last 14 games. The accusations leveled at New England have been that they have played out a soft schedule, but they have always taken care of business and rarely get upset while rolling to a 14-3 record. On Sunday, in a 38-10 win over the Miami Dolphins, they rushed for 243 yards and four touchdowns; flexing their muscles to fend off a division rival. Like the Jaguars, the Patriots are also one of those historic teams who lost 13 games last year and have won at least 13 this year. The turnaround has been dramatic and one of the feel-good stories of the year. Head cocah Mike Vrabel has this squad on track for very big things.
Myles Garrett… The Cleveland Browns picked up a defense-inspired win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday and the 20-18 scoreline was a just reward and a little bit of icing on the cake for star defender Myles Garrett. During Sunday's game, Garrett sacked Joe Burrow to record his 23rd quarterback takedown of the season. It gave the future Hall of Famer the new single-season sack record, breaking the former mark held by Michael Strahan (New York Giants) and TJ Watt (Pittsburgh Steelers). Garrett was rightly given his moment in the sun, even though the game was played in Cincinnati. He was applauded by the home fans and lifted onto the shoulders of his teammates. Garrett's achievements are made even more special by the fact that he sees constant double teams and he plays for a struggling squad. Opponents rarely have to chase games against the Browns and therefore are not forced into additional and obvious passing situations. Sunday was historic and cemented Garrett's status as the game's best defender.
Who's Not…
Bryce Young… The Carolina Panthers are champions of the NFC South, but they have reversed into the playoffs with back-to-back losses to Seattle and Tampa Bay and in those two defeats they've scored a total of 24 points. I have real concerns about quarterback Bryce Young and not just as it relates to the upcoming postseason tournament. I wonder if he is the future of the Carolina Panthers? I don't think he's big enough and bulky enough to survive in the brutal NFL world. I don't think he sees the field well and sometimes he struggles to drive his passes downfield. Ironically the last time he played really well was in week 13 when he led the Panthers to a 31-28 victory over the Los Angeles Rams… the team they will face in the first round of the playoffs.
The Atlanta Falcons… The Falcons gifted the Panthers the NFC South crown and a spot in the playoffs by defeating the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. It was Atlanta's fourth win in a row. So how do they make it into this section? Well, after that win, the Falcons fired head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot. This surprised me. Morris had just completed his second season and while losing seven of eight before going on a winning run hurt, I thought he was building something. If you forced me to pick the winner of the NFC South in 2026, I would have said the Falcons. Fontenot going was also a head-scratcher to me. This is a talented roster that has improved on defense and has the likes of Bijan Robinson and Drake London on offense. Perhaps this is the price paid for the quarterback drama of 2024. Kirk Cousins signed a $100 million contract and then Michael Penix Jr. was drafted in the first round. And do we really know if he is the guy moving forward?
The Fast Five…
- The Denver Broncos secured the number one seed in the AFC playoffs with a 19-3 win over a Los Angeles Chargers team resting many of its best players, including quarterback Justin Herbert. So, I'm a little concerned that the Broncos didn't score an offensive touchdown in the game; relying on a pick six and four Will Lutz field goals. This team plays down to the level of its competition far too often and is a concern for me as they move into the knockout stages.
- Aaron Rodgers delivered when it mattered most on Sunday Night Football as he threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Calvin Austin in the final minute to settle the Pittsburgh Steelers' 26-24 win over the Baltimore Ravens that secured the AFC North. At 42, this could have been Rodgers' last game, but he threw for close to 300 yards and is clearly enjoying himself playing for Mike Tomlin. And he gets number one target DK Metcalf back for the playoff game against Houston on Monday night.
- Rodgers did his part, but that game should still have been won by the Ravens at the death. Lamar Jackson completed a fourth down throw to Isaiah Likely, with his tight end making a stunning catch. But rookie Tyler Loop missed an extremely makeable 44-yard field goal as time expired. It just about summed up a miserable campaign for Baltimore, who could never quite get on track. This is a first class organisation and I would back John Harbaugh to get things going in the right direction again in 2026.
- In losing to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday (35-8), the New York Jets secured an unwanted record that might not be matched in quite some time. The Jets – coached by a former ball-hawking cornerback in Aaron Glenn – became the first team to go an entire season without recording a single interception (since interceptions were first tracked in 1933). That is hard to do! The Jets ended the year with jut four takeaways – the lowest total in the NFL since 1940. When those are the two biggest headlines in a 3-14 campaign, you know it's been another disastrous year in the Big Apple.
- The Philadelphia Eagles had a shot at the number two seed on Sunday. They needed to beat the Washington Commanders and have the Chicago Bears lose at home to the Detroit Lions. Head coach Nick Sirianni was not interested and sat key starters, including quarterback Jalen Hurts. The Bears did indeed lose to Detroit, but Philly lost to Washington. It's a coach's prerogative to sit players and only Sirianni will know the true health of his team. But in this most wide-open of playoff races, there is every chance the two seeds could be hosting the Championship Games. And in the NFC, that would now be the Bears and not the Eagles.
Fact of the Week
The 2025 NFL season produced seven new division winners. The only repeat champion from a year ago came in the NFC East where the Philadelphia Eagles came out on top with an 11-6 record. New England, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Denver, Chicago, Carolina and Seattle were all new division winners in 2025. The Patriots, Jaguars and Bears combined for just 13 wins in 2024 but surged to 38 combined victories this term. Hope is sold every year across the training camps of the NFL and seasons like this are the reason.
Final Thought…
There are now just 14 teams remaining on the road to Super Bowl 60 in Santa Clara, California – home of the San Francisco 49ers – and this promises to be a wide open and competitive race. Rather than ask who is the team to beat, I think we have to recognise that there are a collection of good teams who can rise up but who can also be beaten on their day. With that in mind, I don't think we will hail the Super Bowl winner as a truly great team in historic terms. They will just be the winners of a tournament that is going to be hard to predict and one that will turn up the occasional surprise along the way. The stakes are as high as can be now. Win and you advance, lose and you go home. Let the fun begin!
