How can the Jaguars make the playoffs?

With the Jacksonville Jaguars 51-16 bludgeoning of the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, the team moved to 5-8 on the season and they kept themselves in the playoff hunt. Matter of fact, based on how everything went down on Sunday, the Jaguars are now just one game back of being tied for the AFC South division lead.

After losing to the San Diego Chargers and Tennessee Titans in back-to-back weeks, the hope of the playoffs seemed dead and buried, but now it’s back. The only sure-fire way the Jaguars will make the playoffs however is by winning the division.

So how can the Jaguars win the AFC South?

First and foremost, the Jaguars have to win their remaining three games. They have to take care of their own business before anything else can fall into place, and that means beating the Atlanta Falcons at home next week and picking up road wins against the New Orleans Saints and the Houston Texans.

If the Jaguars finish the season 8-8, here is all the help they would need to get into the NFL playoffs: The Jaguars need the Texans to beat the Colts in Week 15.

The Jaguars also will need the Titans to beat the Texans in Week 16.

Then the Jaguars need the Colts to lose to the Dolphins in Week 16 or the Titans in Week 17, preferably to both but unlikely.

With the Jaguars having three losses in the division already, and dropping some games they dropped, they’ve put themselves in a bind for a playoff push. It would have helped a ton had they held on and beat the Titans last week or had Jason Myers made the field goal against the Colts in Week 4.

So now you know who to be rooting for if you want the Jaguars to make the playoffs. The Titans must beat the Texans and the Texans must beat the Colts.