Can Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars Go 13-4 Again This Season?

Ryan in Florida walked the entire Jacksonville schedule with Rich and came out the other side at 13-4. Again.

The run started with a win over the Browns at home, then a loss in Denver, a home win against the Patriots, and a win at Cincinnati. From there it was a close loss to the Eagles in Tottenham, then a win over the Texans at Wembley, a home win against the Colts, a close loss at Baltimore on Thursday night, and wins at Tennessee, at the Giants and back home against the Titans. Ryan gave the Jaguars close wins at Chicago and at Dallas, a Monday night win over the Steelers, a home win against Washington and a season-closing win at Indianapolis. The only other loss was in Houston.

Two of those games stood out.

The one at Dallas lands two days after Christmas on Sunday night, and if both teams are as good as they can be, that is a sneaky enormous football game. Both will need it. Liam Coen bringing his Jaguars into Jerry Jones' building in late December with playoff seeding attached is exactly the kind of thing the schedule makers hope for and rarely get.

Houston at Wembley is the other. That is a Jacksonville home game, and it is a divisional game, which is unusual for a London assignment. Normally the London slot goes to an out-of-conference opponent. Here the Jaguars get a huge AFC South matchup in what functions as a second home stadium, since they play Tottenham every year and then Wembley the week after. The travel math tilts their way, too. Houston plays at Tennessee the week before and then flies over from there, while Jacksonville will already have been in England for a week.

Whether 13-4 is realistic is a fair question, and the answer might be less about Jacksonville than about the rest of the conference. Everyone breaking down the AFC uses the same phrase, wide open, which means 13 wins could be the one seed.

The betting market says something stranger. Per DraftKings, the Ravens are the favorites to win the conference at plus 470, followed by the Bills at plus 510, the Patriots at plus 760, the Chiefs at plus 770, the Chargers at plus 830 and the Texans at plus 850. Denver sits at plus 1025, tied with Cincinnati.

That drew objections in both directions. Baltimore missed the playoffs last year and has a new head coach for the first time in what feels like forever, plus a new offensive coordinator. Rich is as high on Jesse Minter as anyone and likes the Ravens roster, but making that team the conference favorite struck him as very surprising.

Denver having the third-best odds in its own division is the one that really got the room. Kansas City is favored in the West, and at plus 1025 the Broncos are not even the second choice there. Outrageous was the word used, more than once.

And then there are the Jaguars at 15 to one, which is where the show landed with actual enthusiasm. Two teams can absolutely win this conference and are being priced like they cannot. Denver is one. Jacksonville is the other.

If Ryan in Florida is right, and the schedule breaks the way he called it, 15 to one will look like the best number on the board.