:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71841218/1454931416.0.jpg "NFL playoff bracket: Who will Jaguars play in the Wild Card Round?")
The Jacksonville Jaguars have qualified for the AFC playoffs. With their win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 18, they have won the AFC South and have earned a playoff spot.
Due to a combination of their division win and their record, the Jaguars will be the No. 4 seed in the bracket and will take on the No. 5 seed. With the Baltimore Ravens' loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the No. 5 seed will be the Los Angeles Chargers.
Despite being in the same conference since the Jags' inception into the NFL, these teams have only matched up 13 times. The Chargers own the 9-4 series lead. The first matchup between them came in 2003 when the Jaguars won 27-21. Their most recent matchup came in the 2022 regular season in Week 3. Jacksonville emerged victorious with a 38-10 win.
The Jaguars finished the 2022 regular season with a 9-8 record. They started out losing to the Washington Commanders, which developed into a pretty bad loss as the season wore on. The same can be said for their loss to the Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos in the early part of the season. Big wins against the Chargers, Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys and in their division helped them to their playoff berth.
The Chargers head into the final week of the season with a 10-6 record. They're part of the AFC West that was lauded in the preseason as having the potential for all four teams to make the playoffs. That didn't happen, and even with their record, two losses to the Kansas City Chiefs and losses to the Las Vegas Raiders and Seattle Seahawks hurt this team. They won where it counted and will head to the playoffs for the first time sine 2018.