The Jacksonville Jaguars entered this game with hopes for the postseason.
Carolina, on the other hand, came into this match-up with the worst record of all 32 National Football League (NFL) franchises at 2-13.
So one team was working toward a playoff berth while the other was looking at the #1 overall pick in the NFL Draft?
Wrong. That statement is half-true. Jacksonville came in very much alive for the postseason, but Carolina's hopes of landing the top pick in 2024 will not be coming to fruition.
The Panthers gave up their first-round pick in 2024 to the Chicago Bears in the trade where they received the #1 overall pick in 2023, which they used to draft Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Bryce Young. Therefore, even if Carolina receives the #1 overall pick in 2024, that pick will go to Chicago.
Jacksonville, though in a totally different place than Carolina, their peer that joined the NFL at the same time as them, back in 1995, had its own adversity entering this game. After winning seven of eight games, the Jaguars have lost four in a row, hanging onto the lead in the AFC South by a string that has been consistently unraveling.
Through 16 weeks, Jacksonville is 8-7. The Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans are also 8-7, with the Jaguars holding head-to-head tiebreakers over both teams, but having little to no wiggle room with a couple games to play.
A win in this match-up with Carolina would have to be met by Indianapolis losing at home to the visiting Las Vegas Raiders and the Texans losing their home contest with the Tennessee Titans. If all three of these scenarios aligned, the Jaguars would win the AFC South and punch their ticket to the postseason.
However, the only thing Jacksonville could control is winning this game, and they would have to do it without their #1 overall pick quarterback from the 2021 NFL Draft, Trevor Lawrence, who was ruled out of this Week 17 rumble due to a shoulder injury.
Backup quarterback C.J. Beathard would lead the Jaguars down the field on the opening drive of the game, with the team going 3-for-4 on third down, getting all the way to inside the Panthers' redzone, on their 10-yard line.
However, the fourth third-down attempt would be thwarted by Carolina outside linebacker Brian Burns who sacked Beathard for a loss of seven yards, setting up 4th-&-16 from the Carolina 17. Jacksonville would bring on kicker Brandon McManus for a 35-yard field-goal attempt that would give the Jaguars the first lead of the day, ahead 3-0 at the 8:36 mark of the first quarter.
Jacksonville strong safety would almost come away with an interception on Carolina's first drive of the game, but he did not reel the ball in, though he did stay with the ball to prevent tight end Stephen Sullivan from catching the ball.
With nothing to lose, having the worst record in the league, the Panthers went for it on 4th-&-3 with rookie quarterback Bryce Young completing a pass to wide receiver Adam Thielen for a 14-yard gain to the Jaguars' 24-yard line, setting up a new set of downs.
Jacksonville linebacker Foye Oluokun would bat down a pass attempt by Young on the following third down and defensive end Roy Robertson-Harris would follow by sacking Young on 4th-&-7 for a loss of 10 yards and a turnover on downs, with Robertson-Harris getting the ball back to the Jaguars on their own 31.
After one quarter, Beathard was 5-for-6 for 42 yards on a drive and some change.
That second drive by Jacksonville that they took into the second quarter would end in Logan Cooke's first punt of the game.
The ensuing second drive of the game by Carolina would end like the first, with Jacksonville sacking Young for a 10-yard loss, this one coming from linebacker Travon Walker, forcing Carolina into a 4th-&-18 situation from their own 14, which they chose to punt away.
Jacksonville's third drive would include an amazing piece of history for Evan Engram. With a reception inside 11 minutes remaining in the second quarter, Engram became only the eighth tight end in NFL history to record at least 100 receptions in a single season. Engram caught three passes on this drive, aiding the Jaguars to another field-goal opportunity, which, like the first, McManus booted through the uprights, this from 26 yards away at the 7:18 mark of the second quarter to move Jacksonville further ahead, 6-0.
The Jaguars would keep the sack streak going, ending the Panthers' third drive of the game as a direct result of the Jaguars attaining their third sack of the game, this by linebacker Josh Allen for a loss of 11 yards, causing the Panthers to punt on 4th-&-23 from their own 12.
With this sack, Allen tied the record for sacks in a season in Jacksonville franchise history, with 14.5, which defensive end Calais Campbell totaled back in the 2017-18 season for the Jaguars.
Jacksonville would get back into the Carolina redzone on their fourth drive of the game and McManus would drill his third field-goal try of the day, this from 24 yards out, to bring the score to 9-0 Jaguars at the 2:45 mark of the first half.
As with the first three drives, Jacksonville ended Carolina's fourth drive of the day by sacking Young, this being Allen's second drive-ending sack of the game, with this specific sack being a seven-yard loss around the two-minute warning that led to a punt.
This sack by Allen gave his 15.5 this season, passing Campbell to now be the all-time single-season sack leader in Jacksonville Jaguars' history.
After punting the ball away, Jacksonville would force Carolina to punt it right back on their fifth drive of the first half, with this being the first drive that was not ended by Jacksonville sacking Young.
At the break, the Jaguars led the Panthers 9-0.
Jacksonville would find the end zone on the second play of their first drive of the second half.
Following the Jaguars' defense forcing a punt, running back Travis Etienne, Jr., would take a carry to the outside and outlast everyone into "glory territory" for a 62-yard score. This rushing touchdown put Etienne over 2,000 rushing yards in two seasons (2022-23 and so far in 2023-24. Etienne did not play in his true rookie season of 2021-22 due to injury), with 1,125 coming in 2022-23 and 849 on 2023-24 going into this game. This score brought the game to 16-0 Jacksonville at the 11:56 mark of the third quarter.
Following Carolina punting away their second drive of the second half, Jacksonville would gain three more points when McManus made his fourth field goal of the day, this from 34 yards out, to make it 19-0 Jaguars with exactly three minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Play was stopped for many minutes on this scoring drive for Jacksonville when Beathard and Panthers outside linebacker Marquis Hayners, Sr., went down on the field. Beathard got back up and was able to return after quarterback Matt Barkley, who the Jaguars signed this week, came out for one play, but Haynes was carted off of the field. Haynes was ruled out for the remainder of the game due to a concussion.
Later in the fourth quarter, on 1st-&-Goal from the Panthers' one-yard line, Etienne rushed up the middle and tried to extend the ball over the goal-line, but the ball came out and the officials ruled that Etienne fumbled.
However, after review, the officials overturned their decision, stating that Etienne had control of the ball when he crossed the goal-line before the ball left his hands, turning their fumble call into a touchdown, giving Etienne his second score of the day, accounting for each of the two Jaguars' touchdowns, clawing the Jaguars ahead to a 26-0 score with 4:16 remaining.
An intended pass from Young to tight end Tommy Tremble who bounce off of Tremble and take to the air, where free safety Antonio Johnson would gather the ball for Jacksonville, returning it 27 yards from the Jacksonville 34 to the Carolina 39-yard line.
With approximately three minutes to go, newly-signed quarterback Matt Barkley would come out to lead the Jaguars' offense.
Following the two-minute warning, three knee-downs would do it for Jacksonville to end their four-game losing streak with a 26-0 shutout of Carolina to improve to 9-7 overall.
This victory kept the Jaguars in the driver's seat in the AFC South despite the Colts and Texans also winning because the Jaguars, as aforementioned hold the tiebreakers due to head-to-head outcomes over the Colts and Texans if they all have the same record, which they all do, currently at 9-7 apiece.