Jaguars, Giants let big opportunities slip away in postseason chase

The Falcons, Steelers and Eagles were among the big winners Sunday—Atlanta and Pittsburgh clinched playoff berths even though the Steelers lost at home to the Jets—but there are several teams bemoaning lost opportunities.

Jaguars. They had a chance to win their first AFC South championship—and do it at the home of their nemesis—but Peyton Manning and the Colts wouldn’t allow it. With its 34-24 victory, Indianapolis (8-6) moved into a first-place tie with Jacksonville.

The Giants and Jaguars let big opportunities in their playoff chase get away from them on Sunday. 

“Really, for us, it’s disappointing that we didn’t close the deal here,” Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said. “We really expected right now to be in here with the division crown captured.”

Although the two teams split their season series, the Colts have the tiebreaker advantage (if both teams finish 10-6) because of a better record against common opponents.

Giants. They had an ostensibly safe 31-10 lead midway through the fourth quarter, only to see the Eagles score a team-record 28 points in the final 7:28—including DeSean Jackson's 65-yard punt return for a TD on the final play—to pull out a 38-31 triumph.

“Just shock, just unbelievable. Just kind of ‘How did that happen?’” Giants quarterback Eli Manning said, reacting to the improbable loss. “We played a good 52 minutes of football, and the eight other minutes we gave it to them.”

The meltdown could be costly for the Giants (9-5), who were swept by the Eagles (10-4). Philadelphia needs to win only one of its two remaining games—home games against Minnesota and Dallas—to capture the NFC East title while the Giants play at Green Bay and Washington.

Seahawks and Rams. The weak NFC West is there for the taking, but evidently neither team wants to make it easy on itself. Both suffered losses at home—the Seahawks to Atlanta and the Rams to Kansas City—and are tied for first place with 6-8 records.

Doesn’t anybody want to win the division? It looks like it will come down to the regular-season finale between the two teams at Seattle.

Buccaneers. A 23-20 overtime loss at home to Detroit dealt a severe blow to Tampa Bay’s playoff hopes. On a day when the Giants—one of the teams the Bucs are chasing for a wild-card berth—lost, Tampa Bay couldn’t capitalize and fell to 8-6.