JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The weeks only get bigger from this point forward.

The Jacksonville Jaguars (9-8) are set to face off against the Los Angeles Chargers (10-7) on Saturday at 8:15 p.m. (NBC and Peacock) at TIAA Bank Field in the wild-card round of the playoffs. It will be a rematch of the team’s Week 3 meeting on the west coast when Jacksonville took down the Chargers 38-10.

Saturday will mark just the fifth home playoff game for the Jaguars and the first since 2018 (Buffalo Bills). It is also just the second time Jacksonville is hosting a playoff game since 1999.

Jacksonville finished in first place in the AFC South division after defeating the Tennessee Titans 20-16 last Saturday night, while the Chargers finished in second place in the AFC West, finishing behind the 14-3 Kansas City Chiefs.

The Jaguars enter Saturday’s game on a five-game win streak, securing an AFC South title for just the second time in franchise history.

Follow every game: Latest NFL Scores and Schedules

WHO WILL WIN IT ALL: Ranking all 14 NFL playoff teams by viability

Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said earlier this week that he has not seen any nervousness from his guys. They’ve been in this same position for weeks now.

‘No bigger than last weekend,’ said Pederson.

‘Obviously, this is a little different. The atmosphere will be different. The pace will be a bit different; the intensity will be a little different. It’s just the way it is in the postseason. I haven’t seen a difference with the team, which is a good thing. We just got to focus on our jobs.”

Though the team’s win against the Titans to get them to the playoffs was huge, it’s onto the next, quarterback Trevor Lawrence said this week.

‘Obviously, that’s a huge stepping stone for us, but now, since we came back, it’s really just been next week, or this week, moving onto the next week, focusing on the task at hand and realizing it’s the same thought process this week to earn another opportunity next week. You just find a way to win, whatever it takes,’ said Lawrence.

Both Lawrence and his counterpart, Chargers QB Justin Herbert, will make their playoff debuts Saturday.

Lawrence finished the regular season with a 66.3 percent completion percentage, 30 total touchdowns (25 passing, five rushing), eight interceptions and 4,113 yards passing yards.

Herbert finished the year with a 68.2 percent completion percentage, 25 touchdowns (all passes), 10 interceptions and 4,739 passing yards.

Jaguars rookies get unique playoff opportunity

The Jaguars will have 40 players that have never touched the field for a playoff game Sunday.

That includes newcomers such as rookie linebacker Devin Lloyd, who spoke about the opportunity in the locker room on Thursday.

‘It’s definitely exciting, especially hearing about how long guys are in the league and don’t have this opportunity,’ said Lloyd. ‘So I’m definitely grateful, grateful for this opportunity. And looking forward to really just getting another chance to play another week.’

Lloyd has had an up-and-down rookie season. He went from a full-time starter on the Jaguars’ defense to playing in a rotating role with fellow rookie, third-round pick LB Chad Muma.

Still, he’s embraced the challenge and has had an opportunity to get better as the weeks go on.

‘The more you see, the better you get on and I’d say the biggest thing that’s helped his recovery purposes, my body is starting to feel fresher than it was a few weeks into the season, really.’

The playoff atmosphere will kick things up a notch, and being able to experience that will be something Lloyd and his fellow rookies will hold with them for the remainder of their careers.

Takeaways key in playoff matchup vs. Chargers

The Jaguars finished the regular season with 27 takeaways, tied for the fourth-most in the league this season.

In the past five games, the Jaguars have posted 11 turnovers, one of the highest marks in the league during that span.

Jacksonville’s propensity to take the ball away will be a major asset this week.

The team’s defense has surrendered just one touchdown over the last three games, hitting its stride during the most important span of football.

‘Everybody is trusting one another to, one, be where they’re supposed to be and everybody’s saying the right things to each other,’ Lloyd explained of the defensive turnaround.

‘We’ve always been physically relentless, we always played fast. We’ve always played downhill. There was just a little communication errors, breakdowns, whatever you want to call it at the beginning of the season … all these guys are pretty much new to this defense.

‘It’s a first-year defensive coordinator. We cleaned that up throughout the year and we’re in playoff form so we feel good.’

The Chargers are one of the best teams this season at protecting the football. They gave up just 19 turnovers during the regular season, which ranked fifth in the NFL.

With a high-powered offense (ranked ninth in the league in total yards per game), Jacksonville’s ability to steal possessions becomes more important than ever.

Jaguars rushing attack vs. lackluster Chargers run defense

The Jaguars’ offense hasn’t exactly looked sharp over the last few weeks. While the team had some success against the Houston Texans in Week 17, they weren’t able to get the ball rolling against the Titans — rushing for a season-low 19 rushing yards, it was the team’s third-lowest rushing total in franchise history and fewest in a victory.

That probably won’t cut it against the Chargers, a high-powered offense that will take advantage of more possessions than the Titans likely could.

‘That’s something that we try to establish each weekend if we can, and this will be no different if we tryto do that,’ Pederson said. ‘This is another good front we’re playing, obviously good against the pass. We’ve got to try.”

The Chargers are currently ranked as the 28th-best run defense in the league, allowing a total of 145.8 yards per game on the ground. They’re dead last in yards per attempt allowed at 5.4 YPA allowed.

Jaguars running back Travis Etienne has been the bell-cow back for the team nearly all season.

Etienne rushed for 1,125 yards and five touchdowns. He posted five games during the regular season with 100 or more rushing yards.

To Etienne, the fix is simple — keep at it.

‘Just calling the plays, honestly, just calling the runs,’ Etienne said. ‘Just executing, not giving up on the run, keep swinging and just keep calling my number.’

Jaguars uniform combo revealed

This week, the Jaguars will don teal jerseys and white pants to take on the Chargers.

Jaguars, Chargers injury report: Mike Williams ruled out for LA

No team in the playoffs is completely healthy and that can be applied to the Jaguars and Chargers as they get set for their biggest games of the season.

For Jacksonville, five players are listed as questionable including Lawrence (toe), receivers Kendric Pryor (shoulder) and Jamal Agnew (shoulder), long snapper Ross Matiscik (back) and offensive lineman Brandon Scherff (abdomen).

Kicker Riley Patterson was listed on the injury report this week for the first time with a right knee injury but practiced in full the last two days. He was taken off the injury report on Thursday.

Lawrence has been listed as questionable since suffering the toe injury against the Detroit Lions six weeks ago but has played in every game.

Agnew, Matiscik, Scherff and Agnew will all likely suit up on Saturday as well with Pryor as the only true question mark. Pryor has not been active for a game this season.

For Los Angeles, while they initially listed eight players on their injury report through the week, only receiver Mike Williams (back) remained by Thursday, listed as questionable to play. Williams suffered the injury in the team’s Week 18 loss to the Denver Broncos. On Friday, however, Williams was ruled out, unable to play in Saturday’s contest.

Williams played in the teams’ first meeting, hauling in just one catch for 15 yards. The Chargers will likely utilize third receiver Joshua Palmer in his place along with DeAndre Carter.

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on Twitter at @Demetrius82.

Only the Detroit Lions can get royally screwed by the refs in a game they’re not even playing.

Thanks, in part, to missteps by NFL officials in the Seattle Seahawks-Los Angeles Rams game, the Lions’ playoff hopes last week were dashed before the game vs. the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday Night Football.

‘Multiple executives and coaches said the NFL needs to reevaluate how it chooses and trains its officiating staff for future seasons,’ Schefter wrote late Friday. ‘… Even the NFL’s competition committee is aware of what one source described to ESPN ‘as the worst officiated game of the year.”

DEREK CARR: 7 logical landing sports for Raiders QB

Follow every game: Latest NFL Scores and Schedules

The committee, a group of league coaches and executives that examine rules and officiating practices each offseason, was frustrated by the Seattle-LA game, as were the Lions and Rams, Schefter reports.

‘One source told ESPN this week that the NFL must do a better job of screening, hiring and training its officials,’ he said, ‘the league can’t have games in which teams’ seasons are on the line and have questionable and impactful calls such as the ones in the Rams-Seahawks Week 18 game.’

To recap, the Lions needed a Seahawks loss Sunday plus a win over the Green Bay Packers to clinch the seventh and final spot in the NFC playoffs. (The Packers could have clinched a spot with a win regardless of the Seahawks’ result.) Seattle played Sunday afternoon while Detroit played at night, meaning the Lions knew the result of that game when they took the field.

Despite being aware of the Seahawks’ win, which eliminated the Lions, Campbell’s crew dispatched the Packers on the road and prevented their rival from making the playoffs.

But how bad was the officiating in Seattle? To be fair, Lions fans are used to complaining about refs — they did so while overcoming questionable calls during the Packers game — so this is nothing new, right?

Well:

– A running-into-the-kicker penalty on LA with 8:47 left in the fourth quarter should not have been called. The flagged player Rams was pushed into Seahawks punter Michael Dickson, meaning the flag should have been picked up. The Seahawks were trailing by three at the time, and instead of punting to the Rams from their own 21, they maintained possession and later tied it at 16 with just over 2 minutes left.

– Later in the quarter, tied at 16, Rams corner Jalen Ramsey was called for an unnecessary roughness infraction on Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith that would make Dick Lane shudder in disbelief. Not only did officials possibly err in throwing the flag in the first place (it appears Ramsey was pushed out of bounds at the same time as Smith ran out of bounds, causing the two to collide) but Seahawks wideout DK Metcalf was seen sticking his finger inside Ramsey’s facemask after the play, which should have prompted a penalty. The ‘unnecessary roughness’ pushed Seattle into fringe field goal territory with less than a minute left, but kicker Jason Myers eventually missed a 46-yard field goal attempt.

– In overtime, Smith likely should have been flagged for intentional grounding. His pass under duress with 9:26 fell 10 yards short of any other Seahawks player.

– The final gaffe included a former Lions draft pick: Seahawks defensive back Quandre Diggs taunted an opponent after picking off Rams quarterback Baker Mayfield with about 8-and-a-half minutes left. Replays showed Diggs pointing at the Rams’ Bobby Wagner, a former teammate in Seattle. Had it been flagged, Seattle’s drive would have started at its own 21 instead of its own 36; that possession ended with Myers kicking the winning 32-yard field goal.

With all that being said, none of those calls led directly to points; the Rams had more chances to stop the Seahawks after the first questionable flag, but let that final fourth-quarter drive drag on for five more minutes of game time. Mayfield and the Rams also earned just one first down during the fourth quarter and overtime.

A source told Schefter the league needs a way to ‘mitigate’ such mistakes in a critical game, but no solutions were offered in Friday’s story. The Lions — thanks in large part to a top-10 offense and young, improving defense — completed a surprising season by winning eight of their final 10 games to finish 9-8 and 5-1 in the NFC North.

But now Detroit fans are left with this quote while they watch this weekend’s playoff games, including Saturday’s Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers matchup:

‘The Lions should be livid,’ one source told ESPN. ‘It was an awful way for them to end their season.’

Kentucky men’s basketball was without a starter. Its freshman point guard was hampered again by a back injury. Its top player had been “exposed” in recent games defensively. Its head coach faced increasing scrutiny. And preseason dreams of a Final Four run seemed laughable months later.

So of course the Wildcats, losers of two straight Southeastern Conference games, came into Knoxville, Tennessee, and took it to No. 5 Tennessee and its top-ranked defense Saturday afternoon.

UK, at least for one day, looked like the UK of old, shocking the Volunteers 63-56. It played with fire. Oscar Tshiebwe took over during key stretches and was not a liability on defense. CJ Fredrick led a 3-point effort that found some success against the nation’s best perimeter defense.

The result was the kind of win that, if the Wildcats (11-6, 2-3 SEC) end up in the NCAA Tournament and make a run, will be considered the moment an uninspiring season turned around.

Follow every game: Latest NCAA Men’s College Basketball Scores and Schedules

After the Vols (14-3, 4-1) sprinted out to an early 8-0 lead that seemed to portend UK’s demise, Fredrick drilled two 3s that erased the deficit and sparked an energized Kentucky effort the rest of the first half. Frederick scored 10 of UK’s first 15 points and the defense settled down against UT. Then Tshiebwe, who until the final five minutes of the half had been held to 0-of-2 shooting, took over. The reigning unanimous player of the year scored eight of Kentucky’s next 11 points to turn a 20-18 deficit into a 29-23 advantage. 

Tshiebwe had a double-double five minutes into the second half to finish with 15 points and 13 rebounds, Fredrick added 13 points (3 of 9 from 3) and Antonio Reeves dropped 18 with a pair treys of his own. Kentucky, against a defense that allowed 20.9% from 3 entering the game, shot 31.3% from beyond the arc (5 of 16).

It was not perfect. Tshiebwe got caught in the middle on defense more than once in the first half, and Tennessee’s bigs went right at him in the second with low post-ups; 7-foot-1 senior Uros Plavsic powered to 19 points but grabbed just three rebounds. And the defense allowed the Volunteers to shoot 40.4% from the field and at times above 50% in the first half. 

And Tennessee clawed its way back into the game in the second half despite trailing by nearly double figures at one point. Plavsic’s ability to back down Tshiebwe cut into the deficit, and Zaka Zeigler briefly gave the Vols a 43-41 lead at the midway point of the half.

But any win, especially against a top-5 team, is welcome at this stage for head coach John Calipari and a team that spent the start of the new year starving for answers.

Reeves answered with 14 points to put the Wildcats back up 58-50 in the next seven minutes to carry the Wildcats to victory.

Kentucky is home next week for two SEC games, starting Tuesday at 9 p.m. against Georgia (12-4, 2-1).

It’s about to get real.

The NFL’s 2022 regular season is over, giving way to what the league likes to call ‘Super Wild Card Weekend.’ And the hype is justified … to a degree.

Saturday night’s game appears to feature two up-and-coming teams, typified by what appears to be a pair of budding superstar quarterbacks, as the Los Angeles Chargers visit the Jacksonville Jaguars. Per Tipico Sportsbook, it projects as one of the tightest games of the week, the Bolts favored by 2½ points.

However the marquee game of the wild-card round will happen Monday night, when Tom Brady and the (sub-.500) NFC South champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the Dallas Cowboys, America’s Team also a 2½-point favorite on the road – despite being 1-4 on grass this season and 0-7 all-time against TB12.

Let’s gooooooo.

Follow every game: Latest NFL Scores and Schedules

(And shoutout to the USA TODAY Sports expert who finished tied for second this season picking games when stacked up with hundreds of other media members who cover the NFL for a living.)

(Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook)

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO).

***

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis.

OXFORD, Miss. — A relatively quiet offseason on Lane Kiffin’s coaching staff is quiet no longer.

On Saturday afternoon, Mississippi officially announced the hiring of Alabama football defensive coordinator Pete Golding to fill the same role in Oxford.

‘We are excited to add a championship caliber coach like Pete Golding to our staff,’ Kiffin said in a statement. ‘At multiple stops in his career, Coach Golding has directed some of college football’s top defenses. He is also an outstanding recruiter and understands the level of talent necessary to compete at the highest level.’

Golding had served as a defensive play-caller for Nick Saban since 2018.

After winning the national championship with the SEC’s top-scoring defense in 2020, Alabama has finished with the third- and second-ranked defense in the conference over the past two seasons.

Mississippi’s statement did not mention the future of previous co-defensive coordinators Chris Partridge and Maurice Crum.

Golding, who has previously coached at Southern Miss and Delta State, got his first FBS defensive coordinator position with Texas-San Antonio in 2016. Since then, his defenses have never finished outside the top three among conference peers in points allowed.

He has been a strong recruiter. 247Sports credits him with signing 15 top-100 prospects over the course of his career, including four five-star athletes. Recently, he helped lead Alabama’s pursuit of Suntarine Perkins, a Mississippi signee and the top player in Mississippi in this cycle. He spoke to Perkins on the field after Perkins won the 3A state title in Hattiesburg last month.

Partridge has spent the last three seasons coordinating the Mississippi defense in a joint capacity. Crum arrived from Western Kentucky to join him in that role ahead of the 2022 season.

Mississippi finished ninth in the SEC, allowing 25.5 points per game in 2022. That’s a slight uptick from 2021, when the Rebels allowed 24.7 points per contest. The 5.3 yards per play surrendered by the Rebels ranked sixth in the conference.

The conclusion to the season, though, was troubling. The Rebels allowed 34.5 points per game as they lost four in a row to finish, giving up 42 points on the road against Arkansas and in the Texas Bowl against Texas Tech.

Kiffin hinted at changes after the Texas Bowl, when asked about his staff outlook in the context of the season-ending slide.

‘We’ve won 10 games and made changes,” he said. “So, we’ll look at everything in our program. I’m sure there’ll be some changes made in some areas. Because I think the good thing about our fans, they know about me, this is not acceptable. This makes us 8-5 and to finish the season like that and come down here and do that. There’ll be some changes made.”