STADIUM: EverBank Stadium
REFEREE: Carl Cheffers
DATE: Sunday, December 31, 2023
GAME TIME: 1:00 PM ET
CBS: Spero Dedes, Adam Archuleta, Aditi Kinkhabwala
SiriusXM (also available on the SXM App) CAR: 121 or 385 JAX: 160 or 229
ALL-TIME SERIES HISTORY REG. SEASON: CAR leads series, 4-3 (won 4 of past 5). THE LAST TIME: REG. SEASON: 10/6/19: JAX 27 at CAR 34.
HEAD COACHES NOTES: Chris Tabor vs. Opponent (incl. postseason): 0-0 Reg. Season: 1-3 (.250) Postseason: 0-0. Doug Pederson vs. Opponent (incl. postseason): 1-1 Reg. Season: 59-52-1 (.531) Postseason: 5-3 (.625).
CAROLINA PANTHERS NOTES:
• QB BRYCE YOUNG (rookie) passed for career-high 312 yards & had 2 TD passes vs. 0 INTs for career-high 110 rating in Week 16, his 2nd-career game with 2+ TD passes. Aims for his 3rd in row with 90+ rating & 4th in row with 0 INTs.
• RB CHUBA HUBBARD tied his career high with his 5th rush TD of season last week. Has career highs in scrimmage yards (972), rush yards (774) & rec. yards (198) in 2023. Aims for his 7th in row with 50+ scrimmage yards. Has 90+ scrimmage yards in 4 of his past 5 on road.
• WR ADAM THIELEN had 6 catches for 94 yards last week. Leads team with 95 catches & needs 5 catches for 2nd-career 100-catch season (113 in 2018). Has team-high 964 rec. yards & needs 36 rec. yards for 3rd-career 1,000-yard season (2017 & 2018). Aims for his 3rd in row vs. Jax. with 75+ rec. yards.
• WR DJ CHARK had season highs in catches (6) & rec. yards (98) & had 4th-career game with 2 rec. TDs in Week 16. Had 5 catches for 98 yards in his only career game vs. Jax. (12/4/22 w/ Det.). Had 147 catches for 2,042 yards & 15 TDs in 4 seasons (2018-21) with Jax.
• LB BRIAN BURNS is 1 of 5 with 13+ TFL in each of past 3 seasons. Had sack, FF & FR-TD in last meeting.
• LB FRANKIE LUVU led the team with 10 tackles & had 6th sack of season & 3rd-career FF last week. Aims for his 3rd in row on road with TFL. Is the only player with 100+ tackles, 10+ TFL & 5+ sacks in each of past 2 seasons.
• DT DERRICK BROWN had 9 tackles last week. Leads all DL in tackles (career-high 88) & games with 5+ tackles (11) this season.
• CB DONTE JACKSON had 5th PD of season last week & has 5+ PD in 5 of his 6 career seasons.
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS NOTES:
• QB TREVOR LAWRENCE totaled 240 yards (211 pass, 29 rush) last week. Has 8 TDs (5 pass, 3 rush) vs. 0 INTs with 106.4 rating in his past 3 at home. Needs 264 pass yards to become 1st Jax. QB ever with 4,000+ pass yards in consecutive seasons.
• QB C.J. BEATHARD completed 11 of 15 atts. (73.3 pct.) & had TD vs. 0 INTs last week. Can make 1st start of season.
• RB TRAVIS ETIENNE has 55+ scrimmage yards in 5 of past 6. Needs rush TD to become 4th Jax. player ever with 10+ rush TDs in a season.
• WR CALVIN RIDLEY had 6 catches for 90 yards & 2 TDs last week, 6th-career game with 2+ rec. TDs & 2nd this season. Aims for 3rd in row with 5+ catches. Has 551 rec. yards (91.8 per game) & 4 rec. TDs in 6 career games vs. Car., 2nd-most rec. yards vs. any opponent. Needs 106 rec. yards for 2nd-career 1,000-yard season (1,374 in 2020 with At.).
• TE EVAN ENGRAM led team with 10 catches for 95 yards last week, 3rd game this season with 10+ catches, most among TEs. Has 9+ catches & 80+ rec. yards in 3 of past 4. Leads TEs with 98 catches in 2023 & can become 8th TE all-time with 100-catch season.
• LB JOSH ALLEN has 0.5+ sacks in 2 of past 3 at home. Had sack in last meeting. Leads team with career-high 13.5 sacks.
• LB FOYESADE OLUOKUN led the team with 12 tackles last week. Has 10+ tackles in 4 of past 5. Ranks 2nd in NFL with 160 tackles, 3rd-straight season with 150+ tackles.
• LB TRAVON WALKER aims for 3rd in row with sack.
• DE ADAM GOTSIS had career-high 3 PD in Week 16.
• DE ROY ROBERTSON-HARRIS had sack last week.
• S RAYSHAWN JENKINS aims for 6th in row with 6+ tackles. Has PD in 2 of past 3. Aims for 3rd in row at home with TFL. Had 9 tackles, 2 TFL & sack in only career game vs. Car. (9/27/20 w/ LAC).
