The Jacksonville Jaguars won the AFC South title after a 41-7 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. The Jaguars (13-4) closed the regular season with eight straight wins. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Published on January 8, 2026 at 2:37 pm
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Downtown Jacksonville might once have been known for the movement of living cows. On Sunday afternoon, thousands will watch, with hope and expectation, that the bounces of an inflated piece of cowhide on the fringe of Downtown will favor the team in teal.
Footballs may be brown, but it will bring green to Jacksonville when the Jaguars host just their third NFL playoff game of this century.
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Visit Jacksonville data showed the Jaguars’ most recent home playoff game in 2023 brought $9.2 million in direct economic impact and demand for more than 10,000 room nights.
Visit Jacksonville previously projected that a standalone NFL game between the New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers in 2021 drew between $3 million and $6 million in direct economic impact.
Sunday’s AFC playoff game against the Buffalo Bills may bring even more revenue to local businesses.
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When online ticket marketplace Vivid Seats released its 2025 NFL Fan Loyalty Report in August, it found the Buffalo Bills have the top road fanbase in the AFC.
Wanda Laurie expects Skyline Wings & Things to reap the benefit of the unexpected home game.
Laurie returned to her entrepreneurial roots this fall, when she reopened Skyline Wings & Things along A. Philip Randolph Boulevard.
“Whether they are home or not, the excitement has been amazing,” Laurie says. “The inside has been standing room only. The outside patio is a big tailgate party. It’s been a great time.”
Laurie operated Skyline at the Gateway Town Center for years. She closed that location. In October, Laurie — alongside family members Linda Brown, Willa Durham and Michael Durham — invested in a space owned by her mother, Pearl Graham, to reopen Skyline on the Eastside.
From its front door, which is between Union and Oakley Street, one can see the signage on EverBank Stadium and hear the roars when big plays are made.
Skyline’s revival has nearly coincided with the Jaguars’ eight-game winning streak.
“The first few months have been amazing,” Laurie says. “Serving the community, also with the Jags’ games, there has been so much excitement.”
This Sunday, Skyline will serve a teal-colored drink it calls the Jaguars alongside $10 wing baskets and shrimp baskets. Laurie says people have inquired to reserve their space ahead of kickoff.
Jaguars’ unpredictable postseason run
The last time Buffalo met Jacksonville in the NFL playoffs, thousands of Bills fans descended on Northeast Florida. That was Buffalo’s first appearance in the postseason in 16 years. In the years since, the Bills have become a playoff mainstay and won at least one playoff game in each of the last five seasons.
Expectations in western New York are higher than they have been in decades that this is the season the Bills return to the Super Bowl.
Conversely, few expected the Jaguars would win the AFC South and earn a home playoff game, when the season began.
CBS Sports predicted Indianapolis quarterback Daniel Jones would win more starts than Trevor Lawrence; and eight of nine people at The Ringer thought the Houston Texans would win the AFC South. A pair of professed prognosticators with NFL.com thought the Jags would win a combined 13 games.
Meanwhile, ESPN gave the Jags a 27% chance to win their division in August. The network also stated the team’s run defense was a concern. The Jaguars went out and won 13 games and led the NFL in rush defense, holding teams to 85.5 yards per game.
Bills Mafia returns to Duuuval
Phil Visali is a Jaguars fan who has lived here for 20 years. He’s also a restauranteur who has owned The Players Grille since 2023.
When the Buffalo Bills Backers of Jacksonville inquired about watching games from The Players Grille in Mandarin prior to the 2023 season, Visali welcomed the affiliate group of the Bills Mafia with open arms.
The sports bar is painted teal, but that has not stopped more than 150 Bills fans from watching their beloved team on Sundays.
“The better the Jaguars do, not only is it better for our individual businesses, but its better for residents of Jacksonville,” Visali says. “I think people want to come. We wouldn’t be known as the most boring city in America like they said a few months ago.”
Phil and Megan Visali own The Players Group. The firm opened a second Players Grille location in Brooklyn in early 2025. This weekend, both the Mandarin and Brooklyn locations are expected to host the Bills Mafia.
The Jaguars have won five of six home playoff games in team history — including a 10-3 win over the Bills in January 2018. Another win over Buffalo guarantees their 2025 season continues, but it doesn’t come with the promise of another football weekend in Duval County.
