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When owner Shad Khan first volunteered to have the Jaguars play in London every year, the team stressed it would be good for the bottom line.

In 2013, the Jaguars game in London accounted for 15.3 percent f their local revenue, twice the revenue for a game played in Jacksonville.

As it turns out, the game is no longer that lucrative.

Team president Mark Lamping recently told Ryan O’Halloran of the Denver Post, who worked in Jacksonville for the Florida Times-Union when the team started playing in London, that the percentage of local revenue has been dropping since then.

It dropped to 12.4 percent in 2015, 11.1 percent in 2016 and 11 percent in 2017 and this year will be in the high single digits or less than 10 percent.

He said the drop in percentage is because the team has raised revenue in Jacksonville with new productions and s stadium renovation and the value of the pound compared to the dollar has dropped. A pound was worth $1.60 in 2013 and is now worth $1.30.

Despite the dropping percentage, the Jaguars seem committed to playing every year in London.

But it begs the question of whether the game will put them at a competitive disadvantage if they become a contender.

This year the Jaguars are the only team that will play just seven of their 17 games at their home stadium.

Although home field advantage in the NFL isn’t what it once was, it will be interesting to compare what the Jaguars record will be in their 7 home games compared to their 10 road games, including the London game, which counts as a home game.

This year, it may not make much of a difference because the team is still in a rebuilding mode. In two years when the team should be a contender, we’ll see if it makes a difference.

There was no drama or second guessing when the Jaguars had the first pick in the draft last year.

The Jaguars had an easy choice because Trevor Lawrence was on top of virtually every draft board and was considered to be a generational quarterback.

And while Lawrence struggled in his first season on a bad team with poor coaching, the Jaguars still hope he will become a franchise quarterback who can lead to Super Bowl titles in the future.

But this year, it is a different story. There is no consensus top pick, and the Jaguars face a difficult decision. Do they go for an edge rusher like Aidan Hutchinson or Travon Walker, or do they go for an offensive tackle like Evan Neal?

And with no quarterback at the top of the draft, they probably can’t make a lucrative deal to trade down for extra picks.

Complicating things was a MMQB report that general manager Trent Baalke isn’t high on any of the projected top picks but can’t get a king’s ramsom for the top pick this year and worries he will be roasted if he doesn’t take Hutchinson. But it makes no sense to take him if Baalke isn’t sold on him.

If he takes Hutchinson, we may not know if he is really high on him but didn’t want to make a pick that that is considered risky. And another complication was a report that coach Doug Pederson prefers an offensive player.

Of course, there are no guarantees with the top pick. For every Terry Bradshaw, Troy Aikman and John Elway, there’s a JaMarcus Russell, Courtney Brown and Aundrey Bruce.

When the Jaguars make the top selection, they will close ranks and talk about how much they like the pick.

They can only hope he is an impact player.

If he isn’t, it will be fascinating to see if someone leaks the real story behind the pick.

The Super Bowl turned out pretty much the way it was expected to go.

It was a close game as expected and the Rams, who were slight favorites, won it by three and didn’t cover the spread.

They won it because their three key players, Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald, took control of the game on the final series for each team. Kupp got the MVP award but they could have shared it.

Stafford and Kupp led the game-winning drive and Donald blew up the Bengals final two plays.

Unfortunately, the officials, who let the two teams play for the first 58 minutes, got too involved at the end.

If not for a questionable pass interference penalty, the Rams would have faced a fourth-and-goal at the 8 with the game on the line instead of a first-and-goal at the 1.

But the Bengals also shot themselves in the foot several times, so they couldn’t blame the officials. To start with, coach Zac Taylor decided to go for it on fourth-and-1 at midfield on their first series. The Bengals didn’t convert and gave the Rams good field position for their first touchdown.

It turned out that running back Samaje Perine lined up on the wrong side, according to Phil Simms, bringing the linebacker to the side Joe Burrow was throwing the ball and enabling him to knock away the pass.

And Taylor only gave the ball to Joe Mixon 15 times even though he was averaged 4.8 yards a carry and the Bengals were in the lead much of the second half.

And Mixon wasn’t even on the field when the Bengals had a third-and-1 at midfield on their final drive. Perine got the call and Donald stopped him for no gain. Donald then forced a wild throw on fourth down and the Rams were the champions.

Now the question is where the teams will go from here. The odds are against both of them returning.

The Rams will try to repeat, which hasn’t been done since the Patriots did it in 2003-2004.

And the Bengals face the daunting task of becoming only the second team since the 1972 perfect Dolphins to win the Super Bowl after losing it the previous year. Tom Brady and the Patriots are the only team to do it since then.

And Burrow is trying to become the first quarterback to lose his first Super Bowl appearance and make it back the following year since Jim Kelly lost four in a row in the early 1990s.

Of the last 16 quarterbacks to lose their first Super Bowl start since then, none has returned as a starter. Drew Bledsoe made it back as Brady’s backup.

It was not surprising the close game got good TV ratings to set the stage for what the league hopes will be another good season next year now that a group of young quarterbacks are taking center stage.

But they also have off the field issues, including the discrimination lawsuit filed by former Miami coach Brian Flores, who also claims that owner Stephen Ross offered to pay him $100,000 a game to lose games for better draft position.

Ross denies the allegations but the league also has to find ways to get more minority coaches in the ranks of the head coaches.

The best storyline of this Super Bowl is that this will be the first one matching two quarterbacks taken with the first pick of the draft.

But that is about the only thing that Joe Burrow of the Bengals and Matthew Stafford of the Rams have in common.

Stafford spent 12 years with Detroit without winning a playoff game before being traded to the Rams and he is in the Super Bowl in his first year with them. A victory would feed the narrative that he never reached his potential because he had bad teams around him in Detroit.

It would also give coach Sean McVay his first Super victory after he and quarterback Jared Goff seemed overmatched ion his first Super Bowl appearance against the Patriots. A loss would give him an 0-2 Super Bowl record.

Burrow, by contrast, in his second year and he’s one of the young guns in the AFC along with Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Justin Herbert.

So far, Mahomes is more accomplished with four consecutive trips to the AFC title games with two wins and a 1-1 Super Bowl record.

But Mahones had a poor second half against the Bengals last week after throwing an ill advised pass at the end of the first half that cost the Chiefs a field goal.

Burrow led the team to the overtime victory after they overcame a 21-3 first half deficit.

A Super Bowl victory would put him in Tom Brady territory. He won the first of his seven Super Bowls in his second year.

One key to the game is whether the Bengals can protect Burrow, who was sacked nine times by the Titans. But even though they have Aaron Donald and Von Miller up front, the Rams are usually best at rushing the passer when they blitz.

On the other hand, Burrow is good at beating the blitz and the Rams have a shaky secondary except for Jalen Ramsey. So it figures to be an intriguing matchup and the stage probably isn’t too big for Burrow, who plays like a veteran.

The Rams are favored by four, but the game is likely to be closer than that even though the Rams have a home field edge.

Nobody will be surprised if this game goes to overtime or is decided on a field goal on the final play of regulation.

It has all the makings of a memorable Super Bowl.

The Los Angeles Rams were all in for a Super Bowl-or-bust run this year.

The Cincinnati Bengals were in what appeared to be the second year of a rebuilding program with quarterback Joe Burrow returning from the injury that he suffered last year.

Despite their different journeys, the two teams pulled off comebacks in the conference games to advance to this year’s Super Bowl.

The Bengals rallied from a 21-3 deficit to upset the Chiefs, 27-24, in overtime while the Rams were favored over the 49ers after losing six consecutive games to them and needed a fourth quarter comeback to post the victory, 20-17.

For both winners, there was a lot of vindication.

The Rams continued their policy of throwing draft picks around like confetti, and it worked.

Among the moves this season were trading for quarterback Matthew Stafford in the offseason and for defensive standout Von Miller during the season. Both were valuable additions to the team.

Stafford didn’t win a playoff in his 12 years with the Lions, but the Rams decided he would be an upgrade over Jared Goff. He had some ups and downs during the regular season as he threw 17 picks, but he threw only one in the playoffs.

For Bengals owner Mike Brown, the son of legendary coach Paul Brown, it was a chance to show he could put together a Super Bowl team.

The Bengals had gone 31 years without a playoff win. Marvin Lewis coached the team to the playoffs seven times in 16 years but didn’t win a playoff game. Brown and Lewis parted ways after the 2018 season.

And the drafting of Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase with their first picks the last two years helped coach Zac Taylor build a playoff team.

And both teams took advantage of blunders by the losing teams. Kansas City had a 21-10 lead with five seconds left in first half. Instead of taking the field goal, they tried a play that didn’t work. And in the second half, the Chiefs didn’t adjust when the Bengals used a 3-8 alignment and didn’t run the ball enough.

The 49ers had a fourth-and-2 in fourth quarter, leading by three. Instead of going for it, they punted and opened the door for the Rams comeback victory.

So now the Rams will host the Super Bowl in their home stadium. It never happened before last year when Tampa Bay played the Super Bowl against the Chiefs in their home stadium.

In 1979, the Rams played the Super Bowl in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena against the Steelers. The Rams led after three quarters but the Steelers rallied to win their fourth Super Bowl in the fourth quarter.

The Rams last made the Super Bowl after the 2018 season and lost to the Patriots. The Rams also made it twice when they were in St. Louis, beating the Titans in 1999 and lost to the Patriots in 2001.

Cincinnati is playing in its third Super Bowl and lost to the 49ers in its first two appearances in 1981 and 1988.

What can the NFL do for an encore?

After all four divisional round games ended on the final play last week, it will be difficult for the conference title games to top them, but they figure to be close.

The Rams host the 49ers and the Chiefs host the Bengals Sunday, and both home teams are slight favorites.

The interesting thing is that both games are rematches of games at the end of the season. The curious thing is that both underdogs won.

The 49ers beat the Rams for the sixth straight time in the final regular season game and the Bengals beat the Chiefs in the second-to-last game.

Three of the four coaches in the game —Andy Reid of the Chiefs, Sean McVay of the Rams and Kyle Shanahan of the 49ers — have lost Super Bowls. Reid has lost two but won one. McVay and Shanahan have yet to win one. Zac Taylor of the Bengals hasn’t been in a Super Bowl.

Shanahan was also the offensive coordinator of the Falcons when they infamously lost to the Patriots despite having a 28-3 lead in the second half.

The Chiefs are aiming for their third trip in a row to the Super Bowl and are playing in their fourth consecutive conference title game.

The Chiefs-Bengals game figures to be a shootout between Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs and Joe Burrow of the Bengals although Joe Mixon also gives the Bengals a running threat.

The 49ers-Rams game features two quarterbacks in different situations. Jimmy Garoppolo could be playing his last game for the 49ers if they lose because the 49ers may be ready to move on to Trey Lance next year.

Matthew Stafford is in his first year with the Rams after failing to win a playoff game in 12 years in Detroit. Now he is trying to make his first Super Bowl.

The scores in their recent meetings were 27-24 49ers and 34-31 Bengals.

The NFL will be happy to have those scores again.

The divisional round weekend shows the NFL was right in changing all the rules to favor the offense in recent years.

The wide-open game set the stage for the best divisional round in NFL history.

Three of the four games were decided on a field goal on the final play, and the fourth was decided on a touchdown in overtime that climaxed a shootout between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.

San Francisco beat Green Bay mainly with special teams and defense, but quarterbacks ruled the day as Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Matthew Stafford and Jimmy Garoppolo advanced to the conference title games.

The losing quarterbacks were Tom Brady Aaron Rodgers, Allen and Ryan Tannehill.

Mahomes and Reid are going to the conference title game for the fourth year in a row and aiming for their third Super Bowl appearance in a row.

Garoppolo and Kyle Shanahan are aiming for their second Super Bowl appearance after losing the first one.

Burrow and Stafford, traded to the Rams this year, are going for their first Super Bowl appearance while Rams coach Sean McVay will be shooting for his second Super Bowl appearance. He lost his first with Jared Goff as his quarterback.

The Mahomes-Allen duel was an instant classic. Allen put the Bills ahead with a touchdown pass on fourth and 13 with 1:54 left. Trailing 29-26, Mahomes threw a 64-yard pass to Tyreek Hill to give the Chiefs a 33-29 lead with 1:02 left. Allen then came back with a 19-yard touchdown pass to put the Bills up 36-33 with 13 seconds left.

And then with some help from the Bills, Mahomes tied it up and sent it iinto overtime and the Chiefs won the toss and got the win.

This game will be remembered for a long time, especially if the Chiefs go on to win the Super Bowl.

The losses by Brady and Rodgers raised questions about their futures. Brady is 44 and said he will spend several weeks thinking about what he wants to return at age 45. It is easier to think about retiring at the end of a long season. After he recharges his batteries, he may not be able to walk away.

Rodgers will return, but he has to decide whether he wants to stay in Green Bay. He has the option of leaving, but may decide his best option is to stay. He was upset at the Packers for trading up to select Jordan Love on the first round two years ago but may be ready to smooth things over since Love hasn’t challenged him.

Another quarterback whose future could be in jeopardy is Tannehill. With Derrick Henry not in top form after coming back from an injury, Tannehill was outgunned by Burrow.

But if Henry returns at top form, they may decide Tannehill remains their best option. He was picked off three times by the Bengals.

The coach on the hot seat is Sean McDermott of the Bills. Their fans are upset that they couldn’t hold the lead with 13 seconds left against the Chiefs.

He decided not to have the Bills squib kick on the kickoff and then had them in a soft prevent defense that allowed Mahomes to complete two passes that put the Chiefs in position for a game-tying field goal. They won the coin toss and scored a touchdown to win the games.

Under the current rules, teams that win the coin toss are 10-1 and there is much talk about changing the rules so each team has a possession in overtime, but the owners have voted down that idea in the past.

Now there are three games left – the two conference title games and the Super Bowl.

It won’t be easy for them to match the drama of the divisional weekend.

Now there are eight teams left with their eyes on the NFL prize – the Vince Lombardi trophy.

Reputations will be made and lost that will last a lifetime in the final seven games starting with divisional round this weekend.

Only two coaches in the final eight –Andy Reid and Bruce Arians – have won Super Bowls and both are going for their second one. If Reid wins his second in three years, it will punch his HOF ticket, although he may make it anyway. Arians is trying to enjoy the select group that won back to back titles.

Surprisingly, Reid is only 18-15 in the playoffs in his two-decade coaching career.

Three of the eight quarterbacks left have won Super Bowls. Tom Brady is going for his eighth and Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes are going for their second one. Brady is trying to join Terry Bradshaw as the only quarterback to repeat twice.

Reid and Mahomes are going for the third consecutive Super Bowl appearance, trying to join Bill Belichick and Brady, who made it three times in a row as did Don Shula and Bob Griese. The record is four times in a row by Buffalo’s Marv Levy and Jim Kelly, although they lost all four.

Two coaches, Sean McVay of the Rams and Kyle Shanahan of the 49ers, are trying to reach the Super Bowl for the second time after losing their first appearance.

McVay changed quarterbacks since that loss and is going with Matthew Stafford, who won his first playoff game last week.

The 49ers are still going with Jimmy Garoppolo, who is back for the 49ers after he threw two picks in the Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs two years ago. Garoppolo could be traded at the end of the season because the 49ers have Trey Lance waiting in the wings. But if Garappolo wins the Super Bowl, do the 49ers move on from him?

Garoppolo is the only one of the eight quarterbacks whose job is in jeopardy. Brady could always retire but then retiring doesn’t seem to be his thing.

Matt LeFleur of the Packers, Mike Vrabel of the Titans, Zac Taylor of the Bengals, Sean McDermott of the Bills are all going for their first Super Bowl appearance.

The four home teams are the Titans, Bills, Bucs and Packers. The road teams are the Bengals at the Titans, Bills at Chiefs, 49ers at Packers and Rams at Bucs.

The best game will probably be the Chiefs-Bills. These two teams could play a lot of playoff games against each other in the coming years. Both seem set for long runs.

Green Bay is considered to have a big home field edge at Lambeau Field, but they are only 7-6 in their last 13 home playoff games.

And if the wild card round was a barometer, the TV ratings are likely to be off the charts.

As expected, the wild card weekend was very good for the NFL.

They made money with the two extra games by adding two more teams to the playoffs. And they got great TV ratings. The fans can’t get enough NFL football.

For the fans, though, it wasn’t too exciting. Four of the six games were blowouts. It was no surprise the two No. 7 seeds, the Steelers and Eagles were blown out by the Chiefs and Bucs.

And not that much of a surprise that New England couldn’t compete with Buffalo. The Patriots struggled down the stretch and had a rookie quarterback.

The surprising blowout was that Arizona couldn’t compete with the Rams. There are now questions about where the Cardinals go from here.

The two close games were the Bengals beating the Raiders to end a three-decade drought of playoff wins. And the Cowboys’ loss to the 49ers showed the Cowboys still aren’t as good as they think they are. The was a lot of chatter about the final spike but the Cowboys were outplayed.

So now the playoffs are down to eight teams that all think they have a shot at that Lombardi trophy.

Now the real playoffs begin this weekend.

The NFL is touting this as the super Wild Card weekend because there will be six games for the second year in a row and this time will include a Monday night game.

This format was created by adding a seventh team in each conference and having only one bye team. Problem is, the two seventh seeds – Pittsburgh and Philadelphia – don’t look too super and both are big underdogs.

The Steelers and Eagles are the only playoff teams that didn’t win at least 10 games. Last year, Chicago made it with an 8-8 record but easily beaten by New Orleans, 21-9.

The NFL will make money off the two extra games but they aren’t likely to be attractions for the fans.

Pittsburgh lost to Kansas City 36-10 in the regular season, even though the Chiefs sat on the lead in the second half when Patrick Mahomes threw just five passes. This game figures to be another rout and not exactly the kind of farewell the Steelers would like for Ben Roethlisberger.

Philadelphia lost to Tampa Bay 28-22 at home in the regular season but this time they are facing Tom Brady in the playoffs on the road. It will be rainy in Tampa this week, but it may stop before the 1 p.m. Sunday kickoff and not be a major factor.

The weather will be a factor in Buffalo, where the Bills will host the Patriots Saturday night. The NFL scheduled this game in prime time in sub-freezing weather instead of during the day because they think it will be a ratings attraction.

But the Patriots are limping into the playoffs with three losses in their last four games. The Pats did win in Buffalo during the season on a windy night when Mac Jones threw just three passes, but that is not likely to be a successful formular again.

The other three games – Cincinnati hosting Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon, Dallas hosting San Francisco on Sunday afternoon and the Rams hosting Arizona Monday night – figure to be close games. They are the best attractions this weekend.

The big question is whether all three home teams will win and knock out the wild card teams.

If that happens and all six division winners post victories, the Titans host the Bengals and the Packers host the Rams after the two home teams got first round byes.