The Milwaukee Brewers may have been eliminated from the playoffs this week, but their presence in the postseason still looms large.

Thanks to Pete Alonso’s historic, clutch home run in the ninth inning on Thursday night, the New York Mets emerged victorious in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series. That sent the Brewers packing, while the Mets got to punch their ticket to the NLDS.

And if past results are any indication, New York could wind up going much, much further.

As pointed out by MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, every team that has beat the Brewers in the postseason has gone on to – at the very least – win a pennant. Six of the eight teams to do so have finished October as World Series champions.

The Brewers, who played their inaugural season in 1970, made the playoffs for the first time in 1981. They lost to the New York Yankees in the ALDS, setting the Bronx Bombers on the path to their 33rd AL pennant.

The very next year, Milwaukee made it to the World Series themselves, but lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.

Following a 25-year postseason drought, the Brewers got knocked out by the eventual World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies in the 2008 NLDS. They reached the NLCS in 2011, only to come face-to-face with the Cardinals, who went on to win the Fall Classic as well.

The 2018 Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Brewers in the NLCS, then lost to the Boston Red Sox in the World Series, but the 2019 Washington Nationals, 2020 Dodgers and 2021 Atlanta Braves all went through Milwaukee on their way to a title. The 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks, although they didn’t win the World Series, also defeated the Brewers en route to an NL pennant.

The Brewers’ postseason opponents have created a pattern – one team will eliminate them, then lose in the World Series, while the next three teams to eliminate them will win the World Series. Since the D-Backs lost in the World Series in 2023, that means the Mets should win it all in 2024, per this purely coincidental pattern.

In order to do so, New York will have to make it past the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS. Game 1 of that best-of-five series is scheduled to get underway at 4:08 p.m. ET.

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The Jacksonville Jaguars have one of their biggest Sundays of the year on the horizon.

Not only will Week 5’s AFC South battle against the Indianapolis Colts serve as a chance for the Jaguars to back on track after an 0-4 start, but the Jaguars will be honoring the greatest head coach and arguably the most influential figure in franchise history in Tom Coughlin.

“In the history of the Jaguars, I think it’s important that they know that and that we get to celebrate Coach Coughlin and also getting some former players, some legends back this weekend,” Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said this week.

“It will be exciting for the guys to see and visit. So yeah, definitely want that out in front of the team. It’s important they see that.”

So, can the Jaguars walk out of Week 5 with their first victory of the year? We break it down below.

Prediction: Jaguars 23, Colts 16

The Colts as a whole have been a better team than the Jaguars this season; that much can’t be argued. But the Colts are simply one of the NFL’s most banged-up teams in the NFL right now, and the Jaguars might just be catching them at the right time.

In addition to Jonathan Taylor being ruled out, Kwity Paye and DeForest Buckner, and Kenny Moore will all miss the contest. Center Ryan Kelly is also ruled questionable. For as banged-up as the Jaguars have been in recent weeks, the Colts currently have it even worse.

There is also the factor of Anthony Richardson being questionable, which means the Jaguars will either play a banged-up Richardson, backup quarterback Joe Flacco, or both. The Jaguars have prepared for the event of both quarterbacks all week.

As things stand today, either result may not be too much of an issue for a Jaguars defense that has been reeling in recent weeks but is also now getting healthier.

The Jaguars will have linebacker Devin Lloyd, who missed last week’s game with a knee injury, and nickel cornerback Darnell Savage, who has missed the last three games with a quad injury, Savage had a dominant performance in Week 1 and his veteran presence has been lost in an otherwise youthful secondary that has had a rookie, a second-year player, and a third-year player all playing major snaps.

Offensively, the Jaguars at least have history on their side. The offense has played well in all four games against the Colts under Doug Pederson, largely because the Jaguars’ scheme has typically been the perfect foil for the Colts’ defense.

This feels like a game the Jaguars need to take control of. With their season spiraling after an 0-4 start, they need some way to find a break and get over the hump and get things back on track. Sometimes it only takes one win. The Jaguars need to make that this week.

If the Jaguars lose this week, they will be heading into London with an 0-5 record. The time to right their wrongs is now.

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