JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After a Week 1 game that left Jaguars’ fans confused, Sunday is a chance to bounce back.
TIAA Bank Field is 1-0 to start the season (thank you, Saints). The Jaguars will look to keep the Bank undefeated when they hit the grass with the Broncos. Denver (1-0) is a good team with playoff expectations. If the Jaguars are going to even things up, they will need to play a clean game.
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Stop Von Miller
Jawaan Taylor better brings some syrup with him on Sunday because he needs to serve some pancakes out on the field. Miller is a guy who can wreck an offensive game plan. Taylor will have his hands full on Sunday as he will be tasked with blocking Miller on the majority of snaps. The Jaguars could opt to give Taylor some help by keeping a tight end in to block or chip Miller. Without giving away too much of his game plan, offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said, “we definitely have to help take care of those guys.”
Play through traffic
By around the third drive of the game, the Texans defense figured out that the Jaguars secondary didn’t know have to play bunch sets and rub routes. I’m no NFL coach, but I’m willing to bet the Broncos will utilize those same concepts early in the game to see if the Jaguars have figured it out yet. Defensive coordinator Joe Cullen said, “everything is correctable.”
It is a problem that is easy to identify but hard to fix. Communication issues in the secondary are not often fixed in the season, but they can be improved. This is not a complicated concept and something that should improve as the players get more comfortable playing together. But they need a major improvement by Sunday or the Denver offense will take advantage.
Trevor plays a clean game
After a three-interception game to open his NFL career, things don’t get any easier for Lawrence. Broncos head coach Vic Fangio is one of the top defensive minds in the NFL. Since 2011, rookie QBs facing a Fangio defense are 4-10. Lawrence will have his hands full.
“They make everything look the same and that makes it a challenge,” Bevell said.
Lawrence will need to pack his patience for game day and trust his eyes so he doesn’t walk into those mistakes that the Broncos will try to set him up for. Sometimes, that means taking the short pass instead of looking for the home run.
“When you call plays for him that maybe have opportunities that are further down the field than others, that I think sometimes younger quarterbacks get excited,” Bevell said.
Finish the play
This ain’t horseshoes and you don’t get points for participation. Finish the play! The Jaguars pass rush in Week 1 was the walking embodiment of “you gotta be quicker than that.”
Josh Allen walked away with the Jaguars’ only sack in Week 1, but that wasn’t from a lack of pressure. According to ESPN, the Jaguars had the third-highest pass rush win rate in Week 1 at 65%. Cullen said, “I feel really going about the pass rush, we had six hits and 17 hurries.”
Hits and hurries are nice, but sacks are a whole lot nicer. A revival of the Sacksonville moniker would go a long way towards helping the Jags find a W against Denver.