JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Winless and 18 straight losses. It is time for the Jaguars to get a victory.
This week the Jaguars are playing in their only national TV matchup of the year against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night football.
Recommended Videos
Midweek games always have a tendency to be a bit unpredictable. Jaguars outside linebacker Josh Allen said that Thursday night games come down to the team that takes the field with the right mindset.
Hopefully the Jaguars (0-3) will have a winning mindset when they hit the field at 8:20 p.m. at Paul Brown Stadium. While winning will go along way for a team that hasn’t won in over a year, here are four football factors that will help lead them to that first W of the Urban Meyer era.
No more “whirly bird”
Last week against the Cardinals, the Jaguars dialed up a flea flicker that turned into a pick-6. The main reason the play failed was because of JJ Watt. Andrew Norwell was executing a “whirly bird” technique on the play where his job is to spin out and pick up the outside rush. … It failed.
The premise behind the blocking technique is sound, but knowing your personnel and calling it on the side where a guy like Watt is lined up is not a good idea.
It’s actually a really bad idea.
The “whirly bird” was not the only problem for the offensive line last week. According to Pro Football Focus, the Jaguars allowed 16 pressures, nine hurries, five hits and two sacks on Trevor Lawrence last week. Not exactly a great outing. It needs to do a better job than that against the Bengals. “They do a really nice job with their front seven and they want to get pressure with those guys,” said offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell.
The Bengals have racked up 10 sacks so far this season. If the Jaguars O-Line can keep that pressure under control, I like Lawrence’s chances of picking apart their secondary. If Lawrence has time, he will make good decisions.
Stop Joe
There are two Joe’s in the Bengals backfield. Both are dangerous.
But it’s Joe Mixon the Jaguars need to be locked in on. Mixon shredded the Jaguars last season for over 150 yards and two TDs. They can’t let him do that again. Joe Cullen said as a defense you never want to let the other team run the ball.
“You gave up 400 throwing, you felt like you did pretty good. On the other hand, if you gave up 400 yards rushing, the whole place just felt like they get their hearts ripped out. It always starts with that, and you always give yourself a chance to make a team one-dimensional,” Cullen said.
In the Bengals’ loss to the Bears in Week 2, Chicago was able to keep Mixon under control holding him to 20 carries for 69 yards. When Mixon plays well, the Bengals play well. Stop Mixon and the Jags have a chance.
No more Turnover Trevor
Through three games, Trevor Lawrence is tied with fellow rookie Zach Wilson for the league lead in interceptions. So far, all of the rookie quarterbacks this year have struggled.
Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said this week that he doesn’t want to take away Lawrence’s aggressiveness and he still believes in him.
“You can look around the league and I’ll take our guy any day in the rookie quarterbacks and how they’re doing. It is a different game for them now when they come into the NFL,” Bevell said.
Lawrence’s biggest problem so far has been turnovers. He has seven interceptions to go along with two fumbles. He has got to get those numbers under control.
Lawrence understands that.
“Yeah, I think I have had four bad decision turnovers which in three games is a little bit too much for sure.”
A turnover-free Lawrence is a winning NFL QB, but he needs some help from the other 10 guys around him.
Let Shaquill Chase Chase
Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase picked up right where they left off from college. Chase has led the Bengals in receiving during both of their wins this season. It is easy to understand why Burrow would have a lot of trust in Chase after the duo played together in college and led LSU to a national championship.
The solution is let Shaquill Griffin follow Chase. During the Cardinals game, Griffin followed DeAndre Hopkins and held him to just three catches for 21 yards. That was the first time in Griffin’s career that he followed a receiver for an entire game. He said that actually made his job a little easier.
“It was definitely different [and] it is a lot easier to study because you know you are not studying multiple receivers. That was my job [though] to keep him as quiet as possible. I feel like he did not get as many targets as he probably would have liked but you know a quiet game is not too bad for me,” Griffin said.
Griffin is the team’s best corner. His job needs to be taking away Burrow’s favorite threat. So, let him chase Chase.