Game Overview ::
By Mike johnson >>
- Both of these teams enter Week 9 fresh off a bye week and 28 and 31 points, respectively, the last time we saw them play.
- Jaguars WR Brian Thomas Jr. has been the subject of many discussions and trade rumors, while rookie WR Travis Hunter had his best game of the season prior to the bye.
- The Raiders expect to get TE Brock Bowers and WR Jakobi Meyers back from injury, which should help their struggling offense.
- Las Vegas will have a short turnaround after this game, with a Thursday night game against the Broncos next on the schedule.
- The status of Raiders DE Maxx Crosby will have a drastic effect on the outlook for the Jaguars offense and QB Trevor Lawrence.
JM’S JOURNAL ::
Find JM’s Journal on Friday in The Scroll. If you are an Inner Circle member, you can read JM’s Journal on Thursday in Discord.
How jacksonville Will Try To Win ::
The Jaguars have been an inconsistent team this season with some big wins and some ugly losses. The first season under head coach Liam Coen has had its speed bumps, but it seems that he has a clear vision and direction he wants to take this team in and at times we see that vision playing out. The last time we saw the Jaguars, however, was quite the opposite. Playing in London against a Rams team that was without All-Pro WR Puka Nacua, the Jaguars were dominated in every facet of the game and lost 35-7. However, the bigger picture of that game shows that much of Jacksonville’s destruction was self-inflicted as they gave up 7 sacks and committed a whopping 13 penalties. Kicker Cam Little also missed a field goal, and the team had a punt return touchdown called back for a penalty. Jacksonville has been the most penalized team in the NFL this season, averaging 9.3 penalties per game through seven contests.
The Jaguars are third in the NFL in pass rate over expectation and rank near the top of the league in raw tempo and situation-neutral pace of play. These are common tendencies we saw from Coen previously in Tampa Bay. However, the Jaguars running game has been inconsistent, QB Trevor Lawrence has had inconsistent accuracy, star wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. has lacked urgency and crispness in his play most of the season, and the aforementioned penalties have led them to play “behind the sticks” far more often than is optimal. One of the biggest keys to consistent offensive success is early down success and simply being able to pick up simple and easy yards that set you up for success on later downs. This is especially true for Jacksonville as they consistently get stuffed on early down runs or see Lawrence miss short and easy throws, putting them into second and ten situations rather than second and three or four. It doesn’t sound like much, but all it takes is one missed opportunity like that and then an illegal motion or false start and all of a sudden you’ve killed a drive.
Coming out of the bye week, the biggest question for the Jaguars centers around their wide receivers. Rookie Travis Hunter has run a route on over 80% of Jaguars drop backs in their last two games and had his best game of the season against the Rams, although most of his production came in the second half of a blowout. Coen has talked about the need to increase Hunter’s role and we often see teams like Jacksonville with rookie head coaches make changes in approach after their bye week. There have also been rumors about BTJ’s standing with the team and the potential of him being traded. While that seems like a long shot, it seems likely that these two will at the very least be near equals in terms of how Jacksonville game plans around them. Travis Etienne has had a couple of big runs this season and been “fine” for the most part, but the running game is not going to carry this team. Expect to see a rejuvenated Jaguars offense in this game with a focus on their top playmakers against a Raiders defense that has been very beatable this season.
You must be logged in to view collective notes about a game.
You must be logged in to add notes about a game.