The Jacksonville Jaguars are riding high after winning their last two games by a combined 52 points. But the team faces its toughest test so far this season when it travels to play the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles.
Through three weeks, both the Jaguars and Eagles are top 10 in total offense, total defense, scoring offense, and scoring defense. Something’s gotta give.
For Jacksonville, a win would signal that the sky is the limit this season and the Jaguars are a bona fide contender. A loss would drop the team back to .500 and open the door for other AFC South teams to climb to the top of the division.
Here are three keys to victory for the Jaguars this weekend in Philadelphia:
Bring the heat
The Jaguars can’t fall into the trap of thinking their best approach is to force Jalen Hurts to beat them with his arm. He spent September showing that he can and will pick a defense apart if he’s given the chance.
It’s counterintuitive, but it’s much better to force Hurts — a mobile threat who already has three rushing touchdowns this season — off his spot in the pocket. He’s Pro Football Focus’ top rated passer from a clean pocket this season, and he’s had that luxury often behind PFF’s No. 1 ranked offensive line.
Jacksonville has to force pressure, but in a way that’s measured and controlled so as to avoid letting Hurts break loose for big chunks of yardage. While that’s a challenge, it beats getting slowly picked apart by a quarterback who’s in a groove.
Lean on the ground game
I’m sounding like a bit of a broken record, but the Jaguars’ success in Weeks 2 and 3 was largely a credit to the work James Robinson did between the tackles. He kept drives on track, kept defenses not knowing what to expect, and even burst free for a couple big touchdowns.
There are about a hundred reasons why it’s important to lean on Robinson and Travis Etienne this week, but here are the highlights:
- The Eagles have given up 5.4 yards per rush this season, third most in the NFL.
- Philadelphia is second in the NFL in sacks with 12 and sixth in interceptions with four.
- Hurricane Ian is working its way up the East Coast and it’s expected to rain in Philadelphia from Friday until about Tuesday. It’ll likely be a wet game with winds between 10 and 20 miles per hour.
Grinding away at the Eagles defense on the ground is a must.
Find some big plays
The Jaguars didn’t take many shots against the Colts and Chargers. Instead of gashing them with huge plays, Jacksonville slowly and methodically picked both teams apart with short and intermediate passes complemented by runs and screens.
The weather may lead to a run-heavy plan of attack against the Eagles, but at some Jacksonville is going to have to bust defenses over the top.
Philadelphia is too good on defense to get methodically picked apart and be unable to find a way off the field. The Jaguars will have to find some chunk plays and some explosiveness to get points on the board.
