The league released the schedules of all 32 teams Thursday including the Jacksonville Jaguars’. With the team set to play a full slate of home games for the first time since 2012, many fans were excited to see the order in which the home schedule would come.
Coach Doug Marrone will look to improve upon the results we’ve seen in 2018-19 and will have to do so with a very young roster. One thing working in his favor is the fact that the Jags’ strength of schedule ranks 22nd, significantly better than what he’s faced in the past.
All of that said, here are some of the observations we came away with after thoroughly evaluating the schedule:
The Jags start off the season with two difficult divisional games
The Jaguars will start their 2020 regular season against the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans Week 1-2, which means they can pile up two losses quickly. On the other hand, it also could give them a chance to make some noise early within the AFC South.
Neither opponent will be easy to defeat, although the Jags did split their series with both last year. However, things are different now as Indy has Philip Rivers who is 7-2 overall against them with a 69.44% completion rate in their head-to-heads. Additionally, he’s thrown 24 touchdowns with just five picks against them.
The Titans also have the Jags’ number as Jacksonville has lost five of their last six meetings against them. The good thing is that the one victory that came against the Titans over that span was with Gardner Minshew II under center. He’ll be the one battling them Week 2 as well, so maybe he can restore his magic and get the Jags an early win in the season.
No prime time game against the Titans — and that’s a good thing
It feels like the league never really puts a lot of thought into the Jags’ prime time schedule as they’ve routinely put them in one Thursday Night Football game a year against the Titans. That won’t be the case this year as the Jags got a prime time game against their in-state rivals in the Miami Dolphins.
The matchup itself should be interesting as rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa could be the one taking snaps behind center. If that’s the case, it could be a long night for the rookie as Josh Allen fared well against the Dolphins’ starting offensive line last preseason.
They get Houston twice in the span of 4 weeks
After the first quarter of the season, the Jags get the Texans Week 5 at home then Week 9. It’s hard to envision the Jags winning both, but even if they win one it could be huge.
Some will flat out say the Jags aren’t suited to beat the Texans right now, however, the team has lost a lot thanks to Bill O’Brien. Those losses include Jadeveon Clowney and most recently receiver DeAndre Hopkins. When adding in the fact that J.J. Watt isn’t getting any younger, that could help the Jags significantly in 2020.
Weeks 10-11 will give fans a glimpse of the Jags against two playoff-caliber teams
Weeks 10-11 will be rough for Jacksonville as they travel to Green Bay, then come back home to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Neither will be easy games as the Packers went to the playoffs last season while the Steelers were close.
The Packers have been known to be an offensive powerhouse in the past, but it was their defense that got them to the postseason. They had two double-digit sack edge rushers in Za’Darius Smith (13.5) and Preston Smith (12) who could cause issues for the Jags’ offensive line.
As for the Steelers, the Jags have lost their last three games at TIAA Bank Field against them. Add in the fact that they were ranked fifth defensively, and it appears the Jags’ offense could struggle against their longtime rivals.
We’ll get to see what Gardner Minshew is made of during the last stretch (if the team is predominantly healthy)
The last five games of the Jags’ schedule will be the toughest because they will face three top-6 defenses from 2019. Those teams are the Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens, and Chicago Bears, who were sixth, third, and fourth, respectively. They will also face two divisional rivals in the Titans and Colts, who know them all too well and will bring it defensively.
Add in the fact that the Jags’ last three games (against the Ravens, Bears, and Colts) are against top-9 opponents against the run, and it appears the Jags are going to need their passing game to be solid.
This means we could find out a lot about Minshew if the Jags a predominately healthy at this point (or at least healthy as they can be). Regardless as to if they win the last five or not, if the offense fares well under Minshew that would be a great sign for him as the Jags head into the offseason.
Look for these teams (and others) to play the young signal-caller like the Saints did: from the pocket. How Minshew responds (again, if the supporting cast is healthy) will tell the Jags front office what direction they need to go in next season as far as a quarterback goes.
