The Jacksonville Jaguars are slowly approaching the halfway mark of their season and things haven’t quite gone well for them as they’ve lost their last two games. With a winless Cincinnati Bengals team next on their schedule, they will look to start trending in the right direction this upcoming Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium.
To help familiarize our readers with a Bengals team many don’t know a lot about, we sat down with Bengals Wire editor Chris Roling to learn a little more about a team in which the Jags have a little history with. Here are four burning questions he was kind enough to answer for us:
Jags Wire: Coming into the season, Zac Taylor was a name people liked as an up-and-comer due to his time with Sean McVay. Given the limited star players he has, what are your thoughts on him so far?
Chris Roling: He’s doing what he can with what he has. He lost first-round pick Jonah Williams in camp, then lost the next starter, Cordy Glenn, to a concussion in the preseason. Going into Week 7, he’s got a backup guard starting at left tackle.
Taylor has otherwise had the expected rookie coach problems. He’s been out-coached at times and his usage of weapons such as Tyler Eifert and Giovani Bernard have been questionable. But it’s hard to get an overall evaluation of him this year. Whether the front office will agree is hard to say.
JW: Most would agree that it appears the Bengals are heading towards a rebuild, but who are two players on each side of the ball who Jags fans should be mindful of?
CR: At wide receiver, Auden Tate had a big game last week. He’s a big target who didn’t get a lot of run with the prior coaching staff but is exploding now. He’s making some A.J. Green-esque plays by adapting to passes and winning physically.
Sam Hubbard has been a fun breakout pass-rusher who plays a hybrid of end and linebacker. He’ll play a big role with both Carlos Dunlap and Carl Lawson likely out.
It looks like you guys are really beat up in the secondary. Could you talk about the players who will see the field in the place of Dre Kirkpatrick and William Jackson?
There’s not much left there.
Darqueze Dennard just came off the physically unable to perform list and he’ll play outside instead of in the slot. Inside, B.W. Webb will get another start — but he’s playing with a fractured forearm. It’s a hodgepodge of names from there, with Tony McRae and Torry McTyer next up on the depth chart.
What are your score predictions for the game?
The Bengals have effectively announced eight players as out for this one. It’s going to get ugly. That Jacksonville defensive line is going to feast against a hobbled offensive line and force Andy Dalton into more mistakes. Jaguars 30, Bengals 17
