There likely isn’t a team in football more eager to put Week 1 behind it than the Jacksonville Jaguars. The team was favored against the Houston Texans in the opener, but the game wasn’t even close as the Jags lost 37-21.
Jacksonville may not be facing one of the league’s elite teams, but Denver looked very solid in a Week 1 win over the New York Giants. Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was very efficient, tossing for two touchdowns and 264 yards on 28-of-36 passing, while the Broncos also totaled 165 yards on the ground between Melvin Gordon III, Javonte Williams, and Bridgewater.
The defense wasn’t quite as good, allowing a solid day from Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, but the Broncos entirely shut down the run game from Saquon Barkley and Co. Jacksonville didn’t run the ball much in Week 1, and it may not get the chance yet again this week.
If this team’s going to win through the air, quarterback Trevor Lawrence will need to be a lot sharper. He made some impressive plays in his debut, but they were overshadowed by turnovers. Denver’s secondary is much better than Houston’s after adding Kyle Fuller and Patrick Surtain II this offseason, and if Lawrence doesn’t take care of the football, this one could get ugly again.
It may not take turnovers for the Broncos to score a lot of points, though. Jacksonville’s secondary was burnt all game on Sunday, and while Denver will be without second-year receiver Jerry Jeudy for the time being, Courtland Sutton and tight end Noah Fant are very talented pass-catchers.
The Jaguars will face tougher tests this season (the matchup against Arizona the very next week likely being one of them), but this is a Broncos team that appears to be improved from its 5-11 finish a year ago. Winning on Sunday won’t be easy, but the Jags need to find a way to do it and avoid another disastrous start to a season.
Do you think Jacksonville will be able to get it done? Let us know in the poll below.
