The Jacksonville Jaguars will play in their only primetime game of 2020 later this evening, hosting the 0-2 Miami Dolphins for Thursday Night Football. The atmosphere within the club is surprisingly upbeat after a relatively strong start to the new season having shocked the Indianapolis Colts on opening weekend, the team then narrowly lost a nail-biter in Tennessee last Sunday.
With the mood high, and fans still excited about the team, today is the perfect time for the Jaguars to host a primetime game. If they are able to win today, the team will be 2-1 and full of confidence ahead of a winnable trip to Cincinnati next week.
The organization announced that they will be suiting up in all-teal uniforms for the first time in the team’s history, even painting the end zones prior to the matchup. With the team coming into this prime-time game looking the part, the nation will be able to see whether the Jaguars have more to offer 2020 than an alternate color-scheme.
If coach Doug Marrone is to lead his team to a win this week, there are certain elements of his gameplan that he must exploit. Here are three keys to a Jaguars victory against the Dolphins:
Run the ball
The team just announced that Pro Bowl receiver D.J Chark has been ruled out of this game with chest and back injuries, which means that Minshew is going to be without his favorite target this evening.
In the team’s first game against Indianapolis, the offense flowed through rookie running back James Robinson as Jacksonville went on to win the game comfortably. However, during last Sunday’s game against the Titans, Minshew was asked to do more with his arm and two turnovers came out of the overall result.
This is not to say that Minshew is a bad quarterback, in fact, he’s far from it. However, he shouldn’t be doing things by himself. Comparing his stats from the first two games says it all.
In the Jaguars’ opening victory, Minshew was 19-of-20 with three touchdowns and no interceptions, finishing with a passer rating of 142.3. Against the Titans, the second-year passer threw the ball over twice as much and finished the game 30-of-45, with three touchdowns, and two picks. As a result, he accumulated a 92.7 passer rating.
Whilst Robinson has started the season off so strong, he should be utilized early and often to limit mistakes on an offensive unit struggling to stay healthy.
No more penalties
The biggest killer for Jacksonville recently has been the amount of needless penalties given against them. Granted, not all of them are entirely fair (see Myles Jack’s pass-interference penalty Week 3), but badly disciplined teams rarely win football games.
If the team can keep the flags in the referee’s pockets and maintain momentum in key drives, their chances of winning will improve dramatically. This might prove difficult on the offensive line, with starting center Brandon Linder being sideline with a knee injury. With a new quarterback/center partnership on the field tonight, fans will be hoping for no false starts or holding penalties to boost confidence early.
Get Pressure
The lack of pressure on opposing quarterbacks has been a problem for the Jaguars. The team will go into their third game with only one sack coming from their defensive line. That sack goes to rookie K’Lavon Chaisson, who only saw the field 18 times on Sunday.
A lot was said about the attrition on the defensive line before the season, be it opt-outs or injuries, but if this team is serious about winning more than four games this year then they simply have to start hitting opposing quarterbacks. Nobody is expecting the ‘Sacksonville’ of 2017, the remnants of which are no longer visible on the roster. Yet this team has enough talent to generate pressure upfront. If it doesn’t? Even Ryan Fitzpatrick will tear the defense apart.
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