The Jacksonville Jaguars are across the pond on their two-week trip abroad, preparing to face Chicago and New England in London. This week, they will be the designated away team against rookie quarterback Caleb Williams and the Bears.
Jacksonville is coming off its first win of the season after an 0-4 start. Star signal-caller Trevor Lawrence turned in one of the best performances of his career in Sunday’s 37-34 win over Indianapolis, signaling a possible start of a steady stretch of games for the franchise quarterback.
However, the Bears will not be an easy matchup following a productive victory over the Carolina Panthers as Williams produced career-high numbers.
Jaguars Wire takes a closer look at some of the key matchups for Sunday’s matchup against the 3-2 Bears.
Jacksonville’s rushing offense vs. Chicago’s run defense
A constant of the Jaguars’ offense in 2024 has been their run game, which has begun to alternate between their one-two punch of Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby. The latter exploded last Sunday with a 103-yard game, including a long touchdown run that added another explosive element to Jacksonville’s offense.
While the Bears have played sound defense overall, their Achilles heel to this point has been to defend the run. They currently rank 18th in rushing yards allowed and 15th in rushing allowed, and at times have been pushed around in the trenches, failing to maintain gap discipline and fit the run.
Jacksonville must lean more into the run game this week. Their offensive line has generated movement at the line of scrimmage consistently for two straight weeks, helping them to second in rushing yards per play.
Bigsby’s role is expanding and the advanced statistics show this. He currently ranks fourth in the NFL in rushing yards over expected with +142 despite playing in just four games, according to Next Gen Stats. He could be an impact player this Sunday and a crucial piece to Jacksonville’s path to success.
Jaguars’ passing offense vs. Bears’ secondary
One of the promising signs last week was the Jaguars’ notable progression and improvement in the passing game. They used frequent play-action to open up the run game.
The passing game thrived, too, as Lawrence completed 28-of-34 passes for over 370 yards and two touchdowns. Jacksonville’s offensive line thrived and gave Lawrence ample time in yet another consistent performance.
However, the front five will face a Chicago defense featuring five defenders with double-digit pressures. The Bears’ defensive front owns a quick pressure rate that ranks seventh in the NFL, according to Next Gen Stats.
The Bears are a heavy-man defense, which could pose problems for the Jaguars. Last week against Carolina, Chicago limited Andy Dalton to just 136 yards passing with very few outlets to work with.
Jacksonville has struggled against heavy man coverage units this season but with the recent usage of Christian Kirk and Brian Thomas Jr., that could change this week.
Thomas has shown to be an explosive and reliable vertical threat while Kirk has been a separator savant in the slot. The good news for the Jaguars is that versatile tight end Evan Engram returns to the field for the first time since Week 1, giving them another quality piece to counter the Bears’ secondary.
Chicago’s top cornerback, Tyrique Stevenson, is not expected to suit up Sunday in London. His absence could allow Jacksonville to exploit some matchups for another explosive day.
Jacksonville’s defensive line vs. Chicago’s offensive line
Ryan Nielsen’s defense has struggled as of late with some significant letdowns throughout the last few weeks. His unit is now ranked near the bottom of the league in most categories. However, a slew of injuries to key players have led to some inconsistencies with the unit overall.
The Jaguars have a talented defensive line that deploys a constant rotation. They did get pushed around by the Colts last week but face a more favorable matchup against the Bears’ average offensive line.
Jacksonville edge rushers Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen will be a handful. Next Gen Stats shows that after not having seven pressures in any game during his career, Walker has now had two consecutive games of over seven pressures, including three sacks in the Jaguars’ first win of the season. Hines-Allen has begun to emerge as well with back-to-back games of six-plus pressures.
Williams has not faired well against pressure and has put the ball in harm’s way often in an attempt to play hero ball. With Walker and Hines-Allen starting to heat up as of late, that could pose a problem for the rookie signal-caller.
While the Jaguars have succeeded lately on the offensive side of the trenches, the defensive side must step up again this weekend. If their pass rushers continue to have productive afternoons, the path to success against the Bears’ offense becomes much smoother.