The Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5) have been floundering and have been well-accustomed to the London area after spending the last two weeks there. You could probably call them the London Jaguars at this point.
The New England Patriots (1-5) need to get things back on track after dropping their last five games, following a shocking Week 1 victory. Meanwhile, the Jaguars are looking to keep their season (and jobs) alive, following a blowout loss to the Chicago Bears.
The Patriots have a tough task against a Jaguars team with more talent on paper. However, football isn’t played on paper, and the Jaguars have not been kind to themselves with costly mistakes and not executing at the right times.
The offense might be ready to explode in London, but the Jaguars need to get back to the fundamentals. The Patriots, on the other hand, need to expose their flaws and capitalize on a team that is frankly at their wit’s end.
The x-factor player this week is someone who will help expose the Jaguars’ biggest weakness, their passing defense. For week 7, the x-factor for the Patriots is wide receiver Kendrick Bourne.
Bourne has been active the last few weeks, and he played for a few snaps. But it was more about easing him back into game speed. With Polk struggling and DeMario Douglas seen as Maye’s favorite target, Bourne will have a good chance at opening the game up.
After all, Bourne is still the team’s best receiver, and a return to form could open things up and make things extremely challenging for the Jaguars. With Kayshon Boutte finding a little of his LSU magic so far, there may be hope he can step into the x-receiver slot for Polk, who likely could start the game on the bench.
Bourne is used off the line, moving around the formation to open him up downfield and even used as a flanker.
The veteran receiver might have an explosive return this week, and if so, he will have the largest impact on the outcome. A good day for Bourne this week will lead to a Patriots offense we haven’t seen in a while.
It would be an offense capable of sustaining long drives and causing panic in the Jaguars, which could cause some additional turnovers for a team not expecting the Patriots’ right hook to be as painful as it could be with Bourne in.