The 2014 season has been an eye-sore for the Jacksonville Jaguars organization and its fans so far. Losing a 17-0 lead in the first half against the Philadelphia Eagles and getting blown out the next week against Washington has to be one of the most painful first two weeks of the Jaguars' 20 seasons in the NFL. Now, they have to get back from their NFC East road-trip to "Protect the Bank" against their AFC South rivals in the Indianapolis Colts.
The Jaguars may need something, anything, to get going for them to try to get the win against a seeming better team on paper against the divisional favorites. "How can they do this?" is the question many people looking on at the game will ask to the Jaguars, and it is completely fair.
The Jags have to almost do everything right if they want to defeat the Colts and on all three phases of the game, offense, defense, and special teams. This has been something Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley has been emphasizing since day one as the head coach. Many Jaguars personnel have voiced out their frustration at the first two weeks of the season.
Gus Bradley saying, "You have to do your job..."
"I think everybody's frustrated..." says starting quarterback Chad Henne.
"We need to make sure we are on point..." points out safety Johnathan Cyprien.
"We need to get it rolling." says running back Toby Gerhart.
Every Jaguars' player would want nothing more than to put the Colts in a 0-3 hole. There are many key components they have to follow in order to succeed in that task on Sunday.
Create holes for Toby Gerhart. With the Jaguars making shifts in the depth chart in the offensive line at Right Tackle and Center, they want to do what they always wanted to do when the season started, run the football. They wanted Toby Gerhart to get the ball 15-20 times a game, spelling him out once in a while for back-ups Jordan Todman and Denard Robinson, and he has only managed 50 yards on 25 carries. A 2.0 YPG is bad in the NFL, even in a pass-happy league. Putting in Luke Bowanko and Sam Young at center and right tackle has offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch hoping that Toby Gerhart can get to the second and third levels on the defense.
They need to plug up holes on the secondary. Kirk Cousins had a 66% completion rate last Sunday and that is an unacceptable number. Most passes were thrown in the way of the secondary, preferably in the strong safety's side of the ball to guys like tight end Niles Paul, who had a big day with 8 catches against the Jaguars. The Jaguars are going to get Cyprien back after missing the last 6 quarters of play with a concussion, and he should greatly help the Jaguars' defense that has looked awful in the 6 quarters without him.
The offensive line must protect Henne. 10 sacks, yes that many, were allowed against the Washington pass rush with Ryan Kerrigan leading the way for 4 sacks. Offensive tackle Cameron Bradfield ended up being cut earlier in the week after that massacre. It was not all Henne's fault on Sunday for the loss and the continuing clamors for rookie quarterback Blake Bortles, but it all has to start for the Jaguars to protect the quarterback against a team that has only managed 1 sack after two games against the Denver Broncos and the Eagles.
Pressure Colts' quarterback Andrew Luck. The offensive and the defensive lines need to be both on point for the Jags to have a chance on Sunday. The war in the trenches need to favor a Jaguars' team that has already managed 8 sacks against other competition. The Colts have managed to only allow three sacks on their franchise quarterback, which is good for an offensive line that has been decimated with injuries and the lack of experience of a great offensive line. The Jaguars need to take advantage of that and get defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks and LEOs Chris Clemons, as well as Andre Branch and Ryan Davis on pass rushing situations.
Become more mature. The Jaguars claim one of the youngest rosters in the NFL with many players who they are excited to have and look to be productive now and in the future. Wide receivers Marqise Lee and Allen Robinson (and Allen Hurns, who will likely miss the game with an ankle injury) as well as many others like offensive tackle Luke Joeckel, Cyprien, cornerback Dwayne Gratz, as well as many others that need to prove that they can compete like they did in the first half against Phialdelphia.
Force the Colts into turnovers. One of the reasons the Jaguars got to that 17-0 lead against Philadelphia was that the defense got the ball away from the offense. Strip-sacks, fumble recoveries and interceptions can all help the Jaguars big time against Andrew Luck. Luck has already thrown 3 interceptions, and running back Trent Richardson has had fumbling issues. The Jaguars must make big plays defensively to turn the tide in this game.
Get off to a fast start. This was perfectly executed week one and the Jaguars have shown they can do it. Now you also need to finish the game, which the Jaguars obviously haven't done early in the year. The Jags need to win field position after an awful showing last week only getting a handful of plays in Washington's side of the field and managing 10 points. Getting to a lead early and setting the tone will put Luck in a familiar position, playing from behind. Luck has proved his ability to come back many times before, but the Jaguars simply must force him to do it again.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are off to a disappointing start in the regular season, after some people considered this team to be a "dark-horse" for a playoff spot. This game is going to be a golden opportunity to put the odds-on favorite in the division to 0-3. The Jaguars do not need to worry on what the record on the boards or coming in to the game is, however, as they want to go out there and "do their job", which Gus Bradley has emphasized so much.
