Jaguars @ Eagles
JT: Jacksonville travels to a soggy Lincoln Financial Field
It’s 11:30am on Sunday October 2nd. JaguarsTalk is sitting in the amazing, sunny, and 75 degree Jacksonville weather watching Sam Ponder, Teddy Bruschi, Matt Hasselback, Randy Moss and Coach Rex Ryan’s unnaturally white and perfect teeth on Sunday NFL Countdown. We can’t help but wish we were at the Linc right now. Yes it’s raining and windy and crappy in Philadelphia today but that is football weather. That is what football is all about. It brings me back to my childhood when the first smells of fall would be in the cool air. It would be drizzling out when all my friends would head to the local school to play some tackle football in the mud and wet grass. It’s football the way football is meant to be played. No dome, no roof, no shelter from the storm. The hurricane may have spared Jacksonville but Jacksonville traveled to Philly to play the Eagles in the remnants of Ian.
The Jags have Shaquille Griffin playing today but superstar wide receiver Zay Jones, who dominated in Los Angeles last week, is out today. That means Tim Jones and Jamal Agnew need to step it up. This is their time to shine on a gloomy Philly day. JaguarsTalk was speaking with some Philly fans on Twitter the last few days and we reached an agreement. The winner of this game is whomever wins at pass protection. I agree with this statement, though I approached it from a different angle. The winner of this game will be the team with the best front seven. Essentially the same thing. I know the Eagles have Lane Johnson but Josh Allen and Travon Walker will be difficult to slow down no matter who you have protecting you. The key will be to watch the overly aggressive play that allows Jalen Hurts to escape the pocket and break containment. That’s when trouble occurs for defenses. On the opposite side of the ball Jawaan Taylor, Brandon Scherff and Cam Robinson will have to deal with Fletcher Cox, Josh Sweat and Javon Hargrave. Which matchup do you like better? We favor the Jags O-line, not only because of the protection shown thus far, but also because of the play calling that allows Lawrence to get rid of the ball faster than any other QB in the NFL, minus Tom Brady. Jacksonville’s complimentary ball is just phenomenal to watch. Doug Pederson and his coaching staff absolutely understand every aspect of the football puzzle and how each piece fits together to make the other positions perform better.
With the bad weather in Philly scheduled to remain all game long, how will this impact the play calling? One would think this would favor the running game. The Jaguars J-Rob and Travis Etienne are a solid one-two punch at running back. In addition, T-Laws short passing game to Christian Kirk in the slot plays well in bad weather. One might think inclement weather leans in favor of the Jaguars, however, Jalen Hurts, while he loves the deep ball to A.J. Brown and Davonta Smith (which may be hindered slightly because of the weather), is one of the best scrambling quarterbacks in the league. He can beat you with his legs just as easily as his arm. Miles Sanders is also no slouch in the backfield. This is going to be a very interesting and fun game to watch. I do believe that it will come down to which team pressures the other quarterback more. That team wins. I saw an interview with Sal Palantonio and the Eagles Head Coach who said that he preaches winning the explosive plays and the turnover battle. It will be difficult to win the turnover battle against Jacksonville as the Jaguars live and breath takeaways. JaguarsTalk, even with the weather, sticks with their call of an outright Jaguars win.
What do you think will happen today at the Linc? Let us know in the comment section below.