Jacksonville Jaguars’ Offensive Line Will Bully the Miami Dolphins

Don’t look now, but the Jacksonville Jaguars have put together an excellent offensive line over the last few weeks. It showed in a big way in the win over the Cleveland Browns in week seven, especially with Brandon Linder’s big performance paving the way at the guard position. For more on Linder, take a look here. They paved the way for Denard Robinson to put up 127 yards and a score last week, finally clicking in run blocking. More overlooked, however, has been their much improved pass protection after making some changes following a disastrous start to the season. The current lineup is much different from the start of the season and Luke Bowanko at center and Austin Pasztor at right tackle have allowed the Jaguars’ line to gel as a complete unit.

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As we look at the Jacksonville Jaguars’ o-line let’s separate the matchup against the Miami Dolphins into pass protection and run blocking. The Dolphins’ defensive line is a team strength, but confidence is building in the Jaguars’ offensive line lately.

Pass Protection

The Miami Dolphins have registered 17 sacks this season. While the Jaguars have allowed 29 so far (10 against the Washington Redskins in week two) the Dolphins will likely not find good penetration as the unit continues to gel with much better communication and understanding of responsibilities. Brandon Linder and Luke Bowanko are both rookies but they have learned quickly and continue to progress with each week.

Blake Bortles has hit the turf just 13 times in four games started, plus two quarters against the Indianapolis Colts. That’s still three less than Chad Henne’s 16 sacks taken in three starts. His 10% drop in sack percentage (7% compared to Henne’s 17%) is a major improvement in part because of who the quarterback is, but also because of the offensive line’s ability to communicate better, be in a set lineup, and better understand their quarterback. As Bortles extends plays by being tough to take down, the offensive line moves with him and covers where he moves.

Some notes on the Dolphins’ defensive line: Derrick Shelby (recently returned from suspension) is third on their team with three sacks. Cameron Wake and Oliver Vernon should not be overlooked, but Shelby provides strong rotation for their defensive line and is a threat against the Jaguars. I can’t stress enough that Wake could still go off for a huge game pretty much any Sunday. Hopefully the Jags will be able to play well against a strong rotation, like they have over the past few weeks.

Run Blocking

The Miami Dolphins allow the 10th least yards on the ground in the NFL. As impressive as that is, it hasn’t stopped opponents from running the ball at them (17th in rushing attempts against). Teams are putting together just over 100 yards per game on the ground against a defense that is proving stingy.

But the Jacksonville Jaguars can make those numbers go up. Last week they showed that they can push defenders off the line of scrimmage and Denard Robinson has proven that he fast enough to get into the hole and move the ball forward (4.4 yards per rush). One game doesn’t indicate a trend, of course, but based on just how impressive the Jags were at pushing the Browns off the line last week, I think the trend will continue. The offensive line proved that they can bully with the best of them, allowing Robinson to get through holes in the middle or hold off the defense long enough for him to get around the outside.

Again, injuries may hurt the Dolphins here as well. Both Randy Starks and Jared Odrick are good defensive tackles, but Odrick is coming back from a neck injury (currently probably for the game on Sunday) and if the Jaguars can make some early pushes and sustained attempts they will likely be able to wear down the defensive tackles and win the battle in the trenches. A key here will be keeping Bowanko, Linder, and Zane Beadles fresh by attacking the ends as well as up the middle, enabling the offensive line to wear down the interior defensive line and make pushes throughout the game.

Conclusion

Is this a little bit of optimism? Sure. But I’m reveling in a victory the Jaguars were able to pull off last week in the face of much scrutiny against a similarly hot team. I am continually impressed with the offensive line the last few weeks, especially compared to where they were to start the season. The Jaguars are progressing faster than many NFL pundits are giving them credit for and that is best seen in the offensive line. Expect them to come out fresh and ready to bully the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.