Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Detroit Lions: Friday Fact or Fiction
By Daniel Lago
The Jacksonville Jaguars will lead at some point in the contest: FACT
The Jaguars have a tendency to start slow but they also have an absolutely absurd stat when it comes to holding a lead – the Jaguars haven’t had one in 4 weeks. They barely led in the Chicago game that they won, and they almost blew it in their other win against Indianapolis.
Fear not, as the Jaguars will take the ball first on Sunday, drive down the field, and settle for a Jason Myers field goal to take a resounding 3-0 lead.
Will they keep that lead? Probably not. But technically it’s a lead and this prediction will be vindicated!
John Oehser over at Jaguars.com emphasized why a lead is so vital for the Jaguars:
"When you’re trailing in all games, you’re not going to get many opportunities to rush the passer. When you don’t have a chance to rush the passer, you’re not going to pressure the quarterback. When you’re not pressuring the quarterback, you’re not forcing the quarterback to make mistakes … and so on and so on and so on …"
The Jacksonville pass rush has been bad this year but I honestly don’t know how much talent the group has because they just haven’t had that many opportunities. Teams don’t need to put themselves in obvious passing situations against the Jaguars because they are either leading by a significant margin or they’re running the ball effectively. Maybe having a lead, even as small as 3, will give the pass rush group a few more chances. Probably not though.