Jacksonville Jaguars vs. New York Jets: Three keys for a victory in week four

2 of 4

LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 24: Patrick Onwuasor of the Baltimore Ravens tackles Chris Ivory of the Jacksonville Jaguars during the NFL International Series match between Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium on September 24, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images) /

Put together a scoring drive early and build a lead

The Jaguars make no secret to how they want to play on offense. Jacksonville wants to pound the rock, rack up first downs, and set up the passing game. With that style of offense, the Jaguars are built to control the clock and protect a lead. But to protect a lead, you have to first get a lead.

When the Jaguars strike fast, the offense can find a rhythm, and the vaunted defense can stay fresh and go to work with making New York’s offense uncomfortable. Subsequently, building a lead would put the Jets in catch-up mode, and can lead to mistakes and turnovers on their end.

But the biggest benefit to jumping ahead quickly is that Blake Bortles is the quintessential confidence player- meaning his play, good or bad, is based largely on how the game is going.

When the offense has success early, Bortles builds confidence and plays loose, which has led to smart decisions and accurate passes from the quarterback. When the Jaguars are in a zone on offense, Bortles has shown flashes of the talent that made the front office believe he could be the franchise quarteback of the future.

Last week against Baltimore, the Jaguars swarmed the Ravens defense and Bortles only got more confident as the game went on, leading to a four touchdown day.

On the other end of the spectrum, when Jacksonville is sluggish and slow out of the gate, Bortles gets prone to making mistakes and forcing turnovers. In turn, the offense sputters and the defense eventually runs out of gas.

That was evident in the Jaguars lone loss this season against the Titans. The offense never could find a rhythm, and Bortles began to morph into the worst version of himself. With that, a 6-3 halftime score turned into a second half blowout as the defense just couldn’t hold any longer.

Sunday against the Jets, the Jaguars need to attack early and build a lead. Doing so will allow Blake Bortles and the offense to find a groove, control the game, and keep the defense fresh and ready to feast.

Home/Jacksonville Jaguars News