5 Observations from the Jacksonville Jaguars 2020 Schedule

The Jacksonville Jaguars 2020 season has taught both the organization and the fans base a few things now that it has been released.

The season is set for the Jacksonville Jaguars after the NFL released every team’s schedule for the year, along with times and primetime matchups.

Jacksonville will once again have only one primetime game that comes on Thursday Night Football in Week 3. It will be the ninth season since the team played on Monday Night Football and 12th season since playing on Sunday Night Football.

The team will also not be playing its two scheduled London games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Taking a look at the schedule, here are five observations for the 2020 Jaguars season.

Favorable start to the season

The Jaguars will start the 2020 season off with an easier slate than most teams, taking on the Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, Miami Dolphins, Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Texans, and Detroit Lions in its first six games.

In 2019, those six teams had a combined record of 36-59. While each team improved in its own ways, the Jaguars will have the opportunity to go into its week seven bye with a winning record or at least .500. Also to note, Jacksonville will only host one 1:00 kickoff in the month of September, a sigh of relief for fans who have dreaded the Florida heat.

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A Loaded back end to 2020

While the Jacksonville Jaguars will have a soft start to the season, things will be much more difficult once they come back from its Week 7 bye, facing teams with a combined 91-70 record. Some of those matchups include road trips against the Baltimore Ravens, Green Bay Packers, and Minnesota Vikings.

Concluding the 2020 season will be a test for the very young team, but will certainly provide insight on which players will be around for the long haul.

Matchups against the best quarterbacks

Jacksonville’s revamped secondary is the positional group most affected by the schedule release, especially after looking at the quarterbacks it will face throughout 2020.

In addition to two matchups against Deshaun Watson, Philip Rivers, and Ryan Tannehill, the team will lineup against Matthew Stafford (week six), Aaron Rodgers (week 10), Ben Roethlisberger (week 11), Kirk Cousins (week 13) and Lamar Jackson (week 15).

The team will also go against Nick Foles in Week 16 against their former starter.

First-round selection CJ Henderson will definitely be thrown into the fire to start his career, along with second-year starter Tre Herndon. There is no doubt the secondary will be battle-tested and prepared as the season progresses.

Rookie quarterbacks galore

To counter the secondary’s tall task of going against some of the NFL’s best quarterbacks, the unit will also be giving a warm welcome to the league’s rookies. Jacksonville will go against the first three quarterbacks selected in the 2020 NFL Draft in Joe Burrow (week four), Tua Tagovailoa (week three), and Justin Herbert (week seven).

There’s no guarantee that Tagovailoa or Herbert will be starting when their respected teams play the Jacksonville Jaguars, but Thursday Night Football would be a great way for Tagovailoa to start his career and fans in South Florida will soon want to see their future franchise quarterback.

Most of the time rookies are put out on the field much sooner than expected, a benefit for the Jaguars youthful secondary.

Overall thoughts

The 2020 Jacksonville Jaguars schedule brings hope to the team as the first year in yet another rebuild begins.

The team will need to start off strong if it wants to carry momentum into the latter half of the season. Potentially going 4-2 or 3-3 can be the difference between another year of playoff purgatory or reasonable divisional expectations.

Last year’s drama will no longer be an issue, so if the team can rally behind Gardner Minshew and Doug Marrone, the Jacksonville Jaguars will surprise many in 2020.