Every week has felt like an increasing challenge for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Their first real test was one of resilience after losing to the Cincinnati Bengals. They showed up and took down their AFC South rival Houston Texans. Then came San Francisco—in Santa Clara, where they'd never won a game. The Jags came away with the W in a gritty performance. Finally, the Kansas City Chiefs felt like the penultimate challenge during a Monday Night Football game at the Bank, and Trevor Lawrence all but crawled his way to victory.
Now comes the Sam Darnold-led Seattle Seahawks, and the Jaguars are looking to continue their historic run and push themselves to 5-1. This is shaping up to be yet another close, gritty matchup. This should play in the Jaguars' favor, as John Shipley attributes their success this year to their physicality and grit.
"They are not folding," Shilpey wrote. "The entire book on the Jaguars the last few years has been that they have struggled against adversity. They lost an NFL-record 10 one-score games last season and seemed to flip over every time something went wrong. The Jaguars have won three one-score games in a row since then, with the offense putting together multiple late scoring drives to take the lead in the final minutes and the defense finishing off the game on multiple occasions as well."
But enough talk. Here are three bold predictions to watch for in the Jacksonville Jaguars' Week 6 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.
Brian Thomas Jr. will bring in 10 catches for 100+ yards and a TD
Seattle's defense sits in the bottom half of the league with passing yards allowed per game, with 239.8. Even worse—they have four players from the secondary (safeties Nick Emmanwori and Julian Love, and cornerbacks Devon Witherspoon and Riq Woolen) listed on the injury report, though their game status is still unspecified. On the rushing side, however, the Seahawks are third-best in the league, only allowing 83 yards per game.
So, while I don't expect head coach Liam Coen to give up on Travis Etienne Jr., he'll need to air the ball out if he expects the Jaguars to win. While last week was anything but pretty, Lawrence and Brian Thomas Jr. are coming off their best games of the season. No. 16 finished with 221 yards, a passing touchdown, and two rushing touchdowns, solidifying a 95.6 QBR (his best of the year). Thomas, too, stood out, with four catches for 80 yards, including a critical 33-yard reception on the game-winning drive.
With the Seahawks' strength against the rushing game, and the Jaguars' passing game finally seeming to blossom, I expect to see Nos. 16 and 7 connect for at least 10 receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown.
But wait, you may say, what about Travis Hunter? Okay, let's talk about him.
Related: Couple starters make appearance on Jaguars injury report vs. Seahawks
Jaguars 2-way star Travis Hunter will notch his first takeaway of the year
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba might be silently one of the best receivers in football this year. He's certainly one of the best wideouts the 'Hawks have had in some time (yes, including DK Metcalf). The Seattle Times highlighted j how great a season Smith-Njigba is having so far.
"[Through] almost 30% of the season, one thing is becoming increasingly clear," Seattle Times Bob Condotta writes. "Jaxon Smith-Njigba could be on his way to the greatest receiving season in Seahawks history. The third-year player out of Ohio State ranks second in the NFL in receiving yards (534) and receiving yards per game (106.8), trailing only Puka Nacua of the Los Angeles Rams (588, 117.6)."
Enter Travis Hunter. He's showing signs of being a true lockdown corner despite only playing five games. While his versatility is likely his greatest strength, with the threat of Smith-Njigba, I expect to see Hunter's focus this week to be on defense. Darnold is going to try to get his star receiver the ball, and No. 12 has shown he's not afraid to go up for up—on offense or defense. I predict the Heisman Trophy winner will bring in his first interception of the year.
Trevor Lawrence will have his second game of the season without a turnover
I'm going to say it: I don't believe either turnover against the Chiefs was Lawrence's fault. They should have handed the ball to Etienne on fourth-and-goal, and the refs gifted the Chiefs the interception by not calling the most blatant defensive pass interference I've seen all year. Even with that said, Lawrence has only played one clean game so far this year: He didn't turn the ball over a single time in their Week 4 win against the 49ers.
No. 16 has improved with each game, and I'm predicting he'll take the next step against an injury-depleted Seattle secondary. Look to see Lawrence airing it out—smartly—and finishing with his best game of the season, all while protecting the ball for 60 minutes.
Related: Jaguars might have quietly built the toughest linebacker corps in football
Final thoughts
The Jaguars have yet to play a full game of clean football. They've committed too many penalties (which they kind of fixed against the Chiefs), their passing game is struggling (which they kind of improved against the Chiefs), and Hunter has yet to silence his critics despite playing well and showing flashes of excellence.
I'm expecting to see a clean game, with Lawrence protecting the ball and getting it to BTJ. On defense, look to see Hunter snag his first pick (dare I hope for another pick six?) while locking down Jaxon Smith-Njigba.