The Jacksonville Jaguars will face the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in Week 9. While they're coming off a soul-crushing loss to the Green Bay Packers, they have enough ammo, even without wide receiver Christian Kirk, to keep their NFC East foe on its toes. On the other hand, the Jags' defense may have a hard time defending Jalen Hurts, who's playing at an absurdly high level after struggling earlier this year.
Philly had its BYE in Week 5. Since coming back, Hurts hasn't had a turnover. Not surprisingly, the Eagles are 3-0. Add the fact that the two-time Pro Bowl quarterback will enjoy near-perfect weather conditions in Week 9, and the Jacksonville defense could be in for a long day.
Heading into the bout, Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson talked about how challenging it is to defend Hurts, praising him for his ability to escape the pocket and his improved play.
"I think the challenge is the ability to create plays, the ones that aren't there, he makes them," Pederson told the local media. "He's really good outside the pocket and tough to bring down. He's strong and powerful, and he's improved so much in the passing game too. And he's got weapons around him. Another player that is playing with confidence, and they're catching their stride from early in the season when they had a couple losses."
Pederson continued, "But he makes it go offensively, the challenges to contain him if you can. It's a zone run scheme, with the RPO stuff and the ability to run the quarterback. have to stay disciplined and trust your eyes."
Dating back to Week 4, Hurts has completed 67.4 percent of his throws for 772 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions. This is noteworthy because he had three interceptions and three lost fumbles to start the season.
The Eagles currently rank 10th in the NFL in points scored and eighth in total yards in the league. While tight end Dallas Goedert won't be available for the bout, Jacksonville will need to worry about A.J. Brown and DeVonte Smith. Similarly, running back Saquon Barkley has become an integral piece of their offense. That doesn't bode well for a Jaguars defense that ranks 29th in the league in points and yards surrendered.
Circling back to the weather, here's a look at the kind of conditions the Jags and Philadelphia will deal with in their Week 9 matchup.
The Jaguars and Eagles have no limitations to throw, based on the weather report
According to NFLWeather, it will be 56 degrees Fahrenheit, and a humidity level of 21 percent, so it won't be hot but it won't be cold either. On top of that, there's just a measly 3.0 percent chance of precipitation, so the Eagles and Jacksonville will enjoy perfect weather conditions to throw the football.
This means that Jalen Hurts will be able to sling the pigskin at will. The silver lining is that Trevor Lawrence will also have no limitations either, and the Jaguars will need him to play at a high level if they want to have a shot at pulling off the upset.
Like Hurts, Lawrence had a rough start to the 2024 season, completing 53.2 percent of his throws for 728 yards with four touchdowns with one interception. The past four games, though, he's completed 71.9 percent of his passes for 1,106 yards with seven touchdowns and three picks. One look at the numbers shows that No. 16 is playing much better, turnovers notwithstanding.
The bottom line is that the Jaguars have a steep hill to climb if they want to beat the Eagles in Week 9, but at least the weather won't be an issue.