On Monday, the Kansas City Chiefs are on the road to face the Jacksonville Jaguars. We welcome Gus Logue of Big Cat Country — our sister SBNation site covering the Jaguars — for Five Questions with the Enemy.
1. The Jaguars are off to a 3-1 start. What has been the key to their early success? Do you see them as a playoff contender?
Takeaways have been the biggest key. After forcing an NFL-low eight defensive turnovers last year, Jacksonville already has a league-high 13 through the first four games of the season. That’s an unsustainable rate, but the defense isn’t reliant on turnovers; Houston is the only team this season with a lower rate of scores per drive allowed. Anthony Campanile’s unit ranks second in EPA/play allowed and fourth in success rate allowed, per rbsdm.com, which has indeed set the Jaguars up for contention.
The Liam Coen era has started about as well as we could’ve hoped. They did luck out a bit by playing a San Francisco 49ers team already devastated by injuries, so I’d say they’re in the “frisky Wild Card team” tier rather than “realistic Super Bowl hopefuls.” Monday night will tell us for sure.
2. Travis Hunter didn’t play on defense in the second half against San Francisco. Was the coaching staff saving him for the offense? Do you expect him to return to a more balanced snap count on Monday?
Coen said after the game it was more about getting playing time for Jarrian Jones and Montartic “Buster” Brown, who missed several weeks with a lower leg injury but is well-regarded inside the building. I think that was part of the reason — with the other part being that Hunter didn’t play particularly well. He allowed a third-and-2 conversion to Ricky Pearsall on the final play of the first quarter and stuck to offense from that point forward.
Hunter played six defensive snaps in the season opener, then 43 in consecutive weeks and then 9 last Sunday. That number should be somewhere in the middle for Week 5, and it’ll be dictated by how he and Brown perform. As for the other side of the ball, Hunter’s usage has remained steady with snap counts of 42, 42, 37, and 38. He’s had a “wow” moment on offense in two straight games. Hopefully, those will start coming in bunches.
3. Despite the winning record, Trevor Lawrence and the offense still seem to be out of rhythm. What needs to happen for things to finally click?
Lawrence is good for about two blatant misfires and three questionable decisions each game — and he’s only 1-11 on deep throws this season. He certainly shares some blame for the Jaguars being a below-average passing unit — but I’d mostly pin it on the receiver room. The Jaguars have dropped 13.4% of Lawrence’s passes (13 total) per PFF. The last quarterback to see a worse drop rate over a full season was David Blough in 2019.
Hunter is only being used in the slot, while and Brian Thomas Jr. seems to only be used out wide. So with Dyami Brown nursing a shoulder injury, Coen’s favorite personnel (three-receiver sets) is somewhat limited. Plus, several Jaguars have had trouble lining up properly. The team’s league-high 38 penalties has put the offense in disadvantageous situations.
These are minor mistakes that need cleaning up rather than glaring weaknesses that need overhauling. If the offense simply makes fewer mental errors, it has the bones to be a top-10 passing attack. The run game continuing to produce at a top-5 rate would help.
4. Who is the best player on this Jaguars roster right now — and why?
My pick is Josh Hines-Allen. Though he only needs two more sacks to break the franchise’s all-time record, I’d imagine he’d tell you it’s an overrated stat. He’s always performed better than traditional metrics suggest.
167 players have a sack this season, and Hines-Allen isn’t among them. He does, however, rank fifth in quarterback hits (8), eighth in PFF pass rush grade on true pass sets (90.6), and 13th in ESPN’s pass rush win rate (22%) among edge defenders.
Hines-Allen has been as dominant as ever. With Travon Walker banged up with a wrist injury, the defense will need him to keep it up. Shoutout to Devin Lloyd as well. He leads the NFL in takeaways (4) in what’s been a breakout contract season.
5. Liam Coen is already the team’s fourth head coach since Doug Marrone. Do you believe he has staying power — and can turn the franchise around?
Based on everything we’ve seen? Sure. We’ve known for a while that Coen can orchestrate an offense. Whether he could lead a team, build a culture, etc. was the real question. Based on his energy in the locker room and ability to foster relationships — not to mention his emotional response to Robert Saleh — it seems like he has what it takes. Or he at least has what the Jaguars need.
It’s been an exciting year — and an encouraging month. With the caveat of that not being much time… yes, I believe right now that Coen has the ability to truly turn this franchise around. I’m eager to see how he fares on Monday night — in his biggest challenge to date.
Be sure to check out the answers I gave to their questions by clicking here.
Source link
