The Jaguars will be on the road this weekend for the beginning of the Blaine Gabbert era, but they could not have picked a better week for him to get his first NFL start. Before the season began most Jaguars fans penciled this game in as an easy win, but Cam Newton has been better than expected so far and this game isn’t necessarily a slam dunk for the Jaguars. Which rookie quarterback will lead his team to victory this weekend? Let’s breakdown the match-ups.
Jaguars Offense vs. Panthers Defense
The Jaguars have said this week that Blaine Gabbert has the arm to open up the passing game, but this game will be all about Maurice Jones-Drew and the Jaguars rushing attack. The Panthers defense has already lost two of their starting linebackers and have had trouble stopping the run so far anyways. The Jaguars formula for winning this game will be their ability to run the ball and dominate the time of possession much like they did against the Titans.
The one bright spot on the Panthers defense is defensive end Charles Johnson. Jaguars left tackle Eugene Monroe will be tasked with keeping Johnson off of Gabbert when he has to drop back and throw the ball.
When asked to drop back and throw the ball, Gabbert should be able to find open receivers against a secondary that has allowed an average of 295 passing yards this season. I also expect to see the Jaguars takes some shots down the field in the passing game because they finally have a quarterback capable of throwing the deep ball.
Jaguars Defense vs. Panthers Offense
Can the Jaguars be the first team to keep Cam Newton under 400 passing yards?
Getting consistent pressure on Newton will be the top priority for the Jaguars defense in this game. If the defense can harass Newton, I expect him to turn the ball over as we saw last week when he threw three interceptions against the Packers. With that being said, this will be the biggest test for the Jaguars pass defense so far this season. Slowing down the juggernaut that is the Panthers passing offense would go a long way in showing the improvement this defense has made since last season.
The Panthers have been one dimensional so far this season and have yet to have any effectiveness running the football. The Jaguars vastly improved run defense should be able to stifle the Panthers run game.
Prediction
I think the Jaguars offense will run for over 150 yards against the Panthers and keep the ball for well over 30 minutes and keep Cam Newton on the sidelines. The decision to make the change at the quarterback position will give this team the spark it needs to win on the road. I like the Jaguars to rebound from last week’s disaster.
Jaguars 24 Panthers 17
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