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NFL Jacksonville Jaguars

Run Defense Is Key To Jacksonville Jaguars’ Week 10 Win

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Jacksonville

Richard Dole-USA TODAY Sports

On Sunday, London’s de facto team, the Jacksonville Jaguars will go up against America’s team, the Dallas Cowboys in a game that many people expect to be a rout by Dallas. Although I will admit that Dallas has the upper hand in this one, Jacksonville certainty has a chance to pull out the win. In order to do so, however, their run defense will have to be outstanding.

After last week’s embarrassment of a game, Dallas showed that without quarterback Tony Romo, this offense is an absolute mess. Given that Romo is coming back from a back injury this week, it is a forgone conclusion that Dallas will try to protect him from taking as many hits as possible. They will do this by leaning on the running game which has been amazing thus far, and only throwing when needed.

If Jacksonville can stuff the run and force the Dallas offense into more passing situations, this is where the game will get interesting. The blueprint for beating Dallas is already out as the Arizona Cardinals showed last week, and it’s to blitz Romo. For as well as the offensive line has been for Dallas when they run the ball, they have been equally as bad in pass protection. If Jacksonville can get Dallas into third and medium situations, then they have a chance to get to Romo and get that offense off of the field.

Of course, this is easier said than done. Jacksonville has the 28th-ranked defense against the run, and Dallas’s run game this season has been outstanding, ranked first in the NFL. However, if Jacksonville wants any shot of winning this game, then they absolutely must shut DeMarco Murray and the Dallas run game down. If they don’t, it will be a very long game for the Jags.

Alasdair Thornton is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Message him on Twitter @Alasdairthornto, or on Facebook

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