The Jacksonville Jaguars have a chance to get back above .500 on Sunday in London. But standing in their way is one of the toughest opponents they’ll face all season.
After losing in overtime in Week 1, the Buffalo Bills are 3-1 following three straight blowout wins by a combined 90 points. The Bills are averaging 34.8 points (second most in the NFL) and allowing an average of 13.8 points (second fewest).
Buy Jaguars TicketsMeanwhile, the Jaguars have struggled to live up to their lofty preseason expectations. An offense that was expected to be one of the NFL’s most potent and explosive groups is 21st in scoring.
To pull off the upset at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, the Jaguars will need a more complete performance. Here are five things Jacksonville needs to do in London to get the win:
Establish a run game
As strong as the Bills have been in just about every facet, the run defense has lagged behind. Buffalo has allowed 6.3 yards per carry, the most in the NFL by a good bit (the Denver Broncos are second at 5.6 yards per attempt).
The problem for just about every team that has faced the Bills so far is the avalanche of points scored by Buffalo’s offense. With the Bills consistently jumping out to massive leads, they’ve only seen 75 rushing attempts, second fewest in the NFL.
Getting Travis Etienne Jr. going behind an offensive line that now includes Cam Robinson will be huge for the Jaguars. Not only does it seem to be the key to scoring points against the Bills, it’ll also keep Buffalo’s scary offense off the field.
Limit the Bills' explosive plays
For the most part, the back-end of the Jaguars’ defense has been impressive in 2023. While the Houston Texans took advantage of a few coverage busts, the cornerback duo of Tyson Campbell and Darious Williams is playing well and safety Andre Cisco is rapidly emerging as a star.
Only four teams have allowed fewer passes of 20+ yards than the Jaguars and nine have allowed fewer rushes of at least 10 yards.
Josh Allen has already thrown three passes that picked up at least 40 yards, fifth most in the NFL, and the Bills have four rushes for at least 20 yards, fourth most.
Jacksonville needs to keep the Buffalo offense from making the game-changing, explosive plays that buried previous opponents.
Win the turnover battle
Josh Allen is the betting favorite to win NFL MVP honors after the first four weeks. He’d be even further ahead if he did a better job taking care of the football in Week 1.
Against the swarming New York Jets defense, Allen threw three interceptions and fumbled twice. That was enough to keep an offensively inept Jets team in the game long enough to win with a punt return in overtime.
Since then, Allen has thrown just one pick and hasn’t fumbled again.
If the Jaguars can get Allen back to making errors and avoid shooting themselves in the foot, it’d give them a great chance.
Convert some 3rd downs already
The Jaguars are 29th in third down conversions this season after failing to convert more than 70 percent of their tries in the first four weeks.
What’s odd is that Jacksonville hasn’t been stuck in third-and-long situations very often.
Is Cam Robinson who the Jaguars need to move the chains on short-yardage runs? Could the return of Zay Jones and Jamal Agnew be what Trevor Lawrence needs to reliably find open receivers?
Whatever the answer, the Jaguars can’t convert less than a third of the time they reach third down and expect to keep up with Buffalo.
Start strong
Starting fast and building early leads is something the Jaguars spent all offseason preaching as a priority. But four weeks into the season, they’ve started with a punt, punt, missed field goal, and punt on their four opening drives.
Fortunately for the Jacksonville offense, the defense is 4-0 at forcing opening drive punts.
The Jaguars offense can’t bank on another bail-out game from the defense, though. With the Bills coming to London and trying to play acclimation catch-up, the Jaguars have to pounce. Otherwise, they run the risk of getting buried like Buffalo’s last three opponents.
