Jacksonville Jaguars’ bold predictions before game vs. Raiders
The Florida Times-Union breaks down what could happen in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ upcoming matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Jacksonville Jaguars (4-3) are set to face off against the Las Vegas Raiders (2-5) on the road in Week 9.
The game is set to kick off on Nov. 2 at 4:05 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast on FOX.
The game will mark the first since Jacksonville’s brutal loss to the Los Angeles Rams, 35-7 in London on Oct. 19. After dropping games in back-to-back weeks, Jacksonville is looking to right the ship.
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The Jaguars hope to have gained a better understanding of what the team does well and what they needed to improve on during their Week 8 bye.
And they’ll have to do it without rookie Travis Hunter, who was placed on injured reserve on Friday, Oct. 31 after suffering a knee injury at practice the day before.
One aspect of Jacksonville’s offense that is looking to return to form or improve is its rushing attack.
Over the last two games, the Jaguars have not run the ball consistently. Against the Rams in Week 7, they totaled just 94 yards on the ground on 19 rushing attempts, including two quarterback runs and four handoffs to a receiver on a jet motion.
Jacksonville totaled 55 dropbacks, including 48 passing attempts and seven sacks allowed against Los Angeles.
While the team trailed 21-0 at one point in the contest, the Jaguars had just 59 total rushing yards with 49 dropbacks, including 42 passing attempts and seven sacks allowed.
Still, Jacksonville’s total season rushing EPA (expected points added) ranks eighth in the league at +4.2. It means Jacksonville’s rushing attack is good when they call it.
Jaguars head coach Liam Coen put some of the team’s depressed ground attack on himself.
“I’ve got to call more runs in general. When we run the football, we’re a little bit more balanced. Anytime you’re more balanced, you have the defense on their toes, so it’s a matter of, like you said, winning first and second down,” Coen explained.
But it isn’t just about calling more runs for Jacksonville to get back on track. The offensive line is getting healthier. Jacksonville doesn’t have a single offensive lineman on the team’s injury report thus far this week. The expectation is they’re fully healthy and ready to attack the opposing defense and get back to what they did best — dominate.
“It starts with the mindset. We all know what we want to do. We really just got to go out there and do it. Starts with technique, mindset of, going out there, us five, six, tight ends, receivers, we’re gonna run the ball [and] no one’s gonna stop us. So that’s the mindset we got to have, and that’s the mindset we had starting the year,” Jaguars offensive lineman Anton Harrison said in the locker room Wednesday.
Coen explained that creating movement up-front, changing up how they run the ball and getting back to what their intent is from one run to another is one way to help the team’s efforts to be more balanced.
“Where is this supposed to hit? Everybody’s got a job in the run game, it does take all 11, but you watch the self-scout throughout the games that we really ran it best, everything was tied in and it’s not going to always be perfect in the run game, but if you’re coming off the ball, you’re playing physically, your backs are hitting the holes the right way and you’re calling it more and calling it at more opportune times,” said Coen.
But will they get it done?
Here are our bold predictions ahead of the Jaguars’ matchup against the Raiders.
Jaguars offense, Trevor Lawrence will get back on track
Besides his Week 7 performance, where he completed just 47.9% of his passes, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence is poised to have a solid performance against the Raiders.
Though it may not be a high-volume day stat-wise, Lawrence’s efficiency ought to improve back to similar numbers as he had in previous weeks before facing the Rams.
In Week 5 against the Kansas City Chiefs, for instance, Lawrence completed 72% of his passes, going 18 for 25 for 221 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
With an improved rushing attack, Jacksonville’s offense should be good to go on Sunday, especially if Lawrence gets back on track.
Jaguars defense will come up empty despite Raiders QB Geno Smith
The Raiders are tied for second in the league with 12 giveaways this season. Still, Jacksonville’s prowess for getting to the football has fallen off a cliff over the last two games.
Against both the Seahawks and the Rams, the Jaguars did not record a turnover. The result? Two losses. Still, despite likely coming up empty again, the Jaguars will find a way to get the job done against Vegas.
Raiders quarterback Geno Smith has thrown 10 interceptions this year.
Jaguars at Raiders score predictions
The Jaguars are no longer the same old team they used to be. They’ll get right against a team they ought to beat, even without significant dominance from the defense.
Jaguars 24, Raiders 10
Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82 or on Bluesky @ Demetrius.
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