Giants' 2022 Week 7 Opponent Preview: Jacksonville Jaguars

The New York Giants hit the road for the first of two games before their Week 9 bye.

The first of these back-to-back road trips will take them to Jacksonville, Florida, where they will see a couple of familiar faces.

One is Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson, whom the Giants last saw in 2020 when he was head coach of the Eagles. Pederson famously played the role of spoiler for the Giants late-season playoff push when he yanked Eagles starting quarterback Jalen Hurts in favor of seldom-used backup Nate Sudfeld in the fourth quarter of the regular-season finale. His team lost 20-14 to Washington, who won the NFC East title.

Pederson's action set then Giants head coach Joe Judge on a verbal tirade in which, while he never mentioned Pederson by name, there was no mistaking whom he was referring to when he spoke to reporters the day after the Giants 2020 season ended. Meanwhile, the Eagles did not retain Pederson after the 2020 season.

The other familiar face that the Giants will see is former tight end Evan Engram, the disappointing former first-round pick who jumped to the Jaguars this past off-season on a one-year deal. Engram recently took a playful jab at the Giants fan base that didn't sit well with several fans who saw the message.

Evan Engram is having some fun with Giants fans now 😂

(Via @gmengalaxy on Insta) pic.twitter.com/MXryvftN1x
— Alex Wilson (@AlexWilsonESM) June 29, 2022

As a former member of the Giants and Jaguars organization always used to say, "Talk is cheap; play the game."

Week 7: New York Giants at Jacksonville Jaguars

Sunday, October 23, 1:00 p.m. ET, FOX(Flex Scheduling)

Jaguars' 2021 Record

3-14 (.176), 4th place, AFC South.

Series History

The Giants trail the regular season series 4-3. The Giants have lost the last two meetings by a combined score of 45-39. The Giants are also 0-3 in road games against the Jaguars.

This game will be the first in which Tom Coughlin is not associated with one of the teams. Coughlin coached the expansion Jaguars from 1994-2002 and the Giants from 2004-15, and he was the Jaguars' vice president of football operations when the teams last met on September 9, 2018.

Last Meeting

September 9, 2018, at MetLife Stadium. Running back Saquon Barkley scored on a 68-yard run and rushed for 106 yards in his NFL debut, but the Giants lost the game, 20-15.

Before that, the last time these two teams met in Jacksonville, the Giants blew a 21-3 halftime lead in a game played on November 30, 2014. Jaguars kicker Josh Scobee gave his team the win on a 43-yard field goal with 28 seconds remaining.

Jaguars' Key Additions

Christian Kirk, WR (FA); Travon Walker, OLB (draft); Brandon Scherff, OG (FA); Foyesade Oluokun, LB (FA); Evan Engram, TE (FA); Devin Lloyd, LB (draft); Foley Fatukasi, DL (FA); Darious Williams, CB (FA); Zay Jones, WR (FA)

Jaguars' Key Losses

DJ Chark, WR (FA); Myles Jack, LB (FA); Andrew Norwell, OG (FA); A.J. Cann, OG (FA); Taven Bryan, DL (FA); Brandon Linder, C (retired)

Offseason Grade: B- T

he Jaguars were one of the most aggressive teams in free agency, giving significant contracts to Kirk, Scherff, Fatukasi, Williams, Oluokun, Engram and Jones. That is a long and expensive list of players with perhaps only one name who is considered a top talent at his position: Scherff.

But the Jaguars significantly improved a roster that didn’t have much depth or experienced talent. While the Jaguars did overpay (four years, $84 million for Kirk) for several players, each player represents a clear upgrade to what the Jaguars had at the position last year.

Whether this is a sustainable model for team building is questionable, but the Jaguars entered this offseason hoping to improve defensively and in the wide receiver and tight end room, and their moves did just that. The Jaguars’ draft was one of the more unique ones this year.

They bucked conventional wisdom at No. 1 in Georgia’s Walker and then added a defensive player with two of their next three picks (Lloyd at No. 27, Muma at No. 70).

The Jaguars turned linebacker and edge rusher into two strengths after a year in which each unit suffered through injuries and poor depth. And Luke Fortner, who was taken with the No. 65 pick, will instantly give the Jaguars improved depth at both center and guard. -- John Shipley, Jaguar Report Publisher

Biggest Question Still to Be Answered

Two of the Jaguars’ top players on offense are running backs James Robinson and Travis Etienne, but each are coming off serious season-ending injuries from a year ago.

Etienne suffered a Lisfranc fracture in the preseason but was cleared for full practice at the start of OTAs, going on to shine with his explosiveness this spring.

Robinson, meanwhile, suffered a torn Achilles in Week 16 and his return is uncertain. How close either is to 100% and what kind of impact they can have on the offense is a major question moving forward. -- John Shipley, Jaguar Report Publisher

Fantasy Fact

The Jaguars signed Kirk to a four-year, $72 million contract in the offseason. Over the last decade, the Jags have had just three receivers record more than 200 fantasy points and just one since 2016. Those wideouts, Allen Robinson, D.J. Chark and Allen Hurns, are also the lone receivers to post 1,000-plus yards during that time. — Michael Fabiano

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