Jaguars Vs Bears: Keys to Jacksonville's Final Home Game in 2020
The Jacksonville Jaguars (1-13) are winding down the 2020 season with their final home game of the season on Sunday. The Chicago Bears will come to town with a 7-7 record. After a six-game losing streak, the Bears have put together back-to-back wins and Mitchell Trubisky has firmly entrenched himself as the starter over, ironically, Nick Foles.
Knowing that these last two games are a last chance to find a win but also test muscles for next season, the Jaguars players and coaches are focusing on these three keys to the game.
Give James Robinson Depth
Rookie sensation James Robinson has carried the Jags offense more often than not this season. He has 1,070 rushing yards alone—third in the league—and is responsible for nearly 30% of Jacksonville’s production. He was held out of Wednesday’s practice as a precaution due to an ankle injury. Head Coach Doug Marrone says Robinson was asking to practice/play and talking to the back, Marrone feels comfortable saying Robinson will play on Sunday.
But the injury and uncertainty served as a stark reminder that Robinson has been given nearly the entire rushing game this season, allowing for little depth to be built behind him. That’s something Offensive Coordinator Jay Gruden wants to see addressed.
“It’s very critical that D.O. [Dare Ogunbowale] gets some good reps. He had a good run the other day on the draw and he’s done some good things in the passing game as far as protections. Now, we just have to put more on his plate. I think he’s up to the challenge. He’s been at a couple different teams. I had him at Washington, he’s been at Tampa, so he’s an experienced kid that plays hard and is very smart and fundamentally sound. I think given the opportunity, he’ll be ready.
“And Ziggy [Devine Ozigbo], he’ll be ready to go too. Every time he’s touched the ball so far, he’s shown some explosion. We probably have to get him the ball a little bit more.”
Defend the Bootleg
The Bears have made Trubisky comfortable while rolling him back into the starting lineup by rolling him out of the pocket. Defensive Coordinator Todd Wash explains that Trubisky is dangerous in space, not necessarily on scrambles but instead on designed bootlegs and naked bootlegs.
“I think their coaching staff in the last couple weeks, [Bears Offensive Coordinator] Bill [Lazor] and [Bears Head Coach] Matt [Nagy], have done a really good job of moving him. He’s run an extremely high amount of boots and stuff like that where he’s out in space, where he’s got a little bit [of space]. It’s not a true run-pass option, but he’s out in space,” said Wash.
“I think they’ve done a real nice job of figuring out what he does and what he does well and that’s what they’re doing. You don’t see a lot of drop back and just air it out. It’s boots, control passing game and he’s had a lot of success these past couple weeks at it.”
Since being reimplemented in Week 12, Trubisky has averaged 244.5 passing yards per game and totaled eight touchdowns to three interceptions. The last two weeks in particular, Trubisky has averaged a 72.05% completion rate.
Todd Wash says Trubisky has to be watched and contained in space. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
With his comfortability in space, the Jaguars defense will have to be disciplined enough to set the edge and not give up space for him to pull the ball and run. Middle linebacker Joe Schobert has proven stingy on the edges, alongside weak side linebacker Myles Jack, where both will be looked to, to bottle up Trubisky this weekend. This will also require extra coverage time on the backend by a rotation door of defensive backs.
Adds Wash, “we have to try to make it difficult for him in the boots and make sure we match those nice and tight, maybe slow down some defensive ends so we have some pressure on him on the boots. But they’ve done a real nice job of playing to his strengths the last two weeks and you can see that with his quarterback rating.”
Watch the Pass Rush
As of mid-week, the Jaguars don’t know who their quarterback will be on Sunday. The competition has been opened back up to Gardner Minshew II and Mike Glennon. But they do know who will be rushing the quarterback on Sunday. Khalil Mack—with eight sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception thus far on the season—leads a group that predicates their game on getting into the opponents backfield. And from there, they dare you to not break, as quarterback Gardner Minshew II explains.
Khalil Mack (52) leads a sack for a safety on Deshaun Watson. Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports
“I think we have to be really good with our protection ID’s, having the guys sending the line the right way. I think we need to do stuff to get the ball out of our hands quick and we just have to be consistent against them. I think the thing they’re going to try to force you to do is take those long drives, six, seven, eight, nine, ten plays, and they’re going to bet that you’re not going to be consistent enough to do it against them. I think that’s a challenge.”
The Jaguars kickoff off their final home game of the season against the Bears at 1 p.m. Eastern on Sunday on CBS.
