Jaguars' 3 Offensive Keys Vs. Lions: Prove Patricia Right About Explosiveness

The Jacksonville Jaguars (1-4) will face their first team this season that won’t be looking for their first win since Week 2. But the Detroit Lions (1-3) aren’t far off, looking for their second win just like the Jags.

The Lions defense is 28th in the league in yards allowed per game (405) and the Jaguars offense is in the middle of the pack, averaging 366.4 yards per game. Can Gardner Minshew II and crew take advantage? What will it take? We examine those questions in the Jaguars three offensive keys versus the Lions.

Let the Young Guys Be Explosive

Lions Head Coach Matt Patricia kept going back to one word when describing the Jaguars offense; explosive. DJ Chark, Laviska Shenault, James Robinson, Gardner Minshew, they’re all explosive and capable of tearing up the Lions according to Patricia.

“The young guys the skill guys are really outstanding,” Patricia told reporters on Thursday.

“You know, we start with [receiver DJ] Chark, I mean he's big, he's long, he's fast, he's explosive, he can get downfield, he makes difficult catches, he has a huge catch radius. He'll go up and get the ball. Certainly [Laviska] Shenault, someone that I, you know I like to watch. I don't know how much I'm gonna like playing against him because I just think he's really dangerous and all the different things they do. You know, I think that stuff is great when they put him in the backfield and run the ball with him…his route running is becoming a lot better…he’s physical and he can run so you know I think he's outstanding.”

Chark is averaging 55 yards per game and Shenault is just below, averaging 54 receiving yards per game. But it’s the man in the pocket that also has much of Patricia’s attention. The Jags offense is averaging a 47% conversion rate on 3rd down, a number the Lions coach largely attributes to Minshew’s willingness to leave the pocket.

“With Minshew I think that this guy's a dangerous quarterback. He’s got a great arm, you know, strong. Can get it downfield, especially with the speed that they got, you know all the way across the board and I think his ability to get out of the pocket right now is something that obviously scares a lot of people and including us.

“You know there's a lot of third down situations where he kind of dips in, dips out and it’s first dow down, you know, and you think you've got him in third and long, you think you've done a good job and all of a sudden it’s first down.”

Patricia goes on to say rookie running back James Robinson has settled everything down for the offense, making the entire unit, well, explosive. Veteran Jags receiver Chris Conley is counting on the young guys around the field—Shenault, Robinson and rookie receiver Collin Johnson—to exhibit that explosiveness at the time it will do the most damage.

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“You’re starting to get to the point of the year where some teams can become laxed and they let some things fall by the wayside. One of the things that I’ve really been preaching to guys is, ‘Hey, we have to stay locked in. We can’t afford to make mistakes and we can’t win games with mistakes.’ So, when a team comes in relaxed and having half-prepared, that’s an opportunity that we need to pounce on. We need to dot all of our I’s and cross all of our T’s so that we can go in there and win close games.”

Don’t Settle For Field Goals

Gardner Minshew had to admit, he could not in fact name all of the new kickers that have come through the Jaguars facility over the first five weeks. There have been five thus far, all seen primarily as stop-gaps until starter Josh Lambo can return from injury. His absence has been felt dearly. On Sunday alone, kicker number 3,429 Stephen Hauschka missed two field goals (a chip shot 24-yarder and a 49-yard field goal). That’s essentially a 20-point swing in what became a 16-point game. He was cut shortly after and the team signed Jon Brown.

Against the Lions, Minshew says they don’t even want to take the chance of a new field goal kicker being out of practice.

“You hope everybody that comes in can hang for a while, but you know that isn’t always the case. We’re ready to have [Josh] Lambo back. He’s awesome. There’s a reason he’s an All-Pro guy. But anybody we put out there, we believe in and think we can make kicks with.

“[But] any time you’re missing a player like [Lambo], obviously you feel it, but more than anything, we’re trying to score touchdowns and we’re not playing for field goals. That was our problem more than anything is we shouldn’t have had to attempt that many field goals.”

Focus On Themselves

After four straight losses however, Head Coach Doug Marrone isn’t focused on the Lions so much as his own team. The effort, he promises, is there. The execution has to come and that only happens by each player making sure they win their play, explains the coach.

“They’re going to come in here, they’ll be ready to play. I think we understand that but I think…really our focus is on ourselves and how we can play at a consistent level going out there. Like I said, these guys play hard. They work during the week and [we’re] just trying to get these back to back plays. I told them these are the things that we’re working on. We’re working on just gradually building up to this week on Sunday and trying to win the day or win the meeting, win the play, win all these things that we’re doing that we can go out there and put a complete game together and come together in all three phases.

“So that’s really what our focus is, no disrespect. We know Detroit has some really good football players. We know that we have some tough matchups and challenges all along in all three phases, but at the same sense, we acknowledge that they’re going to come in here ready to play, but we’re really focused on ourselves.”