Three Days to Kickoff: 3 Reasons to Worry vs. Jaguars
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers are 6-2 and 13.5-point favorites for Sunday’s home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
While the Jaguars have lost seven in a row since a Week 1 victory, here are three reasons for concern.
Miserable Forecast
When the Packers lost at home to Minnesota on Nov. 1, winds were gusting up to 40 mph. The Packers didn’t handle it well and were upset 28-22. The weather might be worse on Sunday. The forecast calls for a high of 41, a 70 percent chance of rain and, again, winds gusting up to 40 mph.
When the wind is howling, it generally favors the team with the better rushing attack. The Vikings not surprisingly dominated, considering the individual matchup was Dalvin Cook vs. Jamaal Williams. Clearly, the Packers will be in a better spot with Aaron Jones and Williams working in tandem.
It will be up to Green Bay’s defense to bring the energy in another game at empty Lambeau Field. Home teams are 65-67-1 this season.
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“When you’re in your home stadium, there’s an element that you’re used to feeding off the energy of the fans and, especially in our case, where we don’t have anybody there,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “I think it’s important that we’re mindful of that, and that guys really focus their attention and encourage one another to bring the most juice that they can. Because I think when guys have energy, when we’re flying around, we’re going to give better effort and good things are going to happen.”
Mr. Robinson
Jacksonville hit the jackpot with undrafted rookie running back James Robinson, who is running neck and neck with Kansas City Chiefs second-round pick Clyde Edwards-Helaire for the rookie rushing title.
Robinson has rewarded the Jaguars for their faith after they dumped veteran standout Leonard Fournette. Of the 21 rookie runners to get the ball this season, Robinson is first in 10-yard runs (18) and third in missed tackles (19), according to Pro Football Focus. Regardless of experience, 27 running backs have had at least 80 carries. Robinson ranks ninth with 3.00 yards after contact. So, while Robinson is not Cook (36 missed tackles, 4.18 yards after contact), he’s more than capable of grinding away against a Packers run defense that failed miserably to stop Cook two weeks ago.
“When you play defense, it takes all 11,” defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery said on Wednesday of the Minnesota game. “There were plays the D-linemen didn’t make, there were plays the linebackers should have made, there were plays where the secondary should have made. Playing run defense, it’s a puzzle. Everybody has a job to do and when everything doesn’t fit right, a big run happens. So, I thought there were a lot of good things that took place in that game. Obviously, when you lose and give up that many rushing yards, the way I think about it, you got your butt kicked. Plain and simple. But there were some positives from some of the things that took place with those guys.”
Chark Attack
The Jaguars have one game-breaking player in receiver D.J. Chark, a third-year player with an eye-popping combination of size (6-foot-4) and speed (4.34 in the 40). Coming off a breakout season of 73 receptions for 1,008 yards and eight touchdowns, Chark has caught 33 passes for 437 yards and four scores in seven games this season. He is coming off a huge game against Houston with seven catches for 146 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown. He’s among the league leaders with seven receptions on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield.
In a normal week, the Packers would put Jaire Alexander on Chark and call it a day. However, with Alexander in the concussion protocol yet on Wednesday and Kevin King having missed the last four games with a quad injury, how they’ll match up against Chark is an open question.
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