New England Patriots: Getting To Know The First Place Jaguars

The New England Patriots are on a roll right now, and next up on their redemption tour is the first place Jacksonville Jaguars….

Yup, believe it or not, the Jags are in first place in the AFC South, and while that division is the worst one in football, and it is only week two, I think it is impressive nonetheless. Since Jacksonville is in another division, and rarely finish in first, or make it to the playoffs, the Patriots don’t see them very often, so this game has the potential to be much closer than many anticipate.

Here are a few brief thoughts on the Jaguars:

1. Solid Defensive Unit

The Jaguars have a talented young defense brewing over there, as currently they are ninth in overall defense, fifth against the run, and tied for ninth in scoring. I know these stats are kind of dumb two weeks into the season, but if you watch this group a little bit, you can see they are talented, particularly up front. Paul Posluszny has always been one of the most underrated linebackers in the league, and now he has a defensive line to help him out. Chris Clemons, Jared Odrick, and Sen’Derrick Marks are all studs, and they will give the Patriots another test this Sunday.

2. Improving Offense

I have always been a fan of Blake Bortles, and I thought if the Jags could give him enough help, he would make some noise in the AFC. And while they are still a ways away from truly contending, he has done well with the talent he currently has. Allen Robinson is emerging as a legit deep threat (a whopping 26 yards per completion), Allen Hurns is a capable wideout, and Rashad Greene and T.J. Yeldon shouldn’t be taken lightly either. However they are still waiting for tight end Julius Thomas to return from injury, and that really limits the Jags as an offensive group, especially because they struggle to run the football (17th in the league).

3. Still The Jaguars

Please don’t get me wrong, I think this team is improving rapidly. They have a nice base of talent, they have a head coach that brings the right enthusiasm to the game, and they are off to a good start in 2015. Like the Raiders, they could be contending sooner than people think, and I am glad they are starting to turn the ship around. However with that said, I’m not going to crown them Super Bowl champions just yet. They lost pretty handily to a beat up Panthers team in week one, and barely eeked out a win against a Miami squad that is a lot worse than people think. Jacksonville may very well give the Pats all they can handle this Sunday, but ultimately, talent and experience will win out, and they will likely fall.

(As a sidenote, I really do hop the Jaguars can put together a halfway decent season in the AFC South, just because I want to see the Colts have an awful, awful season).