Bills vs. Jaguars AFC Wild Card Weekend preview

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Bills vs. Jaguars: AFC Wild Card Weekend preview Published: Jan 05, 2018 at 01:56 AM Around The NFL Podcast Co-Host Michael Jordan Jersey The Backstory It's been a long time between postseason appearances for both teams. Sunday will mark 17 years and 6,574 days -- the longest active playoff drought acro s the four major U.S. sports -- since the fell to the in the infamous Music City Miracle. Jacksonville, meanwhile, has gone nearly a decade (3,648 days) without a tournament appearance. That's not the only common DNA between the two organizations. head man Doug Marrone guided Buffalo to 15 wins over 2013 and 2014 before a clause in his contract as a rare coaching free agent upon new owner Terry Pegula's purchase of the . Miscalculating his market, Marrone was forced to toil in obscurity as a sistant head coach/offensive line coach in Jacksonville until Gus Bradley's firing afforded him a that led to the permanent job last January. The will also be gazing acro s the sideline at behemoth run-stuffer , whom the new regime in late October. Since the two-time Pro Bowler changed addre ses, Buffalo's run defense has slumped to 31st in the league while Jacksonville's lone weakne s on defense was shored up. That interconnected relationship is where the similarities end, however. On paper, this is one of the most lopsided bouts in recent wild-card round history. While Sean McDermott's squad is riding high on the momentum of a that vaulted them past the and into the NFL's second season, the rank last among playoff teams in most key metrics. The more complete , on the other hand, are averaging 63.3 yards gained and 69.0 yards allowed than the . Armed with the league's dominant defense, Jacksonville is " " as any team in the playoffs, NFL Network analyst Nate Burleson opined on . Players to Watch , QB, Jaguars defensive tackle made waves this week when he predicted that Bortles is " " as long as the outcome is in his hands. What led Casey to that conclusion -- beyond last year's disastrous Bortles performance? The are the NFL's great frontrunners, with a formula for succe s that relies heavily upon jumping out to an early lead. As long as the Jags don't fall behind, the swarming pa s rush can pin its ears back and hara s opposing quarterbacks while the offense can hide its own shaky signal-caller in a run-oriented attack. Is the criticism fair? Bortles averages a sterling 8.0 yards per attempt with a 107.3 pa ser rating and a 12:1 TD-to-INT ratio when asked to nurse a lead this season. When the game is tied or the are trailing, to 6.5 yards per attempt, with a pa ser rating below 75.0 and nine touchdowns versus 12 interceptions. We saw Bortles lead the NFL in pa ser rating over a three-week stretch in early December, only to stumble to the finish line with five interceptions in a pair of season-ending lo ses. The most disturbing sign was a that led to a disastrous 2016 season. If Bortles channels early-December form, his team has a chance to embark on a deep playoff run. If his technique doesn't improve, though, the will have succe s loading the box to stop the run and forcing Bortles to test his luck against their ballhawking secondary. , RB, Bills The importance of McCoy to the ' chances of pulling off an upset can't be overstated. Not only the lynchpin of Buffalo's imposing ground attack, the six-time Pro Bowler also leads the team in targets (77) and receptions (59) while ranking second in receiving yards (448). The fulcrum on which the entire offense pivots, McCoy is responsible for the third-highest percentage (31.1) of his team's output this season. No other player on the team came within 1,000 of McCoy's 1,586 yards from scrimmage. With a healthy McCoy and an elusive , the could place plenty of stre s on a Jacksonville run defense that ranks just 21st this season. If McCoy's doesn't miraculously heal by Sunday, though, this team is facing a severe manpower shortage after watching a cadre of productive veterans such as , , and walk out the door since the end of last season. Key matchup vs. "Sacksonville" Pan the move if Adam Boqvist Jersey you will, but there was logic behind Sean McDermott's decision to pull the plug on his starting quarterback after back-to-back double-digit lo ses to the and at midseason. Quick to tuck and run, Taylor leaves throws on the field by aborting his full progre sion read. Worse, he takes too many sacks and manages just a 49.0 completion percentage and 71.1 pa ser rating versus pre sure. Similar to Bortles, his formula for succe s mandates an early lead which allows him to lean on the run, scramble on key third downs and surprise defenses with accurate deep strikes. From that perspective, he's facing a nightmarish matchup against "Sacksonville's" swarming pa s rush and star-studded secondary. Led by and Yannick Ngokoue as the league's most productive pa s-rushing duo, the ' front seven is the only one in the league featuring four players with 8.0 or more sacks. If Taylor manages to escape the pre sure, he will be throwing to a wide receiver corps that managed fewer yards combined than ama sed alone in 14 games. That's problematic against the shutdown cornerback duo of and , each of whom ranks in the top Brent Seabrook Jersey five in opposing pa ser rating. The pa s defense is historically good, leading the NFL in forced fumbles (17) completion percentage (56.8), pa sing yards per game (169.9), pa ser rating (68.5) and defensive touchdowns (7) while ranking second in sacks (55), interceptions (21) and total takeaways (33). All signs point to a long afternoon for Taylor in his postseason debut. Prediction There's something to be said for a mediocre outfit defying December expectations and thumbing its nose at the football cognoscenti. Only four teams in the era have reached the postseason with a worse point differential than Buffalo's -57. All four of those underdogs -- the 1989 , 2004 , 2010 and 2011 -- went on to engineer upsets in opening round of the playoffs. That said, those four outcomes have no bearing on the events that will transpire at EverBank Field once the whistle blows at 1:05 p.m. ET on Sunday. The ' advantage in talent is too vast to overcome. 27, 13 This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be mi sing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an i sue.
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