Opponent Profile: Chargers Prep For Winless Jaguars
By Dave Thomas
After a rather convincing 22-10 win on the road in Buffalo Sunday afternoon, the San Diego Chargers quickly turned their attention to hosting the winless Jacksonville Jaguars this coming Sunday.
Now, before Charger fans just automatically chalk this upcoming game up as an automatic win, keep in mind that just about anything can happen on any given Sunday, Monday or Thursday night in the league. Yes, Jacksonville is as bad if not worse than some folks predicted after three games. That being the case, they still are not an automatic 'W' come Sunday in San Diego.
All one has to do is look at recent years' performances by the Chargers in games where they were the heavy favorite.
Yes, San Diego has won its fair share of those contests, but there have also been some clunkers or near misses along the way too. The bottom line, don't take Jacksonville lightly.
Jacksonville Looking For Answers
After sprinting out to a 17-0 lead on the road in the season opener in Philadelphia, things have pretty much gone south since then for Jacksonville.
The Eagles used a torrid second half of play to top the Jaguars in the opener. Jacksonville followed that collapse up with a loss on the road to Washington, followed by this past Sunday's home opener disaster against AFC South rival Indianapolis (44-17). You could say that September really has not been too kind to the Jags.
Heading into their showdown with the Chargers this Sunday, Jacksonville has been led to date on offense by veteran QB Chad Henne (42-of-78, 492 yards passing, three TD's), though highly touted rookie Blake Bortles (223 yards passing) has seen action. Many NFL experts thought it was only a matter of time, especially if Jacksonville struggled early in the season, before Bortles would get his shot at running the offense.
The top offensive weapons to date have included wide receivers Allen Hurns (186 yards receiving) and Allen Robinson (154 yards). Jacksonville's ground game has been nothing short of non-existent, with former Minnesota Viking Toby Gerhart leading the way with a mere 82 yards rushing.
On defense, the Jags are led by Penn State product Paul Posluszny (30 total tackles) and Andre Branch (three sacks).
While the chances of stealing this game on the road are rather slim for Jacksonville, the schedule does get a tad easier after it hosts Pittsburgh on Oct. 5.
After a visit from the Steelers, the Jaguars go to Tennessee, then host Cleveland and Miami. Those three teams are currently a combined 3-6.
As for the Chargers, games with Jacksonville, the New York Jets (home) and at Oakland could prove a good springboard over the next three weekends before back-to-back meetings with Kansas City (home) and at Denver in a span of five days.
For more Chargers news and updates, visit Chargers Central.
Dave Thomas has been covering the sports world since his first job as a sports editor for a weekly newspaper in Pennsylvania back in 1989. He has covered a Super Bowl, college bowl games, MLB, NBA and more. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
