Tennessee Titans vs Jacksonville Jaguars Preview: From the Other Sideline (Black&Teal)
By Dave Bevan
Here we go again with another edition of From the Other Sideline, where we breakdown the upcoming matchup with the opponent’s blogger, in a fun Q and A session. This week we have Daniel Lago with us. Lago is the editor of the FanSided Jacksonville Jaguars site, BlackAndTeal.com. Lago will give us all insight on what to expect with the Jaguars, including which players to watch for. We will also discuss the struggling seasons of teams. You can follow Lago and the site on Twitter @BlackAndTeal. You can also read our answers to questions they had for us on the upcoming matchup here. Without further due, here is our interview with Lago about the Jaguars:
Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports
Titan Sized: Who is worse the Jaguars or Titans?
"Black and Teal: I haven’t watched the Titans closely enough to make a hard conclusion, but for now I’ll say the Jaguars are worse since they don’t have a win. The Jaguars have looked a lot better with Blake Bortles at the helm instead of Chad Henne, so I’m inclined to think the Jaguars will finish with a better record. Still, it’s hard to argue for the Jaguars while they sit at the bottom of the division with no wins."
TS: Jacksonville seems to be struggling with the offensive line. The line has allowed a league-high 21 sacks this season. What are the Jaguars doing to improve in this area?
"B&T: A majority of those sacks came when Chad Henne was starting, with 10 of those coming against the Washington Redskins. The Jaguars have made changes at both center and right tackle by starting rookie Luke Bowanko and getting veteran Austin Pasztor back from injury, and the line has played much better for it over the last two weeks. With a few more weeks mesh and get used to playing with one another, the offensive line should improve incrementally over the course of the season."
TS: We all know about Blake Bortles, but who else on the Jaguars offense should we watch for?
"B&T: The Jaguars are going to trot out 3 rookie receivers on Sunday and all of them have flashed the potential to be playmakers. Undrafted rookie Allen Hurns has cooled off after a huge game in week 1, but he has consistently gotten open. 2nd round pick Allen Robinson has been quietly impressive since coming back from an injury in the offseason, and he appears to be Blake Bortles’ favorite target so far. Fellow 2nd round pick Marqise Lee should be getting back on the field this week, and he has the speed to stretch the field and take the top off a defense."
TS: Name a few key defensive players for the Jaguars who could make an impact in this matchup and why?
"B&T: The Jacksonville defense has struggled covering receivers and tight ends so far this season, but former 7th round pick Demetrius McCray came in last week and did a good job of containing superstar receiver Antonio Brown. The Jaguars need to key on Kendall Wright and Justin Hunter in this matchup, so McCray needs to continue his stellar play to limit the big play ability of those 2 receivers. The same goes for safety Josh Evans, who came in at free safety after the team cut Winston Guy. The Jaguars finally had a game last week without a massive coverage breakdown partly thanks to Evans, and shockingly enough the Steelers didn’t have any big plays."
TS: In terms of coaching staffs, both the Jaguars and Titans are new eras with head coaches. Gus Bradley is in his second season with Jacksonville, and Ken Whisenhunt is in his first season with Tennessee. Do you see any success for either coach down the road?
"B&T: Obviously I know a little more about Gus Bradley than Ken Whisenhunt, but I think his track record shows Whisenhunt can be successful if he has the right quarterback. With Kurt Warner he was able to take his team to the Super Bowl, but it’s been pretty iffy outside of that. Whether it’s Mettenberger or a high draft pick next year, Whisenhunt needs to find his guy at quarterback. Gus Bradley came into a tough situation with probably the least talented roster in the NFL 2 years ago, so it’s not surprising to see the team outclassed in most of it’s matchups. If Blake Bortles is the real deal however, that should cover up a lot of the team’s deficiencies. Gus Bradley has been great as a motivator and a teacher so far, but he’s made a few questionable decisions on the field and he’s clearly learning on the job as far as clock management and in-game logistics."
TS: Including a final score, what is your prediction of the game?
"B&T: The Titans are coming off a demoralizing loss last week at the hands of the Cleveland Browns, so the Jaguars have a decent shot of coming into Tennessee and stealing a win. You can just tell Bortles is on the cusp of a great performance one of these weeks, so why not now?Jaguars 27 – Titans 23"