Lions vs. Jaguars Matchup Preview

Jaguars Will Visit A Very Identical Opponent In The Detroit Lions

The Jacksonville Jaguars will travel up to Detroit this weekend for their first matchup in years against the Lions, but things may seem more familiar than expected. Both teams have been on a similar trajectory with a history of bad seasons that's more than likely coming to an end. The Detroit Lions are currently in their second year under Dan Campbell who has inspired the team and clearly changed the culture. Like the Jaguars, the Detroit Lions have been on a hot streak recently with a 3-1 streak over the last four games that leaves them in the playoff hunt. With so many football teams having questions marks around their legitimate chance to contend, teams like these still have a chance to contend, but one will likely be all but eliminated following Sunday's matchup.

Make The Big Plays Against The Lions' Offense

The Lions offense has been a mixed bag of results this year with only a few areas of consistency. Early in the season, the Lions were the highest scoring team in the NFL putting up several games with three or four touchdowns at minimum, but after the hot start they hit a slump. However, this is the same Lions offense that put up over forty on the Seattle Seahawks. Jared Goff has been having a relatively successful year most notably with his biggest target on offense, Amon-Ra St. Brown. It's likely we'll see Tyson Campbell given coverage duties on St. Brown which will be a huge deciding factor in how successful the Lions offense is moving the ball. Then there's also DJ Chark, and if Josh Oliver told us anything last week you can expect him to have a big game at Ford Field.

Although Jared Goff has just seven interceptions this year, he has recorded at least one turnover-worthy play in all contests except one during the 2022 NFL season. For a Jaguars defense that has thrived on forcing turnovers to flip the script of the game, it's imperative that key playmakers like Campbell and Cisco are able to get the ball back to the Jaguars' offense. I expect the Lions to be effective running the ball with Jamaal Williams as well since he has been an extremely effective back this year. Jacksonville will need to be ready to prevent Williams from having another big game with multiple touchdowns if they want to control the clock and win the game.

Aidan Hutchison Leads An Opportunistic Lions Defense

Although the Lions defense has been poor throughout most of the season, they've found their success in forcing turnovers much like the Jaguars have this season. However, even this statistic still ranks towards the middle of the pack as the Lions are just behind the Jaguars in forced takeaways. The biggest matchup for the Jaguars on defense will likely come with Cam Robinson and Aidan Hutchison, a name Jaguars fans are very familiar with. Hutchison has claimed this game is important to him since he felt the Jaguars made a huge mistake in passing over him due to physical characteristics such as wingspan. I expect him to be very effective as a pass rusher, but with Lawrence's ability to get rid of the ball quick and coverage issues for the Lions he may not be able to get a sack.

The other prominent name on the Lions defense is Jeff Okudah, a former third overall pick in the 2020 draft. After having a not-so-impressive start to his career, Okudah has come alive recently and been one of the better lockdown cornerbacks in the NFL. He'll look to eliminate either Christian Kirk or Zay Jones as a receiving threat on Sunday. However, Trevor Lawrence has shown he's able to rely heavily on multiple receivers and he'll also be aided by the likely return of Travis Etienne.

Final Prediction

This game honestly could go about any way as I'm probably going to repeat every week. The Jaguars are still transitioning to being a good football team and it's likely they're going to keep making mistakes. However, I think this is a big statement win for the Jaguars before heading into the biggest matchup of the year in Nashville. I expect to see the Jaguars offense function at a high level as a whole and for Trevor Lawrence to possibly put together his first four touchdown performance. Travis Etienne will split some carries with his fellow backs but still have an effective day. It's a great matchup against a team that has allowed the most yards per game this season. The Lions offense will be able to move the ball and score but the Jaguars defense will take advantage of turnover worthy plays and flip the field, ultimately leading to a Jaguars 38-31 victory over the Detroit Lions. If the Jaguars manage to win up in Ford Field and the Titans fall to 7-5 against the Eagles, that's when things are gonna get very interesting.

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