[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc7JPvhp1HI[/embedyt]The Jacksonville Jaguars Week 5 matchup against the Houston Texans is a must win for Gardner Minshew. If he doesn’t want the Jaguars to draft a shiny new Justin Fields or Trey Lance then Minshew needs to take advantage of the next four games because it’s the weakest on their schedule. They have the Texans twice, the Detroit Lions, and the Los Angeles Chargers. After that seven of their final eight games are against teams with winning records. So if the Jaguars Week 5 game is must win how will they do that? Let’s take a look.
Offensive Game Plan
Let The Ball Fly
This is a very bad secondary for the Texans. Justin Reid is the only member of that secondary with a positive grade by PFF. The rest of the secondary have allowed five touchdowns through the air, so they should let the ball fly. Jay Gruden should attack deep more than he has the past four weeks. Minshew has only taken 15 shots of 20 yards or more where he has been very successful going for three touchdowns.
The pass rush is a non factor. I wouldn’t be too worried about Minshew having time to throw the ball because the Texans are one of the worst teams at creating pressure. Jacksonville’s offensive line has actually been one of the better units in the league and if Brandon Linder returns then that unit only gets better.
Unleash Chris Thompson
Chris Thompson has only seen 89 snaps this season which makes sense given James Robinson’s emergence. Robinson has been reliable and displayed a little bit of pass catching ability. However the Texans have been solid at taking away inside runs which is Robinson’s bread and butter.
I’m not saying shy away from the run game, but the Jags should opt to try to attack the outside and rotate Thompson in a bit more than usual given his ability in the passing game. Using Thompson more in the run game than usual should keep the defense on the toes and open up the middle for Robinson.
Defensive Game Plan
Simply Survive
This defense is terrible. There is no way else to say it. The defense couldn’t get pressure on Joe Burrow even though he is behind one of the worst offensive lines in the league. They’re leaving their corners out to dry. C.J. Henderson has had his ups and downs, but no one else in that secondary is able to step up when opposing quarterbacks are given the luxury of time.
So what can this defense do? Bend don’t break. The Jaguars have allowed opponents to score 69% of the time in the redzone. That is up 8% since the win against the Indianapolis Colts in the season opener.
I’ve been saying it all year that they need to blitz more. Joe Schobert has been very successful in his career when asked to be an extra rusher. So do it Todd Wash!!!
I’m FTFN analyst, Stephen de la Gardelle, and if you want more from me subscribe to my YouTube Channel here. Or if you like draft content you can check out more articles here.
