The Jacksonville Jaguars host the Cleveland Browns in their Week 2 game of the NFL season. The Jaguars head home after a disappointing loss in Week 1, where the offense scored zero points in the second half.
The game started going downhill after Travis Etienne fumbled heading into the endzone. This is the only home game for Jacksonville in the first four weeks, and is a must-win game for the Jaguars. Here is everything you need to know about the Jaguars and Browns matchup.
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Cleveland Browns Game History
Sunday will be the 19th time the Jaguars and Browns have met. The series is tied at 5-5 and the last regular season meeting was a season ago, where the Browns won a close matchup 31-27 at home. The Browns have won the prior two matchups, but the Jaguars have won four of the last seven times they have met.
Key Players for the Jaguars
The offense of the Jaguars had problems similar to those of last year in Week 1. Jacksonville played well in the first half with a lead, but then made mistakes and could not close the deal.
After the fumble by Etienne going into the endzone, Trevor Lawrence would only throw two more passes. The team wanted to be more balanced and was successful for most of the game. After all, they rushed for 128 yards and threw for 162 yards. However, the offense ran the ball 26 times to only 21 pass attempts for Lawrence. The balance was nice, but Lawrence is the best player on the offense and needs to have the ball in his hands more of the fourth quarter.
The running game had more balance in carries with Etienne and Tank Bigsby both having 12 rushes. Etienne had a rough day with the fumble and not finding much room to get going. However, Bigsby was more effective and showed the burst averaging over six yards a carry.
It will be interesting if this even split will continue in the backfield. Bigsby was going to be more involved but no one thought it would be an even split in carries.
Last week the targets were fairly evenly distributed between the receivers. Three players had four targets and two players had three targets. Brian Thomas Jr. showed in his debut that he will be a big part of the offense, and he seems ready for that role. BTJ had the only receiving touchdown and drew a big pass interference against Jalen Ramsey in the endzone.
Yet while Thomas had success, others weren’t as lucky. It was surprising to see that Evan Engram and Christian Kirk only had two catches and 35 yards combined.
Kirk dropped a couple passes that he usually catches; hopefully that was due to rust with coming back from injury. Engram will need to be more involved for this offense to reach its ceiling, too, especially with the talent of the corners for the Browns. Gabe Davis may not get a ton of opportunities but needs to be efficient when the ball comes his way.
The offensive line will need to continue its strong play from a week ago. They will have to make sure to not allow Myles Garrett to be too disruptive. Offensive tackles Cam Robinson and Anton Harrison will have a lot of pressure this week.
Last week, the Dallas Cowboys struggled early against the Browns when Garrett was getting pressure. Cleveland only allowed 100 rushing yards in that game, so it will be important to get push up front to allow for the running backs to get consistent positive gains. The offense cannot become one-dimensional against the Browns.
Defensively for Jacksonville, Josh Hines-Allen was quiet in the Jaguars game last week – and this year will be getting more attention. He was given an extension in the offseason, so he still will need to make plays. However, Travon Walker should get more one on one opportunities.
Devin Lloyd and Foyesade Oluokun were also very important in limiting big running gains for the Dolphins. They will need to do that again this week to force the Browns to be more of a passing team.
Tyson Campbell was hurt last week and may be limited even if he plays this week. That puts more pressure on the other corners and could cause Ronald Darby to have the number one assignment this week.
Key Players for the Browns
The Browns’ offense struggled last week against the Cowboys and needed a late touchdown to make the game look somewhat respectable. The line struggled to protect Deshaun Watson and couldn’t create many running lanes. Watson was sacked six times and Jerome Ford only had 44 yards on 12 carries.
There was hope that the Browns’ offense would be more dynamic after bringing over Jerry Jeudy from the Denver Broncos. However, Watson continued to struggle. He only completed 24 of 45 passes for under 200 yards. Pressure is causing him to not look down field and he’s miss wide open receivers.
Even with the struggles, the Browns have weapons and Amari Cooper is someone the Jaguars have to keep in check.
Meanwhile, Jerome Ford is the leading back while Nick Chubb is rehabbing from injury. He does not have the power of Chubb, but is quick and can be very dangerous as a receiver.
On the defensive side there is obviously Garrett, but Za’Darius Smith is also capable of wrecking havoc in rushing the passer. Greg Newsome and Denzel Ward make up one of the better corner duos in the league and Lawrence will have to be careful when targeting them. Jordan Hicks is new on the defense and helps elevate their linebacker corps to go along with the improving Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.
Jacksonville Jaguars – Keys to Win the Game
The Jaguars defense played well last week, and only gave up the one big play to Tyreek Hill after a turnover. They will need to make the Browns work for their points and move the ball down the field on long drives. They can not make it easy on Watson and must put pressure on him. The rush defense is important to make sure that the Browns have to beat the Jaguars through the air.
The Browns defense is very good and gave the Cowboys troubles last week. The running game and quick screens are going to be important to take advantage of the aggressive nature of this defense. Lawrence will not be able to drop back 40 times and be successful. Balance will again be key for the offense to stay on schedule.
The Jaguars can not be put in third and long situations where Garrett can wreak havoc. It will also be important to get Engram going early and exploit his matchup against linebackers and safeties.
The key to victory for both teams will be who can win the turnover battle and who will run the ball the best. This could be a low-scoring game where every possession matters. If the Jaguars can get up early, that will put pressure on the Browns offense and could cause for Watson to continue to make mistakes.
Which team will get their first win in this matchup? It should be an exciting matchup in Week 2!
Brandon Haye
Brandon grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and works as a health insurance data analyst. He has no children, but two fur babies - Squirt and Brownie. He and his wife, Katie, spend their time playing poker and enjoying time with their pups. Brandon is a huge Michigan Wolverine and Jacksonville Jaguars fan. He at one time was in 77 fantasy leagues and loves the game of football. Brandon started writing for The Leauge Winners in 2021.