The Jacksonville Jaguars open their 2018 campaign with a trip to New York’s MetLife Stadium to take on the Giants on Sunday, September 9, 2018.
This is the first regular season meeting between these squads since 2014. The last time these two teams faced each other in a regular season game, the Jaguars won by a score of 25-24. Overall, both team have won thrice each in their last six head to head meetings.
The Jaguars finished the preseason with a 3-1 record after beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-10 on 8/30/18. Jacksonville was down 3-10 in the first half but turned things around with a strong second half effort to get the victory. On the other hand, the Giants ended their preseason campaign with an even 2-2 record after dropping their final preseason assignments to the New England Patriots 12-17.
The Jaguars are coming off their first playoff appearance in 10 seasons. Not only that, they were one win (even several plays away) away from making it to Super Bowl 52. But that’s in the past now as Jacksonville enters the new season with plenty of confidence. That confidence though was shook when top wide receiver Marqise Lee was lost for the entire season. Lee is slated to go under the knife to repair his left knee which he injured during preseason.
Lee will surely be missed especially since the Jaguars also lost tight end Marcedes Lewis and wide receiver Allen Robinson during the offseason. However, the Jaguars added Donte Moncrief in free agency and drafted wide receiver DJ Clark with the 61st overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft so the Jaguars still have some very nice receiver weapons. But while the air attack still looks good, it’s their ground game that gets the offense going.
Jacksonville were the leaders in rushing last season, averaging 141.4 rushing yards per game.Leonard Fournette led the Jacksonville running game with 1040 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns as a rookie. With a very solid offensive line, Fournette should have another excellent season this year. With Lee hurt, the Jags will depend more on their running game more than ever.
The New York Giants enter the 2018 season hoping to turn the tide. After a season where they finished 3-13, New York brought in Pat Shurmur to call the shots from the bench and help change their fortunes. But while bringing in Shurmur may be a good move, he may not be the offensive drill master who can transform a team which averaged 15.4 points per game last season. Still, with Eli Manning, Odell Beckham and Sterling Shepard, the Giants should be able to show improvement under Shurmur this season.
New York’s running game has been one of their major problem in years but the Giants feel they have addressed that by taking in Saquon Barkley with the 2nd overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. The Giants also upgraded by signing free agent Jonathan Stewart and adding new faces to their offensive line. Given these moves, the Giants’ should be able to put up more points this season.
The G-Men also brought in inside linebacker Alec Ogletree and outside linebacker Kareem Martin to bolster their lineup. Overall, the Giants are an improved team compared to the previous seasons. But the question here is if they have done enough to remove themselves from the bottom of the NFC East. I’m not sure about that.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are 9-4 straight up in their last 13 games but only 1-4 SU in their last five games away from home. The Giants meanwhile are 1-5 straight up in their last 6 games and only 2-6 straight up in their last eight games played at home.
The Jaguars were dealt a big blow when they lost one of their top wide receivers, Marqise Lee, for the season. Despite that, Jacksonville still has a very good running game which should give them the opportunity to control the game and win this game by at least a margin of one touchdown.
On the other hand, the Giants’ offense struggled all preseason long. No matter where head coach Pat Shurmur went, his team did not look good on offense. That’s certainly not good news against a good defensive squad like the Jaguars. With New York’s run defense was also not in synch during the preseason so we figure that the Jaguars are going to pound away on the ground to victory. We’re picking the Jacksonville Jaguars to beat the New York Giants on 9/9/18.
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