Quick Slant: The First of Two MNF Games Features Teams Soaring in Opposite Directions
Jaguars @ Bills, Monday @ 7:30 PM
There is no question which team needs to win Game 1 of a MNF doubleheader more; the Bills have started like gangbusters, and the Jaguars’ coaches are already being held with their feet to the fire. Sure, the Bills have been disappointing in their own way. But Buffalo has consistently been competitive in the Sean McDermott/Josh Allen era, only to collapse when it matters most. In contrast, Jacksonville took the QB prospect of a generation in 2021, and here, two tenures in, they are still scratching and clawing simply to be relevant. McDermott, HC of the Bills, is probably at the point where one dreadful season will give the organization all the justification they need to move on out of boredom. Doug Pederson, HC of the Jags, is to the point where a few bad games could force his key card access at the Jags’ facility to be deactivated. A win in this game would go a long way to restore a little faith to the unnerved fans in North Florida; it would thrust Buffalo ever closer to a dogfight for the AFC East crown.
Jaguars Implied Team Total: 20
The Jaguars’ offense has been pretty ragged through two games. They rank 20th in offensive EPA per play and are universally average or below average in all team EPA statistics. Their offensive skill players are a series of underwhelming anticlimaxes, none more so than QB Trevor Lawrence.
Lawrence emerged from post-COVID Clemson with the maximum amount of fanfare. Touted as the best QB prospect in over ten years and held up to the premier draft prospects of all time: Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck, and John Elway. His rookie year was painted as a disappointment beyond his control, railroaded by the incompetency and stubborn arrogance of HC Urban Meyer, who was in over his head in the NFL. And so Lawrence received a pass.
