Jaguars Present Problems For Dolphins Defense
The regular season opener is finally here. Sunday, the Miami Dolphins open with the Jacksonville Jaguars at home at 1 p.m. It’s a home game, and the Dolphins are favored to win, but the Jaguars are a pretty good football team.
People tend to forget that last year, the Jaguars were 8-3 and, like the Dolphins, were in position the last month of the season for not the division title but the number one seed in the playoffs. However, the Jacksonville Jaguars collapsed in the last month of the season and missed the playoffs altogether. The Jaguars are two years removed from winning the AFC South and a first-round playoff game.
They made changes, just like the Dolphins this season, changing defensive coordinators, and they do return two pass rushers in Josh Hines-Allen and Trevon Walker, who both had double-digit sacks last year, especially Hines-Allen with 17.5 sacks. That is a concern for me heading into this game, but last year, the Dolphins opened with the Los Angeles Chargers, who had Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack, and Terron Armstead and Austin Jackson did very well against them. The other thing is quarterback Tua Tagovailoa gets rid of the ball quickly so that will help if he gets the ball out quicker.
My biggest concern in this game is their defense because their defensive line is weaker. Their depth at the cornerback position is to be tested, especially with Jalen Ramsey potentially missing this game. Ethan Bonner and Storm Duck have little game experience, and they will be tested.
The Jaguars have a lot of talent at the skills positions. They have a good young quarterback in Trevor Lawrence. The running back Travis Etienne runs and catches the ball out of the backfield and is a threat to take it the distance with his speed.
The Jaguars have good receivers in Christian Kirk, added free agent Gabe Davis, and used their first-round pick on Brian Thomas. They also have a tight end in Evan Engram, who can cause mismatch problems. The Jaguars head coach, Doug Pederson, is an offensive-minded coach, so I’m sure he will try to take advantage of the Dolphins’ weaknesses on defense.
The other thing about this defense is that their secondary hasn’t practiced much at all, and with the new defensive coordinator, Anthony Weaver, it’s fair to wonder how much time it will take to work well together. Weaver comes from the Baltimore Ravens and likes to use a lot of 3 safety looks, and maybe that will help potentially. The Dolphins have questions about their pass rush as Jalen Phillips is back from his season-ending injury to make a remarkable recovery, but how effective will he be right away, especially in the first game? Can rookie Chop Robinson step up? I think Robinson can, but it’s a lot to ask of the rookie.
If the Dolphins have one thing going for them, it’s Lawrence’s tendency to turn the ball over. That could be a way the Dolphins can get an edge in this game, as good as he is. Plus, Davis and Thomas are new to Lawrence. Will they have that chemistry right away? The Dolphins have to hope for these things to go against the Jaguars, as their depth is being tested right away.
This will be a good test for Weaver to see what he can come up with against this Jaguars offense. I believe the Dolphins will move the ball on offense and score points, but it’s the defense I’m more concerned about going into this game. I hope they can hold their own especially if Ramsey is out.
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