The Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2) and Denver Broncos (0-3) will square off for AFC conference action on Sunday, September 29th, 2019 with a kick-off time of 4:25 PM ET. These two sides have not encountered each other since December of 2016 where Denver earned its second straight win this series when it defeated the Jags 20-10 in Jacksonville, closing as a 3.5-point favorite. Overall, the Jags are 4-1 ATS in the previous five meetings.
Jacksonville Jaguars at Denver Broncos Key Injury Concerns
The most significant injury update comes from Jacksonville who has downgraded star defensive back Jalen Ramsey to doubtful for Sunday’s game. Ramsey is a leader of the Jacksonville secondary and bodes a physical presence in the Jaguars’ back-end. Jalen is a shut-down corner, and he enables the Jaguars defense to blitz with confidence. However, his absence can drastically alter the Jaguars game-plan and be advantageous to the Broncos who already love to run the ball and establish the pass off of it. Needless to say, Jacksonville can no longer afford to load the box to stop Denver’s rushing game, and this can be a great asset to helping the Broncos create balance.
Jacksonville Jaguars at Denver Broncos Overview
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars come into this affair on the heels of their first win of the season when they defeated divisional rival Tennessee 20-7 on Thursday Night Football. In doing so, the Jaguars cashed in for their second straight game-closing as a 1.5-point underdog. The victory also served as great penance for the Jaguars for who came up a point short of staging an upset the week before in Houston against another divisional nemesis in the Texans.
Denver Broncos
The Broncos have yet to gain a notch in the win column this season. In their most recent endeavor, the Broncos were on the losing end of a 27-16 defeat at the hands of the Green Bay Packers. Denver was unable to come in under the number as they were priced as a touchdown underdog at kick-off.
Reasons to Avoid Jacksonville
The most notable reason is where this game is played. The Broncos own a home-field advantage that is quite unique in its own right. Jacksonville has not played a game outside of the South yet this season, and they will travel to the Mile High City where temperatures will be cold in contrast, and the elevation also plays a factor. There is also an overreaction element to the Jags as well, as “Sacksonville” looked very strong on Thursday Night Football when it most notably accumulated nine sacks against the Titans. However, I must annotate that the Titans are the worst in the league in giving up sacks and average two more sacks against per game (5.7 in total) compared to the Broncos. I don’t expect Jacksonville to turn to their calling card as easy here with Ramsey unlikely to play. Instead, the Broncos will have a great chance to punch this defense in the mouth as Denver runs the ball 28.3 times per game, on average.
Reasons to Back Denver
The Broncos will be heading into this game quite fired up. After all, the last time the Broncos were hosting, they were robbed of their first win of the season at the expense of the Chicago Bears through some bizarre circumstances. Denver scored with less than a minute remaining and converted on a two-point attempt to take a one-point lead. However, a Roughing the Passer call on the Broncos enabled the Bears to kick a field goal from 53 yards out as time expired to enable Chi-town to steal a victory. There is little doubt this turn of events will be bulletin board material as the Broncos take the field for the first time in their own yard since that crazy day.
- Get more details: Jaguars at Broncos NFL Match-up Stats
