Jacksonville lost 23-20 in OT to the lowly Jets last Sunday. Pittsburgh whipped up on their biggest rival, Baltimore, to the tune of a 26-9 win last week.
The Jaguars are getting better play from QB Blake Bortles this season (7-3 TD/INT ratio) but he still is completing only 54.5% of his passes. He’ll have to do better this week against a defense that is yielding only 154 ypg through the air. WRs Allen Hurns and Marqise Lee have gotten open but Bortles has missed several big plays. The Steelers have 15 sacks on the season but the Jags have only surrendered 3 sacks in 2017. If Bortles can get rid of the ball quickly and nudge that completion pct. up to 60-65, he should be able to move the chains. That’s because the Pittsburgh defense will be gearing up to stop rookie RB Leonard Fournette. He has 81 carries through 4 games and is 3rd on the team with 12 receptions. Expect him to be a major part of the game plan again this week. RB Chris Ivory has been productive in a backup role both as a runner and receiver.
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The Steelers also want to run the ball but were having issues before last week against the Ravens. RB Le’Veon Bell is averaging 3.7 ypc and Pittsburgh is averaging only 95 ypg on the ground. Jacksonville’s run defense has been shoddy so far and they will have to do a much better job against a quality runner like Bell. On the plus side, they lead the NFL in pass defense and have a much better secondary than in recent years. WR Antonio Brown leads the Steelers in catches and yardage by a wide margin but had a blow-up last week after not getting a pass thrown his way on a certain play. He is a diva but also one of the best wideouts in the game so CBs A.J. Bouye and Jalen Ramsey will have to do their best to make things rough for him. They are aided by a pass rush that has 18 sacks on the season. DE Calais Campbell leads the club with 5.5 and will be a handful for LT Alejandro Villanueva.
Public Money Consensus
In this NFL Week 5 matchup between Jacksonville and Pittsburgh have the public on a slight lean to the Steelers to cover the 8.5 point spread with 54%. The over under bettors are thinking this game might stay under the total line of 43.5 with 55%.
