Jaguars Versus Steelers: By the Numbers

Bell
Le'Veon Bell Photo Credit: Brook Ward-Under Creative Commons License

Jaguars Versus Steelers: By the Numbers

The Jaguars have to be ready this weekend as they take on a Steelers team gaining strength coming off a decisive win over the Baltimore Ravens last week. Looking at the two teams, the numbers might be a bit misleading, or maybe not.  The Steelers are 3-1 this year and the Jags are 2-2.  Both teams are sitting on top of their divisions after 4 weeks. Jaguar’s QB Blake Bortles is 66-121 passing attempts for 732 yards with 7 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.  The future hall-of-fame QB for the Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger is 87-140 passing attempts for 957 yards with 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.  These numbers are pretty similar, but wait, there’s more. RB Leonard Fournette is boasting 3 touchdowns on 81 carries for 285 yards and Steelers big time playmaker Le’Veon Bell has the same 3 touchdowns on a similar workload of 87 carries for 324 yards. Both teams are scoring around 25 points a game and their defenses are only allowing 15 points per game. These teams, on the stat sheet at least, look fairly matched up across the board.

The Jaguars this weekend, to be successful, are going to have to disrupt Roethlisberger’s rhythm with his receivers. This is only going to happen with a strong pass rush that forces the Steeler’s quarterback off his spot. Defensive ends Calais Campbell and Dante Fowler Jr. are going to have to continue with their productive season. Campbell already has 5.5 sacks this season, putting him 2nd overall in the league. Fowler Jr. is sporting 3 sacks of his own and a pair of forced fumbles. The defensive ends productivity will be a key factor to the Jags success this weekend.

With solid play from Bortles and another heavy dose of Fournette, the Jacksonville Jaguars can take a big step in the right direction with a win over the Pittsburg Steelers.

Prediction: Jags 24, Steelers 21

Jags @Steelers: 10/8 @1pm ET