Jaguars vs Broncos Preview and Prediction
The AFC West continues to be dominated by the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs. The two are undefeated at 5-0.
This weekend the Broncos face the Jacksonville Jaguars and were given the biggest spread, as a favorite in NFL history. When the spreads were released at the start of the week, the spread was 27.5 points. As of Sunday morning, the spread on some sites was down to 26 points.
Peyton Manning and his offense is averaging 46 points per game and should be able to put up that many or more against a very poor Jacksonville team.
The undefeated Broncos own the league’s top ranked offense and are coming off a high scoring three-point win over the Dallas Cowboys last week. The Broncos offense played well with Manning throwing four more touchdowns to take his season total to 20.
However, the defense finally showed signs of being vulnerable to the pass. That might not matter however against Jacksonville. The Jaguars lackluster at best offense has scored only 51 points in their first five games combined. Denver scored 51 in last week’s win over Dallas and 52 in another win this season.
The spread opened at 27.5 points, which eclipsed the previous record setting spread of 27 points in 1976 when the Pittsburgh Steelers were favored by that amount over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The third highest spread was more recent. In 2007, the New England Patriots were favored over the Philadelphia Eagles by 25 points.
Manning continued on his record-breaking pace against Dallas throwing for 414 yards and four touchdowns, while running for one.
The Broncos also got 93 yards on the ground and one touchdown from Knowshon Moreno. Rushing production makes Manning that much more dangerous and makes it easier for the offensive line to protect him.
The Broncos secondary was exposed by Dallas quarterback Tony Romo who passed for 470 yards and recorded five touchdowns in the process.
Denver sits in last place against the pass on defense in the NFL, but first against the rush. However, both stats could have something to do with the fact the Broncos score over 46 points per game and their opponents are playing catch from the start.
Champ Bailey, the veteran cornerback for Denver should start his first game this season after finally recovering from a foot injury. His presence should make the secondary stronger as he has 52 interceptions in his career.
The two quarterbacks for Jacksonville, Chade Henne and Blaine Gabbert however, only have three touchdown passes between them and nine interceptions. Gabbert is injured and will probably miss the game. Jaguars’ quarterbacks have been sacked 20 times this season.
Two of Jacksonville’s three passing touchdowns were in their loss last week to St. Louis 34-20. Justin Blackmon has returned after sitting out a suspension of four games and caught five passes for 135 yards.
The latest line has Denver by 26 with the point total for the over under sitting on 54.
Prediction: Denver 54-17
