Bengals vs Jaguars: Matchups That Will Decide the Game

The Cincinnati Bengals are coming off a disappointing loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, where their defense looked like its defense from the past few years. The offense played well until the final drive, when Joe Burrow had a game-ending fumble.

The Jaguars are coming off a game where they dominated last year’s Super Bowl runner-up, the New England Patriots. The Bengals will have to be on their A game this week if they want to beat a tough Jaguars team. Here are the matchups that will ultimately decide this game. 

Jaguars Interior OL vs Bengals Interior DL 

The Bengals defensive line has gotten good pressure on opposing quarterbacks without having to blitz much so far this season. Much of that is because Dexter Lawrence and company are making life difficult for opposing offensive lines on the interior. The Bengals are going to need to get pressure on Trevor Lawrence and control the run game on the inside to slow down this high-powered offense, much like Denver did when they beat the Jaguars in week two. 

Bengals Secondary vs Jaguars Passing Game 

The Bengals secondary is banged up going into this game, and that could spell trouble against a strong passing attack from the Jaguars. Bryan Cook and Jordan Battle were both limited in practice today, and Kyle Dugger did not participate at all. Add to that, Jalen Davis is going to the IR, and the Bengals’ secondary is looking rough.

They are going to need to play well against a deep Jaguars passing attack that spreads the ball around well to their different receivers, tight ends, and running backs. 

Bengals vs Tackling 

This might be the biggest matchup of the week. The Bengals have continued to be an extremely poor tackling team, and it really cost them the game against the Steelers this past week. The Bengals’ linebackers and secondary really struggled to bring the Steelers down, and it repeatedly led to big plays.

Bhayshul Tuten has been very good for the Jaguars and will make the Bengals pay with big plays if they don’t start tackling better. This is something the Bengals have to be better at this week if they want to win.