Secret Key to Jaguars' Week 1 Success Revealed

Jacksonville had plenty of encouraging performances to go around. The defense had a wildly inspiring afternoon, racking up three turnovers, two tackles for loss, a sack, and five quarterback hits, limiting Bryce Young and the Panthers' offense to just 255 total yards.

The ground game also stood out in Week 1. Jacksonville tallied 200 rushing yards, including 143 from Travis Etienne Jr. on 16 carries. While ETN had a sterling renaissance outing, it wouldn't have been possible without the offensive line blocking for him. The O-line very well may be the underdiscussed MVP of the Jaguars' season opener.

Robert Hainsey speaks on O-line's dominance

In one game, the Jacksonville Jaguars turned the perception of what was one of their weakest position groups in 2024 into a potential strength for this team this season. In the offseason, General Manager James Gladstone added two starters and some impressive depth to the unit.

One of the newcomers is starting center Robert Hainsey, who proved to be a stellar free agency acquisition for the Jaguars in Week 1. He didn't allow a single pressure against the Carolina Panthers, leading to an 84.1 pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus, second-highest among all NFL centers.

He also made his presence felt in the running game, earning the sixth-highest grade at his position there. He spoke on the offensive line's desire to make an impact on the ground after practice on Monday:

"We played physically. We played with really good technique a lot of [the] time. I mean, there's a ton of stuff between all five of us and a team, a unit, and offense, everything to clean up, always going to be, but the physicality we play with, the togetherness we play with as a group and as an offense, gets into our guys picking up the backs."

"I mean, that stuff shows on film and we take that super seriously and we think it's very important to be the ones helping our backs up, getting to those guys like it's a team effort. They're running, we're blocking, but at the end of the day, we get back in the same huddle and we got to go do the next one.”

Hainsey and the rest of the Jaguars' O-line have another good opportunity to open up lanes against a questionable Cincinnati Bengals defense in Week 2. Hopefully, they'll keep the ground game humming.