If the Jaguars want
to get past the Steelers and reach the AFC championship game, they will have to get their running game back on track.
JACKSONVILLE — Even though the Jaguars are a win away from advancing to the AFC Championship game, they have hardly resembled the team that led the NFL in rushing this season.
Instead of breaking for long runs, rookie running back Leonard Fournette has mostly seen holes fill up with defenders faster than he can get through them.
In last week’s 10-3 win over Buffalo in the AFC wild-card game at EverBank Field, Fournette was stuffed frequently. He averaged only 2.7 yards a carry and was held to 57 yards rushing while quarterback Blake Bortles was forced to rely more on his scrambling ability than his passing.
Bortles led the team in rushing with 88 yards, one more yard than he passed for.
Jaguars coach Doug Marrone acknowledges that formula isn’t likely to work in Sunday’s AFC divisional-round playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers (13-3). The Steelers are coming off a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed behind the top-seeded New England Patriots. The Steelers finished fifth in the NFL in total defense (306.9) and 10th in run defense (105.8).
“Obviously, it’s something we need to do a better job and I’ve come out and said it already,” Marrone said. “It will be a challenge for our guys up front. Like I said before, we’ve got to win on first and second downs. We don’t want to be in third-and-long against this team because they do a heck of a job.”
Although the Steelers were thrashed 30-9 by the Jaguars in October, they don’t appear too concerned about having to face the Jaguars again.
Earlier this week, Steelers safety Mike Mitchell predicted his team will be playing the Patriots in next week’s AFC title game.
Regardless, the Jaguars still think they are a dominant running team. And they say they intend to prove it again on Sunday on the same field they ran for 231 yards during Week 5.
It was also the game Fournette said he enjoyed his two best runs of the season — soaring over the goal line on a 2-yard touchdown, followed by a 90-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. He ended the game with a season-best 181 yards rushing.
“Running the ball is what we want to do first,” Fournette said. “And like I said, that’s going to happen. We have to focus in on what we have to do and play our best game.”
Still, the Jaguars have struggled in their past three games to establish the run. It started in Week 16 when they rushed for only 92 yards against the San Francisco 49ers.
In the regular-season finale against the Tennessee Titans, the Jaguars were held to 83 yards rushing.
In the AFC wild-card game, the Jaguars gained 155 yards rushing, but most of it came from Bortles.
Starting right guard A.J. Cann predicts the Jaguars’ running game will be better on Sunday.
“I feel like we’ve got a good game plan going in; the key is just being aware of the situations up front like picking up blitzes when they come,’’ Cann said. “If we pick them up in the run game, there are going to be a lot of holes. So we have to make sure we keep our head up and our feet moving.’’
The Jaguars’ ground game has mostly gone stagnant from poor blocking, misreads and even Fournette missing holes like last week on a third-and-goal play when he went up the middle for no gain instead of going outside, where an open hole cleared.
“I think he’s looking forward to getting back on track,” Bortles said of Fournette. “I think this is obviously an exciting week for him after what happened last time we played Pittsburgh. I think he’s excited for each opportunity each week to go out there and get back on track and get back to playing the way he can play and the way everyone knows he can run. He has done that all year long.”
Fournette said he’s “10 times better” now than he was earlier this season. Despite his late-season struggles, Fournette still rushed for 1,040 yards and scored nine touchdowns in 13 games.
Despite seeing most teams, including the Steelers, put eight to nine players in the box to stop him, Fournette said he remains confident, not frustrated.