Jaguars (5-9) at Falcons (5-9)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, MercedesBenz Stadium, Atlanta
TV: Fox
Danny by 7
Jaguars’ keys to victory: Jacksonville should try to establish the run early to bring more defenders in the box to take advantage of Atlanta’s undermanned secondary. The Falcons lost CB Desmond Trufant and S Keanu Neal for the year, putting extra stress on young defensive backs Kendall Sheffield, Isaiah Oliver and Damontae Kazee. If the Jaguars can run effectively to start the game, their passing offense should be able to have its way with Atlanta’s secondary.
Falcons’ keys to victory: Atlanta must come out extremely aggressive and try to get a lead. The team has started games slowly all season and rarely has been able to overcome it. If it can slow Jacksonville RB Leonard Fournette, Jaguars QB Gardner Minshew will have to keep pace with Falcons QB Matt Ryan, which is a lot to ask at this point in his career. Defensively, the Falcons must be willing to live with a few big pass plays and focus on playing good run defense.
Matchup to watch: Jaguars C Brandon Linder vs. Falcons DT Grady Jarrett. The Falcons haven’t gotten good production out of their edge rushers this season, but Jarrett is having a career year. He’ll line up against Linder, who’s one of the strengths of Jacksonville’s offensive line. This is a compelling matchup between two top interior linemen, even if the overall matchup isn’t a great one.
Who wins? Both Atlanta and Jacksonville came into the year with plenty of preseason hype but have been disappointments. Still, the Falcons have a better quarterback and have trended in the right direction since their Week 9 bye.
Falcons, 24-17
Sheridan’s line:
Falcons
Jaguars schedule
L ...... Kansas City ...... 40-26 L ...... at Houston ...... 13-12 W ....... Tennessee ....... 20-7 W ....... at Denver ....... 26-24 L ...... atCarolina ...... 34-27 L ...... New Orleans ...... 13-6 W .... at Cincinnati .... 27-17 W ........ N.Y. Jets ........ 29-15 L . Houston (London) . 26-3
BYE
L ... at Indianapolis ... 33-13 L .... at Tennessee .... 42-20 L ...... TampaBay ...... 28-11 L .... L.A. Chargers .... 45-10 W ...... at Oakland ...... 20-16 Dec. 22 ...... at Atlanta ...... 1 Dec. 29 ... Indianapolis ... 1
Falcons schedule
L .... atMinnesota .... 28-12 W .... Philadelphia .... 24-20 L ... at Indianapolis ... 27-24 L ...... Tennessee ...... 24-10 L ...... at Houston ...... 53-32 L ....... at Arizona ....... 34-33 L ....... L.A.Rams ....... 37-10 L .......... Seattle .......... 27-20 BYE
W ... at New Orleans ... 26-9 W ....... at Carolina ....... 29-3 L ...... TampaBay ...... 35-22 L ..... New Orleans ..... 26-18 W ........ Carolina ........ 40-20 W ..... at San Fran . ..... 29-22 Dec. 22 .... Jacksonville .... 1 Dec. 29 . at Tampa Bay .. 1