JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Every week in the NFL is about matchups, and that is what the Jacksonville Jaguars will have to focus on in Week 5.
The Philadelphia Eagles are entering the Week 5 matchup with bumps and bruises, which could grant the Jaguars a few key advantages in terms of mismatches entering the week. But which matchups must the Jaguars win to truly ensure they leave London with a victory? We break it down below.
Jaguars DE Travon Walker vs. Whoever Eagles Start at RT
The Eagles are set to start a new right tackle after the retirement of future Hall of Famer Lane Johnson earlier this week. While the Eagles have a few decent backup options such as Fred Johnson and rookie tackle Markel Bell, this should still be a matchup that now favors the Jaguars considering the start to the season that Travon Walker has had. While Walker has not racked up a ton of sacks, he has had his best start to the year as a pass-rusher in his career, and he has been the team’s most consistently disruptive defensive lineman this year as a result.
Walker mostly lines up against the opposing right tackles, which means Josh Hines-Allen will draw talented left tackle Jordan Mailata for most of the game. This means Walker has the most advantageous matchup entering the week of all of the Jaguars’ top pass-rushers. If he can prove to be as disruptive as he has been in past weeks, he could hold the key to the Jaguars forcing Jalen Hurts into mistakes.
Jaguars TE Brenton Strange vs. Eagles LB Jihaad Campbell
If there is one clear edge the Jaguars have over the Eagles, it is the skill player matchups. The Eagles do have one of the best cornerback duos in the NFL that could make it difficult for the Jaguars to move the ball consistently on the outside, but they have struggled quite a bit at stopping passing games over the middle of the field. This was the same advantage the Jaguars had over the Cincinnati Bengals last week, and it is one they should hone in once again in Week 5.
The Eagles have seen former first-round linebacker Jihaad Campbell have his fair share of struggles in coverage this season, with Campbell ranking as the sixth-worst coverage linebacker in terms of EPA/Play this season. The second-worst linebacker has been Bengals’ Demetrius Knight, and we saw what Strange and the Jaguars did to him last week. Getting Strange some one-on-one looks on money downs will be critical this week.
Jaguars CB Travis Hunter vs. Eagles WR Dontayvion Wicks
With the injuries the Jaguars have in the secondary, it should be expected for this to be another week where Travis Hunter spends most, if not all, of his snaps at the cornerback spot. The Jaguars are set to get Montaric Brown back this week, but the Jaguars can not afford to have Hunter off the field considering what kind of flow this game might get into. If the Jaguars can force the Eagles to become a pass-heavy offense early in the game, it could give Hunter a big chance to make another game-changing play.
The Eagles will be without DeVonta Smith, which means Dontayvion Wicks is clearly the Eagles’ WR1 entering the game. If the Eagles go downfield, it is fair to assume that Wicks is who they will be targeting. That means Hunter will need to have some highlight wins, just like he has over the last two weeks. Hunter has been an impact player at cornerback for the Jaguars, and taking Wicks out of this game in coverage could be how he becomes an X-Factor this week.
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