The Jacksonville Jaguars defense ready to dominate the Pittsburgh Steelers
By Jon Dove
The Jacksonville Jaguars are hoping their dominant defense can lead them to a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Today’s game featuring the Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers promises to be a defensive battle. The Jaguars know that their only chance of pulling off a win is if their top-flight defense dominates.
Jacksonville legitimately has elite playmakers at each level of the defense. Their defensive line is led by Calais Campbell and Malik Jackson. This duo generates a ton of pressure on the quarterback while rotational players like Yannick Ngakoue and Dante Fowler Jr. also make life miserable.
Their linebacker corps is fast, physical and make plays from sideline to sideline. Telvin Smith is the top playmaker of this group, but Paul Posluszny and Myles Jack are also all over the field. This group has been more successful shutting down the running game since the Marcell Dareus trade.
The secondary might be the most talented unit on the defense. Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye are
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both shutdown corners. They are capable of taking a healthy Antonio Brown out of his game which they may not need to do this weekend.
Brown is still working his way back from a calf injury that he suffered early in the New England Patriots game. He hasn’t played since and may need some time to get in a rhythm. His health will be a key factor in the outcome of this game.
The cornerbacks aren’t the only stregnth of the secondary as both Barry Church and Tashaun Gipson both make major contributions.
Jacksonville will be relying on their defense to keep things close and hope that the offense can put up some points. They will look to feature Leonard Fournette and the running game, but will need Blake Bortles to make a play or two.